Dong Trieu custard apples go E-commerce

Since the end of June, 2021, Dong Trieu town directed the Economic Office to review, work closely with communes, wards and related offices and agencies to find solutions to boost sales of custard apples.

By the beginning of July, the town completed scenarios for selling custard apples by three levels of the Covid-19 outbreak including no Covid-9 positive case, Covid-19 positive case and many Covid-19 positive cases.

Head of Dong Trieu’s Economic Office, Dang Dinh Thang said up to now the town has issued more than 150 logos “Transporting Dong Trieu custard apples” for vehicles transporting the fruits to be given priority at Covid-19 checkpoints.

According to Nguyen Quoc Huy in Viet Dan commune, Dong Trieu town, due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, since the beginning of custard apple harvest, local authorities have helped traders come to orchards to buy the fruits, especially issuing logos and creating “green channel” for vehicles to buy the product help sales of custard apples more stable.

Earlier in 2018, to make Dong Trieu custard apple more popular in the market, Dong Trieu town worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Quang Ninh’s Department of Science and Technology and Department of Agricultural and Rural Development to mobilize, assist and encourage custard apple farmers to embrace VietGAP standards so that the fruits were classified and labeled with QR code for origin tracing.

Especially, in the current pandemic situation, e-commerce is considered a key solution for Dong Trieu to boost sales of custard apples, ensuring the safety of the disease prevention and control.

In June 2021, Dong Trieu town coordinated with the Department of Industry and Trade of Quang Ninh province to connect with Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (under the Ministry of Industry and Trade) to sell custard apples on e-commerce platforms such as Sendo, Voso, Lazada.

Dong Trieu also connected with Cuccu E-commerce platform, Hoa Phong Agricultural Services Cooperative in Dong Trieu town and “Nong San sach” chain store system in Ha Long city to diversify sales channels. The parties are discussing about how to cooperate, how to pay and transport and other terms in order to come into operation in early August 2021.

In addition, the town has developed and operated “Dong Trieu Mart” e-commerce platform. Currently, Dong Trieu Mart has connected with 15 large-scale custard apple growers in the communes of Viet Dan, An Sinh and Binh Khe to agree on types, prices and how to cooperate and set up stalls for going online. Hoa Phong Agricultural Services Cooperative is in charge of transportation.

After two weeks of opening up for sales, Dong Trieu Mart has received orders for 2 tons of custard apples. It’s expected that in early August, the town will work with large transport companies in the province to ensure that all online orders will get to customers as soon as possible.

Through sales channels inside and outside the province and online platforms, so far Dong Trieu town has sold around 720 tons of custard apples for an average price of VND 20,000-VND30,000 per kilogram.

Dong Trieu Town’s Party Secretary, Nguyen Van Cong hoped enterprises and consumers will join hands to expand the market for custard apples but not in the “rescue” spirit. The “rescue” will only benefit private traders and growers will suffer “price squeezing” while customers have to pay high prices for custard apples.

Dong Trieu town has about 1,500 households growing custard apple on an area of 800 hectares. The production is estimated at 6,500 tons and sales top VND200 billion. Harvesting of the main custard apple crop is from the end of July to the middle of August and the fruits of overlapping crop are harvested in the last months of the year.