Thanh Binh Co-operative’s dragon fruit and Ben Tre Green Pomelo Cooperative’s pink lady pomelo have hit shelves at supermarkets and fruit shops and a juice company in Canada.

Ben Tre Green Pomelo Cooperative’s pink lady pomelos on display at a store
in Canada (Photo courtesy of SOCODEVI)

It is the first pomelo brand registered by a Vietnamese co-perative to be exported to Canada.

The Ben Tre Green Pomelo Cooperative has also obtained GlobalGAP certification for the fruit.

For Thanh Binh, this was the third shipment to Canada but the first time it fully carried out a dragon fruit order in its own name, from cultivating to transportation and all stages in between.

It set up a new packing unit in August.

Getting rid of intermediaries is expected to bring its members greater benefits.

Both co-operatives have fully complied with requisite safety standards.

The two co-operatives are among five new ones established under the framework of the Vietnam Cooperative Enterprise Development Project in Soc Trang, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong, and Ben Tre provinces since 2015. 

Funded by Canada and jointly implemented by SOCODEVI and the School of Management for Agriculture and Rural Development II, the project has helped improve cooperatives’ competitiveness through a variety of activities such as training for farmers, strengthening of governance, upgrades to equipment, marketing, branding, and others.