The 2025 Tet flower market will be more "struggling" as consumers maintain a saving trend after a year of economic fluctuations.
The ornamental flower market has many changes when consumers have enough information about prices to choose - Photo: C.CONG
While gardeners are becoming more professional in terms of care, seed selection and sales, flower traders have not changed much, still charging high prices in the early days and "dumping goods" near Tet.
And the result is not surprising when most gardeners in provinces and cities specializing in growing Tet flowers such as Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Can Tho... sold over 80% of Tet flower output, but at the market, traders had to sell off to... recover capital.
One special thing is that the price of flowers this Tet season has not increased much compared to previous years, some types of flowers have even decreased.
Gardeners offer realistic flower prices
During the days before Lunar New Year 2025, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Trong (Ben Tre) hung a flower sale sign right on an empty lot along Highway 57C (Chau Thanh district) for 80,000 VND/pair of marigolds, pot of 4 plants, five-color bougainvillea for 110,000 VND/pot.
Mr. Trong explained that the reason for listing "soft" prices right before Tet is that many gardeners have abandoned the mindset of "selling expensive at first, then getting cheaper closer to Tet to clear out inventory".
"Instead, we sell at the same price from start to finish and have to choose the right price. If we can sell 80 - 90%, we will make a profit," said Mr. Trong.
According to Mr. Trong, with the stable selling price as above, if he sells everything, he will have a good profit, not to mention the money from selling the seedlings.
Almost every year, as soon as the seedlings are planted, there are buyers, and the money from selling the seedlings is just enough to pay for the land rent. This is also the reason why Mr. Trong chose to sell at the right price from the beginning to attract buyers.
Not only growers and retailers, professional producers have also had many changes in thinking.
Some gardeners choose flower segments that suit their economic situation, while others choose to cooperate with traders to produce according to orders or produce in a 50-50 way, meaning 50% is sold to traders, 50% is sold directly to customers.
Mr. Le Thanh Long - a flower farmer in An Hoa ward (Sa Dec city, Dong Thap province) - said that thanks to changes and flower production according to the tastes of flower buyers in the past 2 years, increasing the production of Korean raspberry flowers with many new colors, so more customers come to buy.
"There are customers from Ho Chi Minh City who come to the garden to buy without going through traders anymore. The garden has changed the way of buying and selling by 50% selling directly to customers, no longer completely dependent on traders like before. Especially, the flower garden is open to visitors to earn extra income and sell flowers at the original price, so customers really like it," said Mr. Long.
The trend of selling Tet flowers... cheaply
In addition to the flower prices being brought closer to reality, this year's Tet flower market also does not have many "billion-dollar" products like previous years. It is noted that at Tet flower markets in Can Tho City, there are almost no "high-value" apricot trees worth billions of dong like the spring flower markets in previous years.
Mr. Ngo Tran Dinh Nghi - owner of a mai tree growing and trading facility (Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city) - said that in reality, the demand for buying large, long-standing mai trees priced from 200 million to 1 billion VND/tree has decreased significantly. Since then, the facility has proactively shifted its business to supplying the Tet market with mini mai trees (mai trees displayed on tables).
"In parallel with displaying apricot blossoms for sale at the spring flower market lots on Hoang Van Thu Street (Ninh Kieu District), I also post pictures of apricot blossoms for sale at listed prices on Facebook and Zalo. This method is also quite good, if customers like it, they will "close the deal" immediately, without haggling over the price.
The small apricot trees take up little space in the lot and the transportation costs are low, so this time I sold more than 300 mini apricot trees, the price ranges from 280,000 - 400,000 VND/tree, which is quite a profit," said Mr. Nghi.
Mr. Bui Huu Tan - Vice Chairman of My Phu Ward People's Committee, member of Cao Lanh Spring Flower Market Management Board - said that the price of ornamental flowers in 2025 will decrease compared to 2024. For Tet flowers, purchasing power has increased, but ornamental leaves and apricot trees are selling slowly compared to previous years.
