At 400,000 VND per fruit, Thai ruby pomelos are still selling out.

Việt Nam•05/02/2024

Ms. Doan Minh Chuyen from Yen Lang (Dong Da, Hanoi ) said she ordered two boxes of Thai ruby pomelos at 2 million VND per box, intending to give them as Tet gifts.

She shared that the ruby pomelo has a vibrant green peel and feels very firm in the hand. The flesh is a striking bright red, with juicy segments that are intensely sweet and seedless or have very few seeds. Compared to ruby pomelos grown in Vietnam, those from Thailand are of superior quality.

Ms. Chuyen chose to buy first-grade ruby pomelos, weighing 2kg each, at a price of 400,000 VND per fruit. Because, as a gift, she prioritizes items with beautiful appearance and good quality, so she still chose to buy them even though the price was somewhat high.

ruby grapefruit Thailand.jpg — Thai ruby pomelos flood Vietnamese markets in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year (Photo: Provided by the interviewee).

Ms. Pham Thi Thu An also chose to buy ruby pomelos for Tet (Lunar New Year) offerings and gifts. However, she had to ask at a third store before she could buy the pomelos she needed. The two previous stores both shook their heads and refused because they were "out of stock" and overwhelmed with orders.

Speaking to a reporter from VietNamNet , Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, a supplier of imported fruits in Tay Ho (Hanoi), said that three days ago she received a shipment of 1,500 ruby pomelos from Thailand. All of these pomelos are to fulfill pre-orders from customers.

Over the past two days, she has been advertising ruby pomelos on her shop's Facebook page, and the number of orders has been increasing sharply due to the peak Tet shopping season.

"Today, we estimate that customers have already ordered 600 pomelos. However, the shipment won't arrive until the day after tomorrow so we can distribute them to customers," she said.

In Ho Chi Minh City, staff at Chu Van Minh's fruit store also had to turn down many customers' orders for Thai ruby pomelos because they were "out of stock".

He said that the ruby red-fleshed pomelos his store sells originate from Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. Each pomelo weighs between 1-2 kg. He imports the top-quality ones, weighing 1.8-2 kg each, primarily to meet the demand for gifts and offerings during Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Therefore, the selling price is also higher than smaller pomelos.

ruby grapefruit thailand9.jpg — Ruby pomelos, priced at 400,000 VND per fruit, are still in high demand (Photo: Provided by the seller).

Previously, he planned to import 5,000 pomelos to sell throughout the Tet holiday. However, by the 18th day of the 12th lunar month, all the stock was sold out. This is why the store's staff have been constantly having to turn down orders for ruby pomelos.

According to Mr. Minh, many orchards in Vietnam also grow ruby pomelos. Vietnamese pomelos are only a quarter of the price, but customers are not as interested because the quality and appearance of Thai ruby pomelos are significantly better than Vietnamese ones.

"I just imported another 1,000 ruby pomelos from Thailand; they'll arrive tomorrow," he shared. However, Mr. Minh expects these pomelos to sell out in just a few days. Even so, this is the last batch, and he won't be importing more because he plans to focus on selling Vietnamese fruits closer to Tet (Lunar New Year) for the traditional five-fruit offering.

In fact, in our country, pomelo is the main fruit crop, with a production of over 1 million tons per year. Among them, green-skinned pomelo, Dien pomelo, red pomelo, and Nam Roi pomelo are the most commonly grown varieties with large production volumes. Ruby pomelo is a new variety that farmers are experimenting with, so the production is quite modest and the quality is not yet stable.

During the Tet holiday market, Vietnamese pomelos are quite affordable. For example, green-skinned pomelos cost from 25,000-40,000 VND/fruit depending on the variety; Dien pomelos cost from 15,000-50,000 VND/fruit; Tan Lac red pomelos range from 15,000-20,000 VND/fruit; and ruby pomelos cost from 20,000-50,000 VND/fruit...

Currently, pomelos are entering their peak consumption season for Tet (Lunar New Year). This is one of the fruits that many families choose to include in their Tet fruit offerings.

Golden pomelo trees for Tet (Lunar New Year) flood Vinh City, priced at 40 million VND per pot . With nearly 20 days left until the traditional Tet holiday of the Year of the Dragon 2024, traders have transported dozens of truckloads of ornamental pomelo trees with golden fruit to be displayed and sold in many places in Nghe An .

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