Vietnamese consumers in recent years are no longer unfamiliar with imported Chilean cherries. However, the price of this fruit is quite high, from 200,000-500,000 VND/kg depending on the type and time.

Before the Lunar New Year, imported JD cherries from Chile flooded the Vietnamese market at sky-high prices. At a large fruit store chain in Hanoi, the cheapest size is size 26, priced at VND690,000/5kg box; size 28 is VND220,000/kg; other sizes range from VND250,000-400,000/kg.

However, the price of this luxury fruit suddenly dropped sharply after Tet. In particular, in the past 2 weeks, on online markets, Chilean cherries have been sold everywhere at a "floor-breaking" price, down to 90,000-100,000 VND/kg for customers buying a whole 5kg box. For individual customers buying by weight, the price is only 120,000-130,000 VND/kg.

Some wholesalers advertise wholesale prices at 400,000 VND/5kg box, or only 80,000 VND/kg for size 26-30.

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Imported Chilean cherries are being sold for just over or under 100,000 VND/kg. Photo: NVCC

Sharing with PV VietNamNet , Ms. Phung Thi Tam - a fruit seller in Le Trong Tan (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) - admitted that the abundant supply has caused cherry prices to drop sharply.

According to her, the prices of most types of Chilean cherries sold in the market have decreased by about 50% compared to the time before the Lunar New Year. JD is the most popular type of Chilean cherry in the Vietnamese market, but at her store, the price is 520,000 VND/5kg box, the Vip type is size 4JD and the price is only 169,000 VND/kg.

“Chile is in the middle of its harvest season, so supply has increased sharply. Not to mention, cherries used to be transported by air at an expensive cost, but now they are transported by sea, so the freight is much cheaper,” Ms. Tam explained why cherries are so cheap.

According to information posted on Cherry Times , the cherry harvest season in Chile usually lasts from October of the previous year to January of the following year. Export time is concentrated from November to February. That is, this is the peak time for cherry exports in Chile.

Notably, thanks to the sharp increase in the area of ​​this crop, reaching 70,500 hectares in 2024, in the 2024-2025 crop year, Chile is expected to export nearly 658,000 tons of cherries; an increase of about 55% compared to the previous crop year.

A Chilean agricultural expert said that the rapid growth in output has had negative consequences, causing the price of cherries this season to drop by 50% compared to the previous season.

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Increased supply of Chilean cherries causes prices to plummet. Photo: NVCC

In the Chinese market, cherries used to be a luxury item with a selling price of 100 yuan/500 gram box (about 700,000 VND/kg), then dropped to 30 yuan/500 gram box.

The phrase “cherry freedom” has become increasingly popular recently, suggesting that many consumers can afford the luxury fruit without worrying about the price. This is due to unprecedented declines in cherry prices in Chile, a major exporter to the Chinese market.

According to 163 , at the end of 2024, the price of cherries in the Chinese market was at 70-80 yuan/kg (246,000-285,000 VND/kg), but now it has dropped to 15 yuan/kg, even only 8.8 yuan/kg (more than 30,000 VND/kg) in Wuhan.

“Businesses are benefiting from increased sales. Meanwhile, cherry growers in Chile, despite seeing their profit margins narrow, continue to focus on exporting to China to get their products to market,” Cherry Times reported.

Similarly, in the Indian market, thanks to sea transport, Chile's cherry exports to this Asian country increased from 367 tons in the 2023-2024 crop year to 708 tons in the 2024-2025 crop year.

Since 2021, Vietnam has also been in the sights of Chilean businesses to expand cherry export activities.

Before Tet, a supermarket chain imported 100 tons of Chilean cherries to serve people's Tet shopping needs within half a month. On the first day of sale, this unit sold out 20 tons at a price of less than 200,000 VND/kg.

Unprecedentedly expensive, 2 million VND/kg of cherries are still "sold out" at the At Ty Tet market . No longer cheap as before, imported cherries are flooding the At Ty Tet market at expensive prices. Some types of prices have skyrocketed by the day, up to 2 million VND/kg, but they are still "sold out".