Cheap Chinese lucky melons enter Vietnam

Lucky melons are being sold by many fruit stores and agents in Ho Chi Minh City for 50,000 VND each. This fruit is of Chinese origin, people only buy it for worship, not to eat it.

After the New Year, the market for shaped fruits in Ho Chi Minh City began to bustle. While domestic shaped fruits are mainly grapefruit, watermelon, etc., sold for 1-3 million VND per product and do not sell very well, Chinese shaped melons in the shape of God of Fortune are being sought after by many people.

Many fruit dealers in Ho Chi Minh City import large quantities of fruit to sell. Some fruit shops in retail markets also accept orders for this strangely shaped fruit. The sellers said that the above mentioned melons are grown in China and have three basic shapes: the shape of a god of wealth with the word "Phuc", the shape of a longevity god, and the shape of a ginseng baby (in the movie Journey to the West).

Each fruit weighs 200-300 grams and is shaped into a shape of the god of wealth with the word "Phuc" written on it. After harvesting, the melons are washed, tied with a red string for luck, and wrapped in a layer of cellophane for preservation.

On sales websites and Facebook, lucky cantaloupe melons are being sold for 50,000-65,000 VND each. Mr. Nguyen Qui Anh, owner of a fruit warehouse at Thu Duc agricultural wholesale market, Ho Chi Minh City, said that lucky cantaloupe melons are popular with many fruit stores and agents, with some people ordering dozens of boxes with thousands of fruits to sell during Tet.

Lucky melon 50,000 VND/fruit, many people are looking to buy to display during Tet.

Mr. Le Thanh Duy, owner of a fruit dealer in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, shared that this type of melon has a reasonable price, meeting the demand for strange fruits to display on Tet of many people. This product from China is competing directly with domestic shaped fruits. Low price and beautiful appearance are considered the advantages of this product, although the quality has not been verified. The price of each fruit is only 1/10 compared to gourd pomelo, so according to Mr. Duy, many customers order 2-4 fruits.

The melon is shaped like a god of wealth, so many people buy it to bring luck in business. According to Ms. Hong Tuyet, who specializes in selling shaped fruits online, this type of fruit can be kept for 20-30 days, customers buy it mainly to decorate the altar for beauty, not to eat it. In fact, this type of fruit has appeared since last year's Tet, but with small quantities, the price is 2-3 times higher. This year, it is grown en masse, so the price is cheap.

“After 1 week of online sales, the store has received more than 200 orders. In addition to the lucky pear, the golden pear shaped like ginseng in the movie Journey to the West is also popular with many customers, priced at 80,000 VND/fruit,” said Ms. Tuyet.

Mr. Huynh Trinh, an agricultural engineer in Cho Gao, Tien Giang, said that the type of lucky melon currently sold on the market cannot be grown in Vietnam. To have a beautiful shape, growers often harvest it when it is still green and unripe, so it cannot be eaten. This year, the domestic market for shaped fruits has also seen many new varieties such as guava, peach, strawberry, etc., but the prices are quite high due to the high cost of care and time.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hau, a farmer in Cho Gao, Tien Giang, said that in previous years, domestic shaped fruits were the monopoly, but now there are more varieties from China. He is worried that his 500 gourd pomelos are at risk of losing value.

"The investment cost for a pomelo garden to shape is hundreds of millions of dong, because not all fruits can be shaped successfully, while Chinese farmers use fruits that require less labor, are short-lived, and have low costs, such as melons," said Mr. Hau.

Mr. Vo Trung Thanh, Head of the Fruit Shaped Club in Chau Thanh, Hau Giang, said that this year the weather is not favorable for fruit shaping, but the number of shaped grapefruits still meets the market demand. The club has shaped 10,000 grapefruits, 1,000 peaches, most notably 600 grapefruits printed with the map of Vietnam, including the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos, selling for 1.2-1.4 million VND per fruit.

According to News.zing.vn