Nearly half a million dong for a pair of red grapefruits 'presented to the king' on Tet holiday

This year, red grapefruit in the North has increased in price by 5-10% compared to last year, and is being retailed at 120,000-250,000 VND per fruit.

Ms. Lan - the owner of a grapefruit garden in Thanh Hoa - said that her garden always sells out of red grapefruit during Tet. Last year, the price of this item dropped sharply, but now purchasing power has increased again, so the price has increased by 5-10%. Currently, grapefruit in her garden is sold for 80,000-130,000 VND per fruit (depending on the model and size). "I started cutting and selling at the beginning of December and am receiving orders for Tet," Ms. Lan said.

Also selling at a high price, Ms. Hoa, who owns about 100 red grapefruit trees, said that this year's output of this type of fruit has decreased by 30% compared to last year. Many households in the area's gardens also do not achieve the same output as previous years. However, with the high price, red grapefruit growers still make a big profit.

Red grapefruit is widely sold on online markets. Photo: Thanh Tung

While growing grapefruit and purchasing products for farmers, Mr. Tran Tien Hai, in Thanh Hoa, said that this year he supplied 15,000 fruits to the market, a 25% decrease compared to the 2019-2020 period.

"Each grapefruit is being sold for 130,000-150,000 VND for those weighing less than 1 kg. Beautiful, even fruits weighing 1.3-1.5 kg cost 200,000-250,000 VND," said Mr. Hai.

He added that the red grapefruits in his farm are purebred and carefully selected from weight to fruit quality. The grapefruits are picked from 6-10 year old trees, have a strong aroma, natural red color, deep red flesh inside, juicy, weighing 800 grams to 2 kg.

According to him, there are many hybrid varieties of red grapefruit on the market, but the quality is poor. Although the color is eye-catching, it is not as fragrant and delicious as the purebred variety, so buyers should be careful.

While red grapefruit is being sold at high prices by gardeners, many retail stores say purchasing power is still lower than the same period last year because Tet is still far away and consumers are tightening their spending.

As an online sales agent in Cau Giay (Hanoi), Ms. Oanh said that each batch only imports about 200 red grapefruits, and customers only order more when they have all bought them.

"This year's prices are higher than every year, so I don't dare to buy goods because if they don't sell, I will lose a lot of money," said Ms. Oanh.

Ms. Lam Thi Thuy Van, a shop owner in Lam Dong, said that last year she sold thousands of red grapefruits to the market but this year she still does not dare to import goods because of weak purchasing power. "I am still finalizing orders before importing goods but the number of buyers has decreased sharply by 50% compared to previous years," Ms. Van said.

According to local people in Thanh Hoa, red grapefruit used to be a product offered to the king and was chosen for the five-fruit tray on Tet holiday. This type of grapefruit is green when young like other grapefruit varieties, but when it grows up, it gradually turns yellow and when it is ripe, it turns completely red. This type can be displayed for Tet for 2-4 months (depending on how it is preserved).

Hong Chau

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