'Chinese honey apples cost only 10 thousand/kg but are as delicious as Japanese apples that cost millions'?

Advertised as crispy, fragrant with a high honey content like premium Japanese products, Chinese honey apples have a shocking price, just over or under 10,000 VND/kg.

Chinese honey apples are "making waves" in the Vietnamese market these days. Ms. Pham Thi Minh Chau, a customer in Hai Ba Trung district ( Hanoi ) admitted that, regardless of food safety, Phu Si honey apples (China) are crispy like Envy apples, have a fragrant aroma, and are richly sweet. All 3 times she recently ordered, 100% of the apples had honey.

“Comparing the honey ratio with the same Japanese apple variety, the Chinese apple is on par,” she said. However, what shocked Ms. Chau was that Japanese honey apples cost millions of VND per kilogram, while the Chinese honey apples she ordered were only 10,000 VND/kg for the large size of 4 apples/kg.

In the Vietnamese market, Chinese honey apple are being sold everywhere from street vendors, traditional markets to "online markets", large and small fruit store chains...

Traders advertise Fuji honey apples as a Japanese honey apple variety brought to grow in the high mountains of Guizhou (China). This apple variety is harvested in the last 3 months of the year.

Chinese honey apples advertised as as delicious as premium Japanese products have flooded Vietnamese markets. Photo: NVCC

When the fruit is ripe, the skin will turn deep red. When you cut it open, the inside of the apple will be slightly pale yellow, mixed with transparent parts (called apple honey rays). The more honey the apple has, the more crispy, delicious, and sweet it will be. Therefore, some sources also advertise this as the "Japanese honey apple version" originating from China.

Three years ago, high-end Chinese honey apples were sold in Vietnamese markets at prices ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 VND/kg. The popular variety was priced at only 30,000 to 40,000 VND/kg; some places advertised a set of 5kg honey apples for 109,000 VND - or nearly 22,000 VND/kg.

At this time, Vip size honey apples packed in paper boxes weighing about 14kg are selling for only 140,000 VND, which is only 10,000 VND/kg.

“This is the price I sell to retail customers by the box. The product is 80-90% honey-free,” said Ms. Ngo Thi Hanh, an online fruit seller in Ha Dong (Hanoi).

Since the beginning of October, Ms. Hanh has been selling Chinese honey apples on Facebook and Tiktok every day. Notably, the apples are still the VIP size but the price is getting cheaper and cheaper.

3 days ago, she sold honey apples for 160,000 VND/box of 14kg, but in the past 2 days the price has dropped to 140,000 VND/box. Wholesale customers will have different prices depending on the quantity.

This type of apple is sold at a super cheap price. Photo: NVCC

The reason she chose to sell by the box to retail customers is because the price of Chinese honey apples is too cheap. If she sold by weight, with each customer ordering 2-3kg, the delivery fee would be more expensive than the price of the apples, Ms. Hanh explained.

Accordingly, the number of apples Ms. Hanh sells each day is up to 300-400 boxes, equivalent to 4-5.6 tons of apples/day.

Ms. Bui Thi Bich Van, an online fruit seller at an apartment complex in Thanh Tri (Hanoi), said that the price of Chinese honey apples is getting cheaper and cheaper. She sells a box of apples weighing 13kg for 160,000 VND, and if customers buy retail by weight, the price is 15,000 VND/kg. Therefore, the number of apples ordered by customers has also increased sharply.

Remembering the time when the honey apple season began, Ms. Van could only sell a few dozen kilos a day. Today, she has brought back 300 kilos of VIP honey apples to pay for orders placed by residents. And tomorrow, the amount of apples ordered by customers will be up to more than 500 kilos, she said.

In the market, Chinese honey apples are being sold at many different prices. The popular type with small fruit costs only 7,000-8,000 VND/kg; VIP products bought in boxes weighing 13-14kg cost 140,000-160,000 VND/kg, retail prices are 15,000-30,000 VND/kg depending on the type.

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