Bringing the 2022 lychee crop to e-commerce platforms
12 April 2022, VN: With consumption experience in 2021, cooperatives in Luc Ngan, Bac Giang province are ready to promote trading on e-commerce platforms for the lychee crop in 2022.
Expecting a ‘sold out’ status on e-commerce platforms
Binh Nguyen Clean Agricultural Cooperative in Quy Thinh village, Quy Son commune, Luc Ngan district (Bac Giang province) sold 300 tons of lychees via an e-commerce platform in 2021. Mr. Vu Nguyen Binh, the cooperative’s leader stated that the figures exceeded his expectations.
Mr. Binh and the cooperative members have developed plans and solutions for the consumption of 100% of lychee output via the e-platform.
“Our cooperative’s lychee output is estimated to be 450 tons this year, and we hope to collaborate to consume all of this lychee through an e-commerce platform,” Mr. Vu Nguyen Binh shared.
In 2021, Luc Ngan lychee was difficult to sell with traditional trading methods due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the difficult scenario prompted Binh Nguyen Clean Agricultural Cooperative to pursue a new path, selling items on an e-commerce platform in partnership with Vietnam Post’s Postmart.vn.
“Doing business through an e-commerce platform enables us to define the volume of orders, thereby mastering the source of goods and proactive outputting our products rather than merely selling them to the market.” Mr. Binh stated and illustrated that if an order demands ten tons, the unit will harvest enough to cover the order, however in the conventional trade approach, ten tons were collected without knowing the exact consumption, resulting in spoilage of unsellable fruits.
Additionally, the advantage of this online channel is that they may promote products on a huge scale, reaching out to consumers nationwide, maintaining a steady exchange rate, and charging a greater selling price than traditional trading methods
Mr. Binh’s cooperative raised revenue by 30% in 2021, with 300 tons consumed online via the Postmart.vn e-commerce platform.
Because it was the cooperative’s first time selling products online, it encountered numerous difficulties, but the staff of Vietnam Post was right behind them, assisting farmers not only with promoting and managing products on the floor but also with the packaging and ensuring the product’s quality until it reached the consumer.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, Deputy Director of Bac Giang Post Office, explained that in addition to sales collaboration, the Postmart.vn platform receives ongoing customer input in order to collaborate with cooperatives to alter packaging and design with the goal of fulfilling consumer desires.
Increasing the quality and scalability
By engaging in online trade via an e-commerce site, lychee growers in Luc Ngan must embrace additional hurdles, such as stricter standards for product quality than those sold at markets.
According to Mr. Vu Nguyen Binh, the cooperative’s whole lychee area is produced in accordance with VietGAP standards and in part organically, which includes using mosquito nets to avoid pests and minimizing pesticide use.
“Our goal is to ensure that the lychee is of the greatest quality and safety when it is delivered to consumers,” the representative of Binh Nguyen Clean Agricultural Cooperative stated.
As a result, the unit’s almost 40 ha of lychee has been committed to VietGAP standard, while 1 ha has been dedicated to organic lychee cultivation. The unit intends to increase the organic lychee area to ten hectares in the near future.
To comply with the VietGAP standard, cooperative members must change their prior production practices to satisfy the criteria for pesticide application duration and dose.
“Previously, when signs of pest and disease were detected, farmers would spray pesticides, which was costly and unsafe; now, all processes are under control,” Mr. Binh explained, adding that because all standards are met, the quality of lychee has improved and it is now sold at a more favorable price.
Concerning consumption, the cooperative’s representative indicated a desire to collaborate with Vietnam Post’s e-commerce site Postmart.vn in order to expand its reach through promotional campaigns and research to improve lychee fruit packaging and design.
“We also look forward to preserving the quality of lychee’ when it is transported from Bac Giang to consumers,” Mr. Vu Nguyen Binh stated.
According to Postmart.vn, one of the difficulties promoted in the 2022 lychee crop is delivery.
“Because the lychee crop grows in less than a month, the burden on storage and transportation is considerable. Along with transportation, the Bac Giang Post Office will set up cold rooms and refrigerated containers for local storage this year, guaranteeing that the lychees reach consumers in the same condition as when they were picked,” Giang added.
