Grapefruit is in its scarcest season, some types are twice as expensive.

A month ago, Ms. Ha Thi Chau in Dinh Cong (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) bought green-skinned grapefruit for only 25,000 VND/fruit, weighing 1.2-1.3 kg/fruit. At that time, she bought a bag of 20 fruits at a store near her house to eat gradually.

This grapefruit was sold out 3 days ago, so today she went to buy another bag of grapefruit. When the store told her the amount to pay, she was shocked because the price had increased to 55,000 VND/fruit, twice the previous price.

“20 grapefruits cost 1.1 million VND. This specialty is no longer cheap but has become expensive,” she said. But in return, the grapefruits she bought this time were all very ripe, so they taste better.

Talking to reporters, Ms. Nguyen Thi Luyen, manager of a fruit store in Dong Da (Hanoi), admitted that the price of green-skinned grapefruit has increased sharply recently. For example, yesterday's batch of green-skinned grapefruit had two types, of which the Vip size weighing 1.3-1.5 kg/fruit cost 70,000 VND/fruit, and the size 1-1.2 kg cost 55,000 VND/fruit.

According to her, the price of green-skinned pomelos depends on the weight of the fruit. However, for a long time in the past, the price of this specialty was low. Even at the beginning of this year, the price of green-skinned pomelos fluctuated between 19,000 and 29,000 VND/fruit, and VIP products that met export standards were only 30,000 and 35,000 VND/fruit.

Green-skinned grapefruit prices have doubled compared to the beginning of this year. Photo: Tam An

According to the law of supply and demand, when supply is scarce, businesses buy large quantities to export, so prices skyrocket. She said that at the beginning of this year, each shipment of grapefruit had up to a thousand boxes (each box had 12-13 fruits depending on size), but now only 200-300 boxes are imported per shipment.

“Grapefruit prices are high, so customers are ordering fewer grapefruits. Instead of buying a whole box like before, most customers now only order 2-5 fruits,” she said.

As an online seller for 4 years now, according to Ms. Le Thanh Thuy in Bach Mai (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi), this is the time when green-skin pomelos are most expensive.

This type of grapefruit is available almost all year round, but in recent years the price has been relatively cheap, ranging from 30,000-35,000 VND/fruit, the most expensive is only 45,000-50,000 VND/fruit weighing 1.2-1.4 kg. However, for nearly a week now, the price of green-skin grapefruit has jumped to 75,000 VND/fruit, she shared.

At the end of February this year, on the market, stores advertised selling green-skinned grapefruits of size 0.9-1 kg/fruit for 16,000-19,000 VND/fruit, grapefruits of size 1.1-1.5 kg/fruit for 30,000-40,000 VND/fruit. Currently, the prices for these grapefruit sizes are 35,000 VND/fruit and 55,000-75,000 VND/fruit.

According to information from the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the total output of grapefruit (green-skinned grapefruit, Nam Roi grapefruit, Dien grapefruit, etc.) in 2023 is estimated at about 1.1 million tons. However, the second quarter is the time with the lowest grapefruit output of the year, only about 90,000 tons. The amount of grapefruit is concentrated in the Southern region, the growing areas in the North this season are almost not harvested.

Chart: Vietnamnet

A grapefruit exporter said that the grapefruit output in the second quarter was much lower than in the remaining quarters of the year. Meanwhile, this is a favorable time for grapefruit exports to other markets such as the US and China, so the price of green-skinned grapefruit has increased sharply.

“Green-skinned grapefruit has always been relatively expensive compared to other grapefruits grown in Vietnam. However, recently, exports have encountered difficulties, and grapefruit has flooded the market, so prices have decreased. Since the end of March, grapefruit prices have gradually recovered to the level before the Covid pandemic,” said this representative.

At the end of 2022, a batch of 40 tons of Vietnamese green-skin pomelos was officially exported to the US. Ms. Ngo Tuong Vy, General Director of Chanh Thu Fruit Export Group Joint Stock Company, said that Vietnamese green-skin pomelos are sold in stores and supermarkets in many different states in the US. The listed price of green-skin pomelos is 15-22 USD/kg, equivalent to 375,000-535,000 VND/kg.

Green-skinned grapefruit exported to the US weighs from 1-1.7 kg/fruit, with each fruit costing between 375,000-900,000 VND, depending on the type. Since then, the amount of grapefruit exported by businesses to this market has been quite steady, Ms. Vy said.