The batch of durian has been imported by the ASEAN Company, headquartered in New South Wales. In order to advertise and promote the consumption of the typical fruit of Vietnam’s southern delta region, the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia has cooperated with the company to simultaneously organise a ‘Vietnamese Durian Week’ programme in the host country from July 20-31, focusing on the areas with the highest concentrations of Asian people.

Nguyen Phu Hoa, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office, said that after the success of the Vietnamese durian promotion programme held in Australia last year, surveys conducted by the office showed that the Vietnamese fruit has great consumption potential in the Australian market.

Durian is a high-value fruit and one of Vietnam’s typical products with strong competitiveness in the international arena. Thanks to its advantage of retaining its standard and flavour, either frozen or fresh, durian has been admitted into Australia without having to wait for market opening negotiations like other fresh fruits.

To further enhance the Vietnamese durian’s opportunity to penetrate the market, the Trade Office has promoted the organisation of Vietnamese Durian Week, during which customers buying durian will have the chance to win a first prize of one box of Nest Art bird’s nest and 10 prizes of a high-end Dr. Nam coffee box each. The promotional campaign aims to introduce a variety of Vietnam’s high-quality agricultural products to the Australian market, thus opening up market opportunities for the country’s farm produce.

The seven-tonne batch of Vietnamese durian recently penetrating the Australian market. (Photo: VN+)

In addition to the Durian Week event, the Trade Office is also promoting the batch of durian in many other ways, such as introducing products on its Viet-Aus Trade application, posting information and images on social networking sites, and encouraging overseas Vietnamese and associations of Vietnamese people in Australia to buy and enjoy the Vietnamese durian.

Following the end of Durian Week, the Trade Office will continue to coordinate with another importer in Perth City, Western Australia to implement a promotion programme for a batch of Vietnamese durian branded AAA, which is expected to arrive in Western Australia early next month, Hoa said.

In Vietnam, areas of durian cultivation have expanded rapidly over the course of more than 10 years, from 17,500 hectares with an output of 93,000 tonnes in 2008 to 47,300 hectares with over 478,600 tonnes in 2018. The fact has triggered an urgent need to search for new markets and develop the Vietnamese durian brand to boost its consumption and increase the fruit’s value in the international arena.