Chinese milk grapes are taking the Vietnamese market by storm. This is a famous grape variety from Japan, considered a “noble” fruit because of its high price. However, only in recent years, when China expanded its growing area, milk grapes have flooded the Vietnamese market in large quantities and at super cheap prices.

Notably, since the beginning of October, another "noble" grape variety called "autumn heart" from China has flooded the Vietnamese market.

Like milk grapes, “autumn heart” grapes are a famous grape variety in Japan. This type of grape was crossbred by the Japanese from the Western Pareto grape variety and peony grapes (milk grapes) to create an impressive rich flavor that stimulates the taste buds. When eaten, heart grapes have a slightly sour taste, but the more you eat, the more the sweetness spreads.

Chinese grapes
Chinese heart-shaped grapes flood Vietnamese markets. Photo: NVCC

When it first appeared in the Vietnamese market, Japanese "heart of autumn" grapes cost between 2-2.3 million VND/kg, making them one of the most expensive grapes in the world.

However, after China expanded its growing area and brought it to the Vietnamese market for sale, this "noble" grape variety went from being expensive to becoming popular.

In stores as well as online markets, Chinese “autumn heart” grapes (also known as red milk grapes) are sold everywhere, commonly at around 150,000 VND/kg. Compared to other types of Chinese grapes sold in Vietnamese markets, heart-shaped grapes are quite expensive, but still super cheap compared to the same type of Japanese products.

Meanwhile, at online fruit wholesale markets, Chinese red milk grapes are being offered for only 550,000 VND/9kg box. In other words, 1kg of these grapes costs only 61,000 VND.

Notably, a bunch of heart-shaped grapes from China weighs from 1.5-2kg, twice the weight of a bunch of Japanese heart-shaped grapes.

Talking to PV.VietNamNet , Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha - owner of an imported fruit store in Hai Ba Trung (Hanoi) - said that she has been importing heart-shaped grapes from China to sell since the beginning of October.

According to her, this new “noble” grape variety is more expensive than milk grapes, so customers are more selective about buying it. However, she still sells about 50-70kg every day.

Chinese grapes
Once an expensive commodity, imported heart grapes from China now cost only a few tens of thousands of VND per kilogram. Photo: NVCC

“Last year, for the first time, I imported these heart-shaped grapes to sell at a price of 350,000-400,000 VND/kg. At that time, the goods were quite rare, so I could only get 1-2 shipments per week,” said Ms. Ha. This year, just entering the heart-shaped grape season, Chinese goods have flooded the market, and wholesale quantities are available. Notably, the selling price has dropped sharply compared to last year.

At Ms. Ha’s store, heart-shaped grapes from China are sold for 150,000 VND/kg. However, the price is gradually cooling down. For the batch of grapes ordered for tomorrow, the price has dropped to 140,000 VND/kg.

At the online fruit wholesale market with more than 300,000 members, Mr. Pham Manh Tuan continuously advertises wholesale red milk grapes for 550,000 VND/9kg box (4-6 bunches). This is the wholesale price he sells to customers who buy less than 5 boxes at a time. For customers who buy more than 5 boxes, the price will be reduced to 530,000 VND/box, about 59,000 VND/kg.

According to Mr. Tuan, in China, milk grapes are at the end of the season while heart-shaped grapes are just beginning to be harvested. This year, the supply of heart-shaped grapes has increased sharply, so at the beginning of the season, the price has dropped quite a bit compared to the same period last year.

Currently, on average, he sells about 1-1.5 tons of red milk grapes to small retailers every day.

“When the main season comes, these heart-shaped grapes will definitely be as cheap as milk grapes,” he predicted. Because, at the beginning of this year’s milk grape season, the wholesale price he sold to wholesalers was at 80,000-100,000 VND/kg, then gradually cooled down to 20,000-40,000 VND/kg depending on the type.

Tighten inspection of Chinese grapes if safety risks are detected

Speaking to the press on the afternoon of October 31 about the issue of controlling the plant safety of Chinese grapes imported into Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Quang Hieu - Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that grapes are currently subject to the usual food safety inspection method (only checking documents) before customs clearance.

In addition, there is post-clearance control, meaning the Plant Protection Department will carry out a monitoring program by taking samples for testing.

According to Mr. Hieu, not only grapes, with many other fruit products imported into Vietnam, the Plant Protection Department also implements monitoring programs to collect information and data to prevent risks leading to food insecurity. At the same time, through that, it assesses the level of food safety with imported goods, timely detection to supplement important bases for changing inspection methods.

If a risk is detected, the testing method can be changed and the sampling frequency increased.

Recently, Chinese milk grapes have been imported a lot to Vietnam and have been sampled for testing. Accordingly, from 2023 to now, the Plant Protection Department has taken 87 samples of grapes imported from China for testing. As a result, 1 sample was found to have pesticide residues that violated Vietnam's regulations.

“We inspect every imported product, but only a certain quantity due to limited human resources. Therefore, the Plant Protection Department hopes that localities will participate in the monitoring program to trace the origin and check the quality of the products. Thus, we will have enough data and data as a basis for considering upgrading from the normal inspection level to strict inspection if risks are detected,” Mr. Hieu emphasized.

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