As soon as she unloaded a container of milk grapes at her warehouse, Ms. Nguyen Ha Linh in Tan Mai (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) immediately advertised on online markets: “New container of premium milk grapes from China. Fresh stems, price 110,000 VND/9kg basket. Cheaper than the price of water spinach at the market.”

If you buy the whole bunch, 1kg of milk grapes that Ms. Linh is selling will cost just over 12,000 VND. She emphasized that in the 5 years of importing milk grapes from China to sell, this is the cheapest time. She has maintained this price since the end of February until now.

“Milk grapes are considered the best among the Chinese grape varieties sold in Vietnamese markets. From being the most expensive, milk grapes have now become one of the cheapest fruits on the market,” she said.

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Chinese milk grapes are being imported massively into the Vietnamese market. Photo: NVCC

Admitting that Chinese milk grapes are “crashingly cheap”, Ms. Ho Thi Kim Hanh - a fruit dealer in Ha Dong (Hanoi) - said that the current price of grapes is only 130,000 VND/8kg basket, which applies to premium products when customers buy the whole basket. For wholesale customers who buy 5 baskets or more, the price will be 10,000 VND/basket cheaper. For customers who buy retail by weight, milk grapes cost 20,000 VND/kg.

“The supply of grapes is abundant but the consumption market is quite slow. Therefore, Chinese milk grapes are pouring into the Vietnamese market at increasingly cheap prices,” she said.

At this time last year, Ms. Hanh's store could sell 2-3 tons of milk grapes per day, but now that number has dropped to less than 1 ton.

Cheap but still unsold. Because at the end of October last year, this “noble” grape variety from China sold in the Thai market was discovered to contain banned substances and pesticide residues exceeding the permitted threshold. Therefore, many Vietnamese consumers are also afraid and limit their purchases, Ms. Hanh explained.

In our country, milk grapes are sold everywhere in traditional markets and online markets with common prices ranging from 110,000-140,000 VND/8-9kg basket. This price is applied by the dealers for customers buying by basket, some stores sell by half basket.

“The price is so cheap that we sell by the bag. If we sell 1-2kg in retail, the shipping fee can be even more expensive than the bag price,” said Nguyen Ha Linh.

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Chinese milk grapes are sold at super cheap prices. Photo: NVCC

Explaining the super cheap price of Chinese milk grapes, Mr. Ngo Van Tan - a wholesaler of Chinese fruits in Lao Cai - said that milk grapes have become one of the most popular grape varieties grown in the country of a billion people.

Notably, previously only available seasonally, Chinese milk grapes are now available almost year-round thanks to advanced cultivation and preservation technology.

Mr. Tan cited that the first batches of milk grapes from Yunnan were imported in April, followed by Guangxi and Guangdong in late June to early July. From August onwards, it is the milk grape season in Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Harvest extends north to Henan and Hebei until early November. Notably, Yunnan and Guangxi adopt the “two crops a year” method, with the second crop of milk grapes ripening around the Lunar New Year.

Thanks to that, grape production in China has increased sharply. However, the market has been slow to absorb, leading to oversupply and falling prices. This is the main reason why the price of Chinese milk grapes is increasingly cheap in the Vietnamese market, Mr. Tan explained.

According to a recent report from the US Department of Agriculture, China’s grape production for the 2024-2025 crop year is estimated at 14.2 million tons. Milk grapes are quickly becoming the most popular grape variety grown in the country, replacing traditional varieties such as Red Globe and Kyoho.

Milk grapes found to contain toxic substances in Thailand, goods still flood Vietnamese markets at super cheap prices . In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, Chinese “noble” milk grapes are still flooding Vietnamese markets at super cheap prices. Notably, not long ago, this type of Chinese milk grapes in Thailand was found to contain many toxic substances.