Every year, British businesses import a large amount of vegetables, fruits and agricultural products to meet market demand. However, fruits imported from Vietnam account for a very small market share, less than 1%. Meanwhile, the UKVFTA Agreement took effect from January 1, 2021, with more than 94% of the total 547 tariff lines on fruits, vegetables and fruit and vegetable products exported to the UK reduced to 0%. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exporters to take advantage of tariff incentives to expand market share in the UK.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Cuong - Counselor of the Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK - said that just the community of 100,000 Vietnamese people in the UK who prioritize buying Vietnamese products is a great opportunity, not to mention the 60 million British people. In 2022, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports to the UK will reach nearly 21 million USD, an increase of more than 8% compared to 2021.

In fact, after more than 2 years of the UKVFTA Agreement taking effect, some Vietnamese fruits have been taking advantage of this preferential tariff to export to the UK.

At the end of 2022, red grapefruits from Tan Lac (Hoa Binh) were exported to the UK market for the first time, with an amount of 5,400 fruits. Next, in early 2023, nearly 7 tons of Cao Phong oranges (Hoa Binh); 11 tons of grapefruit from Dien Yen Thuy (Hoa Binh) were also officially exported to the UK for the first time, receiving welcome from consumers in the host country.

According to Mr. Khoi Huynh - Director of Longdan Group - the largest importer of Vietnamese goods in this country, with beautiful appearance, sweet and refreshing taste, dry and succulent grapefruit pulp, Dien grapefruit and Tan Lac red grapefruit have outstanding quality. superior to imported grapefruits sold in the UK market.

Along with grapefruit, U Hong lychees (Bac Giang) in June were also officially "exported" to the UK for the first time. The importer, TT Meridian Company, imported U Hong lychee to take advantage of this variety's advantage of ripening about 1 month earlier than lychee to compete with Mexican and Chinese lychees currently sold in the UK market, creating an opportunity. opportunity for Vietnamese fabrics to reach and conquer consumers in the UK.

In particular, U Hong lychee products distributed in the UK market are also identified by packaging bearing the image of Vietnam's red flag with yellow star to help British consumers identify the national brand, creating the impression that the lychee is a unique product. Vietnam's own specialties.

Following the success of grapefruits, Cao Phong oranges, and U Hong lychees, in June 2023, the first batch of seedless lychees of Ho Guom - Song Am High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd. grown in Thanh Hoa was also officially on the shelves of some supermarkets in the UK. This is a signal that Vietnamese agricultural products are increasingly gaining a foothold and have many opportunities for export.

The success of these batches of agricultural products is also the basis for our country's production and export enterprises to build appropriate strategies. From there, it is possible to bring many agricultural products to highly competitive markets.

It is known that in order to enter the British market, these agricultural products must meet strict standards of quality, food safety and origin; Initially, it received positive feedback from local consumers.

There are advantages and opportunities, but the big challenge for exporting Vietnamese fruit to the UK is product preservation. For example, lychees must be consumed within 3 days of harvest to ensure freshness. This requires export businesses to also master post-harvest preservation technology.

In addition, product price is also one of the issues that consumers in the host country are concerned about, especially in the context of high inflation in the UK, product prices have become a major concern for importers. distributors and consumers. For example, U Hong lychees sold at British supermarkets have a quite high price, 15 pounds/kg, equivalent to 435,000 VND/kg, higher than imported products of the same type, as well as imported fruits. another password. Or like Dien Yen Thuy grapefruit, although the quality, sweetness, and design are not inferior to products sold in the UK market, the price is still higher than some other imported fruit products.

According to some experts, Vietnamese fruit producers and exporters need to focus on minimizing logistics costs and intermediary costs, increasing operational efficiency through process improvement and applying new methods. Advanced production to reduce costs and increase competitiveness.

Along with that, Vietnamese businesses need to focus on product form, design, and packaging, and at the same time need to build a long-term marketing strategy to penetrate and sustain in the UK market.

Minh Toan