Since the end of August, every day, Ms. Le Kieu Van in Cau Giay (Hanoi) has imported dozens of kilograms of green apricots from Da Lat to fulfill orders from customers. For retail customers, she sells them in sets of 3 taels at the price of 130,000 VND/set, meaning 1kg of green apricots costs up to 430,000 VND.

With this price, according to Ms. Van, green apricots surpass the price of all domestic fruits, becoming the most expensive product in the market. It is even more expensive than imported fruits from the US, Australia, Thailand... sold in the Vietnamese market today.

In addition to whole green apricots, Ms. Van also sells a set of green apricots with dipping sauce and rolled vegetables for 120,000 VND/set.

green grapes
Green apricots, once a rustic fruit, have now become a super expensive commodity at Hanoi markets. Photo: NVCC

Ms. Van said that in recent years, green apricots have become an ingredient to make "hot trend" dishes such as: green apricot salad with sour, spicy, salty and sweet flavors; green apricots with dipping sauce rolled with rustic vegetables such as cabbage, chili, herbs... when eating a piece, you feel like you are going through a journey of hundreds of flavors with all the bitter, spicy, sweet and savory flavors blended together.

Because of these “stormy” snacks, green apricots are now a super expensive commodity. Even the wholesale price for customers buying 3kg or more is nearly 300,000 VND/kg, Ms. Van said.

Selling green apricots for 110,000 VND/set of 300,000 VND/set of 1kg, and 300,000 VND when customers buy 1kg per order, Ms. Dao Thi Tu Nhi said: "During the apricot season in the North, the price will be cheaper. During this time, we have to import goods from Da Lat, so the price of green apricots is a bit expensive."

She cited that at the beginning of this year, she sold Son La green apricots for only 60,000-70,000 VND/kg. Now, the price of Da Lat green apricots is up to 370,000 VND/kg, and in early September, the price was even 400,000 VND/kg.

green grapes
Green plum rolls with dipping sauce and rustic vegetables have become a hot trend snack. Photo: NVCC

According to her, although it is a snack, the price of loquat is expensive, so it is quite picky about customers who buy it. Because, only 300 grams of loquat (not including delivery fee) costs as much as 1kg of pork sold at the market. Therefore, the regular customers who buy this fruit at her store are all women with good economic conditions.

“In the business world, people still call green apricots a young fruit reserved for the rich at this time of year,” she added, adding that she imports about 20kg of green apricots every day to sell whole, or process into dishes such as pickled apricots or dipped apricots when customers request it.

On the “online market” today, green apricots are sold for 300,000-430,000 VND/kg. The dealers only deliver when customers buy a set of 300g or more. As for salted and chili apricots, the price is 65,000-70,000 VND/set; green apricots with dipping sauce are 90,000-120,000 VND/set.

Meanwhile, at online wholesale markets, green apricots are sold wholesale at VND250,000-300,000/kg. Customers must buy at least 3kg at a time. Wholesale purchases of 5kg or more will be covered by shipping costs to the provinces.

According to wholesalers, this is an off-season green apricot so there is not much of it and the price is also very expensive. During the main season, the supply of green apricot in the northern provinces is abundant and the price will cool down.

In suburban gardens, the price is as cheap as vegetables, but in the inner city, ripe loquats are expensive. In the capital of loquats, Duong Lieu, the price of this sweet and sour fruit is only 10,000 VND/kg, as cheap as vegetables. But in the market, or sold on the streets of the inner city, ripe loquats are expensive.