Nguyen Trung Dung, a representative of the Vietnamese Embassy’s Trade Office in Japan, said about 15 tonnes of bananas exported by the Huy Long An company are being sold at over ten Don Quijote stores in Tokyo and nearby Saitama and Chiba prefectures.
Japan is expected to double its banana imports from Vietnam and sell them at additional places in the near future, he noted.
The Northeast Asian country consumes approximately 1 million tonnes of bananas per year. Up to 85% of its imported bananas currently come from the Philippines.
However, many Japanese companies say they want to seek more suppliers.
Vietnamese bananas were first shipped to Japan in 2013 as a step to survey the local market, however they were not present in big retail chains such as Don Quijote.
Hidekatsu Ishikawa, President of Vient Co. Ltd, said Japanese importers highly regard the quality of Vietnamese bananas as their sweetness is suitable with Japanese taste, and they are sold at a competitive price.
Aside from Don Quijote, some local supermarket chains such as Chalenger in Niigata prefecture are also selling the product, he added.
The Vietnamese Trade Office said it will work with businesses to step up marketing the bananas at trade promotion events in Japan in the time ahead.
