A strategic partnership agreement on the distribution and sale of Thanh Hà brand lychee (Litchi Chinensis) by the Menas Group and a local farmers group in Thanh Hà district of Hải Dương Province. Photo courtesy of Menas Group

HẢI DƯƠNG – A strategic partnership agreement on the distribution and sale of the Thanh Hà brand lychee (Litchi Chinensis) has been signed by the Menas Group and local farmers.

The deal promises higher values and bigger sales of the speciality through the Menas Gourmet Market system nationwide.

The agreement is being seen as a positive cooperation between businesses, sales and marketing, wholesale distribution and brand promotion, farmers and authorities, and will guarantee top prices are reached for the special lychee crops.

Thanh Hà district – home to the historic 200-year-old Mother Lychee Tree in Thụy Lâm Village of Hải Dương Province – is a key area for growing the fruit, which will also be promoted for export.

The CEO of Menas Group, Nguyễn Đức Quỳnh, said the product would be sold via premium retail channels, including the Mena Gourmet market system.

He said the Thanh Hà Lychee would also be promoted on flights of VietJet Air and delivered to international gastronomers.

Trần Văn Hảo, Director of the Hải Dương Department of Industry and Trade, said the business-farmer partnership would help create a sustainable value chain for the local specialty, while increasing farmers’ incomes and amplifying the brand of Hải Dương’s farm produce, especially the Thanh Hà lychee.

The historic 200-year-old Mother Lychee Tree is conserved in Thụy Lâm Village of Hải Dương Province's Thanh Hà district. The local lychee is already exported to China, Japan, France, the US, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Belgium, Netherlands, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and the Middle East. Photo courtesy of Đình Thắng

He said the Thanh Hà lychee is farmed on 3,285 hectares with an estimated output of 38,000 tonnes this year.

The local lychee brand has been renowned for its premium quality and taste for over 200 years, and 37 growing area codes are eligible for export, including to China, Japan, France, the US, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Belgium, Netherlands, Thailand, Singapore and the Middle East.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Thanh Hà lychees are being sold at the Australian Market Place supermarket at AUD$34.99 (US$23.3) per kilo.

Last year, organic farm produce from the Cơ Tu ethnic group in Quảng Nam Province’s Tr’hy commune was introduced at the Mena Gourmet Market in HCM City - the first time such products have gone on sale.