Pressure on the table!

Many people always prioritize choosing pork in their diet.

Ms. Ba, who sells rice at a cheap restaurant on Street 7 (now Pham Son Khai), An Khanh Ward, Ninh Kieu District, shared that since mid-March she had to "ask" customers for an additional 2,000 VND for each portion of rice sold, because the price of pork has increased since Tet. Although the price has only increased by 2,000 VND for each portion of rice (up to 27,000 VND/portion), the feeling of customers who come to eat, even students and workers who have been regular customers for many years, is not happy.

Mr. Tuan has a house in the alley of 30/4 Street, Thoi Binh Ward, Ninh Kieu District, specializing in selling rice delivered to security guards for companies and banks. He announced 10 days in advance that he would increase the price of rice to 2,000 VND/portion, but as soon as he announced it, these regular customers were "spiders", comparing prices from other restaurants. "If we don't increase the price, we have to reduce a little rice, a little meat or stir-fried food... to make a little profit. If customers don't accept the new price, we will probably stop selling or sell whatever we can, but we have no choice!" - Mr. Tuan said sadly.

In fact, increasing the price of daily essential foods by 2,000-5,000 VND is not much, but for salaried workers or students who have to spend a lot of money while their income does not increase, especially students who depend almost entirely on their families and parents, it will be a huge burden for them. As for high-end restaurants, the price increase has started since Tet 2025 until now and most of them have kept the price at that level until now. A famous noodle shop owner on 3/2 Street, near Can Tho University, said that he had increased the price by 5,000 VND/bowl of noodles to compensate for the increase in pork prices, but since the price has increased, the number of customers has gradually decreased, revenue has decreased, but fixed costs have "stayed the same". “My restaurant really doesn’t want to increase the selling price, it’s better to sell less and make less profit, but in this case, we have to increase the price according to the price of pork, earning more money but not seeing any increase in profit” – the restaurant owner shared. Of course, there are still cases where restaurant owners “take advantage” of holidays and Tet to increase the selling price to make more profit, then keep the price there forever…

Returning to the price of live pigs in many provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region, the price has now reached 8-8.2 million VND/quintal, this price is 2.2-2.5 million VND/quintal higher than the same period in 2024. At many markets and pork trading points in Can Tho City, pork leg is sold for 120,000-130,000 VND/kg, pork belly is 140,000-150,000 VND/kg, and baby back ribs are around 170,000-180,000 VND/kg. In supermarkets and convenience stores, prices are much higher, with spare ribs at 230,000-245,000 VND/kg, lean pork at 150,000-159,000 VND/kg, pork belly at 190,000-200,000 VND/kg... This price has increased by at least 20,000-30,000 VND/kg compared to early 2025. Pork prices have increased, but in the markets, pork sales have been sluggish due to reduced demand. Many traders say that pork purchasing power has decreased by 20-50% compared to before. At this time, farmers are anxious to restock, but piglets are scarce and prices have tripled, to nearly 3 million VND/pig. It takes about 4 months to raise them for sale, so there are not many opportunities for high prices. Moreover, the lesson from the pig price fever in 2020 still makes many people worried. At that time, the price of pigs dropped from 100,000 VND/kg to below 40,000 VND, so the opportunity to recover and rebuild the local herd now is not easy.

Based on the above reality, relevant authorities and departments need to recalculate and rebalance to ensure reasonable price stability, and on the one hand, they should also increase goods that can replace pork, such as fish and poultry. The Department of Industry and Trade, Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, along with districts, towns and enterprises, need to participate in stabilizing the market, strengthening measures to manage and operate live pig prices in the area... However, it is necessary to recognize that the increase in pig prices is in line with the market, because after a long period of disease, production costs are very high but the herd size has decreased a lot. If the selling price is low, it will not stimulate farmers to re-herd. This is also a screening step to help livestock farming and production move towards sustainability, reduce spontaneous production, ensure disease safety, and improve production quality, making it easier to control. On the consumer side, especially people in the West, most dishes have pork, pork is almost the first priority, so it is necessary to balance the choice of distributing dishes to be more diverse such as chicken, duck, shrimp and fish which are cheaper... instead of just prioritizing braised meat, rice with ribs, bone noodles...

Article and photos: AN KHANH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/ap-luc-len-ban-an--a184975.html