SHIMOTSUMA, Sept. 7 — Japanese pear producers are getting access to Vietnam for the first time in 10 years.
A Japanese pear, known as nashi, is apple-shaped with golden speckled skin and is somewhat different to a European pear; it is firm, crispy, sweet and juicy.
In January, Vietnam lifted a ban on this crunchy late-summer fruit from Japan.
Two months later, nashi producers in Shimotsuma city, Ibaraki prefecture, flew to Vietnam to develop the market. They sent test products by air and immediately struck a deal with local buyers, who accepted to pay 20 percent higher than prices paid to Japanese domestic producers.
The Shimotsuma producers will export 100 tons of nashi this fall. They hope it will pave the way for the development of regular trade with Vietnam, a nation that has a discerning palate for food.
The Japanese government set a target to boost the annual value of agricultural exports to 1 trillion yen by 2020.