Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first 9 months of this year, traders and businesses in our country spent 696.59 million USD (equivalent to about 17,400 billion VND) to buy Chinese fruits and vegetables, mainly fresh fruits.

Compared to the same period last year, fruit and vegetable imports from China increased sharply by 24.2%. Accordingly, China is the largest supplier of these items to Vietnam, accounting for nearly 42% of total fruit and vegetable imports in the past 9 months.

In the market, from stores, supermarkets to markets, Chinese fruits are sold everywhere. Notably, not only are there super cheap products priced from a few thousand VND per kg to more than 10,000-20,000 VND/kg, many VIP fruits and "noble" fruits are also sold in the market at dirt cheap prices.

“Many types of Chinese fruits are VIP goods, ‘noble’ goods, and are now at unprecedentedly low prices,” said Ms. Vu Mai Nhung, owner of a fresh fruit shop in Hoang Mai (Hanoi), referring to products imported from the country of a billion people.

Chinese fruit
Chinese fruits, from VIP, "aristocratic" to common, are sold everywhere in the market at cheap prices. Photo: Duy Khanh

On the afternoon of October 15, Ms. Nhung updated the prices of a series of Chinese fruits sold at the store. For example, Vip jujubes cost only 70,000 VND/1.5kg box, Vip pomegranates with soft seeds cost 30,000 VND/kg, canned honey persimmons cost 29,000 VND/kg, "noble" milk grapes cost only 40,000 VND/kg, cherry apples cost 45,000 VND/kg, ruby ​​grapes cost 36,000 VND/kg, Vip milk pears cost 13,000 VND/kg...

According to Ms. Nhung, the price of these VIP fruits or Chinese "noble" goods is as cheap as the price of vegetables sold in the market.

For common goods, the price is even cheaper. Ms. Nhung cited examples: packaged milk grapes cost 120,000 VND/5kg (24,000 VND/kg), rock apples cost 220,000 VND/17kg box (about 13,000 VND/kg), burnt sand melon costs 16,000 VND/kg, honeydew persimmon costs 17,000 VND/kg...

“Many types of Chinese fruit are only one-third cheaper than the same period last year,” she said, adding that all types of fruit are being brought to Vietnamese markets in large quantities, so the prices are getting cheaper and cheaper.

At Ms. Nhung's store, this fruit price is applied to retail customers who buy at least 1 box or 1 basket. Wholesale customers get a cheaper price depending on the quantity they buy each time.

Currently, every day she sells about 4 tons of various Chinese fruits, mainly milk grapes, pomegranates and jujubes.

Ms. Le Thi Hai Ha - owner of a fruit shop in Hai Ba Trung (Hanoi) also said that at the beginning of the season, milk grapes were sold for 180,000 VND/kg, but now she imports them and sells them for only 25,000 VND/kg - the same price as a bunch of water spinach sold in the market.

Similarly, canned soft-seeded Vip pomegranates were priced at around 80,000-90,000 VND/kg at the beginning of the season. Now that goods have flooded the market, the price has dropped to around 20,000 VND/kg.

These two Chinese fruits are the most popular among the fruits sold in Vietnamese markets because of their low prices. Therefore, although the store only sells retail, since the beginning of the “noble” milk grape season, Ms. Ha has sold about 13 tons. As for pomegranates, the amount of goods consumed has also reached 6-7 tons.

“There are regular customers who order a box of grapes every other day to eat. I buy 2 boxes of pomegranates at a time to make juice to drink,” Ms. Ha shared.

In the market, traders say that because of their low prices, rich variety and eye-catching designs, Chinese fruits dominate the market. The amount of goods consumed is several times more than Vietnamese fruits and dozens of times more than other imported fruits.

Shocked by the price of 'noble' milk grapes, from expensive to the cheapest fruit in the market . Bunch of glossy green 'noble' milk grapes are being sold everywhere on street stalls, covering the online market. Some sources are even selling them at shocking prices, only 25,000-30,000 VND/kg.