For over a week now, when Son La's specialty strawberries have begun their harvest season, Ms. Ngo Thi Hai Ly's shop in Dinh Cong (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) is always filled with boxes of ripe, bright red strawberries.

Not only that, the price of strawberries has dropped from its sky-high level. Accordingly, before Tet, the price of cherry strawberries was up to 180,000 VND/kg, but now it is 75,000 VND/kg; the price of large cherry strawberries has also dropped by half, to 95,000 VND/kg; large strawberries cost 120,000 VND/kg.

Particularly, Son La VIP strawberries, which cost up to 500,000-700,000 VND/kg before Tet, have now dropped sharply to 160,000 VND/kg.

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Son La strawberries are turning Hanoi markets red. Photo: Uu Dam

“For Vip strawberries, this is the cheapest price since this Son La specialty landed in Hanoi market,” she commented. Therefore, the staff at her store are tired from closing orders from 7am to 10pm. The store has a few shippers who almost exclusively deliver strawberries according to customer orders.

When the price is cheap, most customers order 2-3kg, even 5kg at a time. This is also the reason why her store sells nearly 1 ton of all kinds of Son La strawberries every day.

“At this time, the strawberries are ripe, so they are bright red and less sour. The supply from the gardens in Son La has also increased sharply, so the store can order as much as it wants,” said Ms. Ly.

After selling out more than 3 tons of strawberries from marble size to special type, Ms. Bui Thi Kim Phuong - owner of a fruit shop in Phu Do (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi) - shared: "Chilean strawberries and cherries are competing to reduce prices, wholesale and retail customers are busy closing orders".

She said that normally the store sells about 10-15 types of fruit. However, for nearly half a month now, they have only focused on selling strawberries and Chilean cherries because they are in season and the prices are very cheap.

If comparing sizes after discount, Son La cherries and strawberries have quite similar prices, ranging from 90,000-200,000 VND/kg.

“This price is down about 50% compared to before Tet, and down about 20% compared to the same period last year,” said Ms. Phuong.

Currently, Son La strawberries "dye red" all over the streets, alleys, markets, supermarkets... and cover the online market. Strawberries are divided into different sizes, such as: VIP, large, medium, large and small. This item is usually packed in boxes weighing 0.5kg/box and costs from 75,000-200,000 VND/kg depending on the type.

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The sharp increase in supply has caused strawberry prices to plummet. Photo: Van Nam

Speaking to VietNamNet reporter , Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Director of Xuan Que Strawberry Cooperative, Co Noi Commune (Mai Son, Son La) - admitted that the price of strawberries this year is much cheaper than the same period last year. Compared to before Tet, the price of this fruit has decreased by about 40%.

He cited that strawberries sold in bulk before Tet cost around VND100,000/kg, now down to VND60,000/kg. This was the price when strawberries entered the peak harvest season last year, around the beginning of March.

“There is very little rain this year so strawberry yields cannot be as high as last year, but supply is still increasing strongly because farmers are expanding their acreage,” he assessed.

According to Mai Son district statistics, the total strawberry area in the locality is up to 740 hectares, while the previous crop was only about 450 hectares. Therefore, the strawberry output of the whole district this crop is estimated at 10,000 tons. In addition, in Son La, there are many other districts with very large strawberry areas.

According to Mr. Nam, the cooperative has 50 hectares of strawberries grown according to VietGAP standards with an estimated output of 1,000 tons/year. Members have harvested more than 10 tons of strawberries/day, peaking at about 20 tons. Therefore, strawberry prices may fall further in the coming days.

“In recent years, the price of this Son La specialty fruit has become cheaper and cheaper due to the increasing acreage each year,” he said. However, the price of strawberries is still high compared to the general level of fruits on the market. Therefore, this season, despite the sharp price drop and low productivity, 1 hectare of strawberries still brings a profit of 200-300 million VND.

The truth is that Chilean cherries have dropped in price to 100,000 VND/kg, and are being sold everywhere in Vietnamese markets . In less than a month, Chilean cherries have been sold everywhere in Vietnamese markets at a "crash" price. In China, this once-luxury fruit is now priced at only 30,000 VND/kg. Why are cherries so surprisingly cheap?