"Consumption at the flower market has increased, but on the 29th of Tet, there are still many flowers in the market because the flowers are "running to the market" from places near Cao Lanh City to sell on the last day," said Mr. Tan.
Mr. Vo Minh Thong - acting head of the Economic Department of Sa Dec City - said that from the beginning of the season, the locality has advised people not to increase the area of Tet flowers but to focus on improving the quality of ornamental flowers, creating designs, and meeting market demands.
"A survey of gardeners selling at markets such as Long An, Bac Lieu, Ho Chi Minh City, Cao Lanh, Sa Dec, Can Tho, Kien Giang... shows that the amount of flowers consumed is stable but the price is not higher than in 2024. Some slow-selling items such as yellow apricot, bougainvillea... have to lower prices to sell, but there is still no stock left to transport back," said Mr. Thong.
Mr. Nguyen Vinh Trong hung a flower selling sign right on Highway 57C (Chau Thanh District, Ben Tre) with surprisingly low prices from the beginning, so he quickly sold out the flowers and doubled his profit - Photo: M.TRUONG
Everyone knows the price, the time for overcharging is over.
During the 2025 Tet season, Ms. Nguyen Thi Uyen (Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city) pre-ordered nearly 400 pots of marigolds, yellow raspberry chrysanthemums, and Taiwanese chrysanthemums to sell at the spring flower market in urban area 586 (Cai Rang district, Can Tho city).
According to Ms. Uyen, the garden provides the Tet market with beautiful, quality flowers at stable prices.
"Many retailers sell both directly and online by posting real pictures of their stalls along with the prices, so there is almost no case of overcharging buyers because everyone has a phone and can go online to see the prices," Ms. Uyen said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Doan Huu Bon - director of Binh An Ornamental Flower Cooperative (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City) - said that 90 cooperative member households supply the market with about 18,000 baskets and pots of various flowers.
Because it sells in its own garden, the traditional flower market at Ninh Kieu wharf also continuously updates images for sale on social networking sites such as Facebook, Zalo, flower and ornamental plant buying and selling groups... so it is not "flooded" by the market.
According to Mr. Bon, selling ornamental flowers in the 4.0 direction is necessary and must be applied regularly, meaning that in addition to displaying ornamental flowers at traditional stalls, it is necessary to communicate on social networking sites, especially when implementing the planting of new flower varieties so that buyers or ornamental flower players know more.
That also helps the flower and ornamental plant consumption cycle run smoother and faster.
The lesson that Mr. Bon has learned after more than 15 years of growing ornamental flowers for Tet is that growers need to prepare good growing media and disease-free seedlings.
As soon as the tree is newly grown, it is necessary to spread information and images on forums, Facebook, Zalo... to let everyone know. Customers who like it will be willing to pre-order. Once there are customers "closing the deal", no longer worrying about output, farmers can boldly plant.
"The most important thing is that the flowers grown must be of good quality, beautiful, and suitable to customers' tastes, then of course the flowers will sell. This year, flower growers like me can be called a big winner because the quantity and selling price are stable, the flowers are sold out early and there is no big discount or throwing away on New Year's Eve, which is the last market session of the Tet flower market," said Mr. Bon.
Flowers are cheap and sell well.
A "terrifying" Tet is what gardener Nguyen Van Chien (Cho Lach, Ben Tre) had in mind after the 29th day of Tet.
According to Mr. Chien, this year he sold mai trees in Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City, but only Vung Tau was okay, while the location on Pham Van Dong Street (Ho Chi Minh City) brought 250 trees but only sold more than 50%, so on the 29th of Tet he had to hire a car to bring them back.
"This year, knowing it will be difficult, I have set a stable price, mainly small apricot trees at 300,000 - 1.5 million VND/pot, even reducing the price by 20% on the 28th and 29th of Tet but it is still difficult to sell. Costs have increased, we have worked hard all year but in the end we have suffered a loss, I don't know if I should sell them next year," Mr. Chien pondered.
