UK emerges as a potential export market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables

With an annual import value of vegetables and fruits amounting to more than £6 billion (equivalent to US$8.4 billion), the United Kingdom is emerging as a large potential export market for Vietnamese fruit and vegetables.

Vietnamese bananas introduced at the webinar. (Photo: VNA)
Vietnamese bananas introduced at the webinar. (Photo: VNA)

The aforementioned statement was made at a recent webinar introducing Vietnamese agricultural products and fruits in the UK market, organised by the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK.

The event offered an opportunity for Vietnamese fruit and farm produce exporters to directly advertise their products to British importers and negotiate cooperation agreements. Vietnamese products introduced included bananas, dragon fruit, mango, avocado, pineapple, guava, litchi, longan, jackfruit, coconut, cashew, pepper, and coffee.

At the webinar, Vietnamese businesses were introduced on the Birmingham wholesale market in the Midlands, which is one of the largest in Europe, providing fresh food, fruits and vegetables to hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, fast food chains and retailers across the UK. According to Harry Hoan Tran, Director of Midan Global Ltd., this is a potential focal point for Vietnamese fruits and agro-products to penetrate into the UK market.

Addressing the event, Ta Hoang Linh - Director of the European-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the UK-Vietnam free trade agreement (UKVFTA) presents market access and expansion opportunities to enterprises from both countries, while contributing to promoting comprehensive, long-term and stable trade relations between the two sides.

Nguyen Canh Cuong, Vietnam's Trade Counselor in the UK, stated that export businesses need to make use of Vietnam’s advantage as one of the countries with the prompt signing of an FTA with the UK, in order to expand their markets.

Vietnamese firms should seize the opportunities as the UK is looking for suppliers outside the European Union (EU) after it withdrew from the bloc, causing disruptions in the supply chain, he emphasised.