This is a "strange" type of watermelon, surprisingly small, previously costing hundreds of thousands of VND/kg, now sold in the market at a "super cheap" price.

Apple watermelon, also known as mini watermelon, is a very popular watermelon in Korea in recent years. Although it is very small in size, only equivalent to an apple, this type of watermelon has a thin skin and is considered much sweeter than regular watermelon. Therefore, many people are willing to spend 100-200 thousand VND/kg to buy mini watermelon to try.

Apple watermelons, which used to cost up to 200,000 VND/kg, are now sold at surprisingly low prices. (Photo: Ha Huynh).

However, recently, Korean mini watermelons have been sold in all fruit stores at surprisingly cheap prices, only from 25-35 thousand VND/fruit, weighing from 0.8-1.3 kg, much cheaper than last year.

Seeing a familiar fruit store selling tiny watermelons with proper labels and barcodes, Ms. Tran Thi Huong, residing in Dong Da ( Hanoi ) immediately bought 5 to burn incense and try.

“When my kids saw their mother bring home some small watermelons, different from normal watermelons, they were very excited. Each of them held one, eagerly waiting for their mother to cut it open to see what was inside. I was worried, afraid that I had bought unripe watermelons, but when I cut them open, the skin was thin and very sweet,” said Ms. Huong.

Mini watermelon is very small but has thin skin and is very sweet.

However, according to Ms. Huong, the price of the mini watermelon she bought was 30 thousand VND/fruit, weighing about 1kg, more than twice as expensive as a normal watermelon. But when eating it, there was no difference compared to a normal watermelon, so she only bought it to eat once.

On the contrary, seeing mini Korean watermelons being sold at an apartment market, Ms. Thuy Van, residing in Hoang Mai (Hanoi) also bought some to try but felt quite disappointed.

“I saw a label outside saying “Korean mini watermelon – Long An garden”, with a barcode. When I scanned the barcode, the same information appeared, but when I looked up the name and address of the garden, it was not there. When I ate it, I found it was blander than the normal watermelon I usually buy for 12,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, I bought this type of watermelon for 100,000 VND/3 fruits, each weighing about 1kg,” said Ms. Van.

Many people are curious to buy this "strange" mini watermelon to try, so the store sells thousands of them every day.

Selling mini watermelons for 75,000 VND/3 fruits, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, residing in Thanh Xuan (Hanoi) said that Korean mini watermelons are the best-selling item at her store since the beginning of June.

“This is a Korean apple watermelon variety grown in a home garden in Long An. The fruit is small but has a thin skin, red flesh and is very sweet, so many people like it. Every week, my store ships in 2 shipments, each shipment has about 150 boxes, each box weighs 20kg and is still sold out,” said Ms. Thuy.

According to Ms. Thuy, mini watermelons this year are much cheaper than previous years. If the same mini watermelons are grown in Korea and imported to Vietnam for sale, the price will be no less than 200,000 VND/kg. Last year, this type of watermelon grown in Vietnam also cost 35-50,000 VND/kg, this year the price is only half.

Each mini watermelon weighs only about 1kg and is sold for 25-35 thousand VND.

“I sell wholesale by the box at only 355,000 VND/box of 20kg, which is only over 17,000 VND/kg, and retail at 25,000 VND/fruit weighing 0.8-1.3kg. At this price, mini watermelons are twice as expensive as normal watermelons but much cheaper than previous years,” Ms. Thuy informed.

With small weight, but sweet and delicious like normal watermelon, many people buy it to eat during this hot season or display on the altar during holidays and Tet.

However, Ms. Thuy said that to buy quality products, sweet melons, thin skin, and avoid buying immature, poor quality melons, you must find a familiar, reputable store that has a product warranty and can return or exchange products if there is a problem, to avoid losing money.

Source: https://danviet.vn/day-la-loai-dua-hau-la-be-bat-ngo-truoc-ca-tram-nghin-dong-kg-nay-ban-day-cho-voi-gia-sieu-re-20240628230100377.htm