Meanwhile, after selling all 350 pots of chrysanthemums, marigolds, and cockscombs, it was time to return the space to the park on the 29th of Tet. Ms. Ngo Thi Bich Han (Dong Thap) breathed a sigh of relief and said that this year she chose to sell at Gia Dinh Park (HCMC) in the hope that more people would buy, but it was not as good as selling on the sidewalk last year.
However, according to Ms. Han, compared to the general level, her sales are more stable, not falling into the situation of big discounts and destroying flowers at the end of the 29th day of Tet like many other gardeners and traders.
"The price is affordable at 120,000 - 200,000 VND/pair depending on the type and I only discount 20% on the 28th and 29th of Tet. Maybe because it's near the road, it's easy for customers to buy," said Ms. Han.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre on February 5, a representative of the Da Lat Flower Association said that this year there are winners and losers because the price of cut flowers has not increased like every year, not to mention that it is difficult to sell at the end of the year due to traffic jams and damage.
In addition, there is still the situation of buying flowers later (paying after selling), meaning that the flowers are sent by farmers to sellers in different places, and if they sell well, they will share the profits well, otherwise it is considered a failure, and the gardeners are the ones who suffer the most losses.
According to Mr. Pham Anh Dung - Chairman of Cu Chi Ornamental Plants Association (HCMC), the quantity and price of dendro orchids during Tet in Cu Chi are stable as last year, but mokara orchids have decreased by 40-50%.
According to Mr. Dung, the price of dendro orchids is softer, commonly from 50,000 - 70,000 VND, so wholesale customers buy relatively stable, by the 27th of Tet many gardens "sold out". On the contrary, mokara orchids are unsold due to high prices, many gardeners have to cut branches and sell them to keep the plants to continue growing.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh, representative of Duc Tinh apricot garden (Thu Duc city), said that although the selling and rental prices are still stable at 5 - 20 million VND/tree depending on the type, the amount of apricot sold for Tet this year has decreased by 30% compared to last year.
"Many apricot gardens are ancient and unique, so customers with financial means still like to rent them. In particular, popular and simple apricot varieties such as Ben Tre apricot, Binh Loi apricot... are increasingly difficult to sell because the market is now saturated," said Mr. Tinh.
"It's right that traders lose!"
In addition to wholesale to traders, gardeners also have many retail channels, especially through social networking platforms, and all products have listed prices. This helps buyers avoid buying the wrong product, but unintentionally causes difficulties for traders.
According to Mr. Minh, a Tet flower trader along the Ben Tre River, this Tet season he was only able to sell 1/3 of the nearly 50 apricot trees he put up for sale.
"I collected these apricot trees from gardeners to grow and sell for Tet. I put a lot of effort and money into them, but in the end I couldn't sell them. I consider myself empty-handed this year," said Mr. Minh.
Traders have to change their selling methods to reduce the situation of buyers waiting to sell goods near Tet - Photo: TTD
According to Mr. Minh, the apricot blossom lots next to him are in a similar situation this year because many people have switched to buying apricot blossoms for Tet online.
"While we spend money on transportation and renting a place to sell, online they just post and deliver the goods, which is much cheaper, so we have to lose," said Mr. Minh, adding that many traders spend extra money on renting trucks to transport bonsai to their gardens.
Similarly, at My Tho spring flower market (Tien Giang province), where there were about 500 lots of ornamental flowers for sale, by noon on the 29th of Tet, the number of ornamental flowers at the market was still very large.
According to many traders, this year people's purchasing power has decreased, although the prices of ornamental flowers are lower than previous years and have been reduced by 30 - 70% compared to previous days, the business situation of traders is still very difficult, most people who come by ask for prices or just glance.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province, this locality has supplied the Tet market with about 1,280,000 pots, equivalent to the same period of many years.
Because the quality of Tet flowers is beautiful and uniform, they are in high demand at the end of the year. 100% of the output is sold by farmers before Tet at prices 10,000 - 20,000 VND/pair higher than the same period last year.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thi-truong-hoa-tet-at-ty-ai-thang-ai-thua-20250205223859443.htm
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