Chinese flowers flood the Tet market

Chinese Cymbidiums with diverse colors and designs flood the Tet flower market in Hanoi.

A survey at Quang An flower market, one of the largest flower wholesale markets in Hanoi on the days before Tet, shows that in addition to peach and kumquat flowers which are traditional flowers, most of the flower products are imported from China. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao, a trader at this flower market, the most popular and abundant are stillCymbidium, orchids, daffodils, lilies. In the past two years, China has also had peach blossoms grown in bonsai style to serve the needs of Vietnamese people to enjoy flowers during Tet.

Chinese flowers are diverse in design and not cheap. A pot of peach blossom costs from 2.2 to 2.7 million VND, the cheapest orchid branch costs 150,000 to 200,000 VND, many times higher than many Vietnamese flowers that cost only a few thousand VND per flower. "Just look at this flower market, the biggest shops sell high-end flowers, mostly orchids, all Chinese goods," said Ms. Thao.

At the Tet flower market at the Agricultural Exhibition Center (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the orchid stalls are mainly imported from China, mostly cymbidiums with many colors. In addition to the traditional yellow color, cymbidiums also have eye-catching pink, carrot, red colors... imported in whole pots from China. For cymbidiums, the cheapest price is 150,000 - 200,000 VND/branch, the strange and unique color type is sold for 250,000 - 350,000 VND/branch. Phalaenopsis orchids are also priced in the range of 150,000 - 250,000 VND/branch.

Having been "shipping" Tet flowers from Guangdong (China) to the Hanoi market for many years and selling them to the northern provinces, Ms. Hoang Thi Ngoc Cham (Tay Ho district, Hanoi) said that in recent years, the demand for orchids during Tet has increased sharply. Nearly 2 months before Tet, traders start to visit gardeners to place orders, importing mostly beautiful cymbidiums and lake orchids with very beautiful designs and diverse colors.

According to Ms. Cham, with the Chinese orchid species that sells the best on the market, each year this facility invests tens of billions of dong just to import flowers to sell in Hanoi.

According to Ms. Cham, Chinese gardeners are very responsive to the market when accepting orders for production. For example, during the Tet holiday last year, bonsai red apple trees were imported to test the market until they sold well. This year, gardeners produced many types of these apple trees for Vietnamese traders. Bonsai apples brought to Vietnam with all kinds of different sizes and colors, priced at several million VND/tree, are still in high demand.

“If we compare the designs and types, Tet flowers, especially high-end flowers from China, are much more beautiful and cheaper than Vietnamese flowers, so they are consumed very strongly during each Tet holiday,” said Ms. Cham.

Chairman of the Dalat Orchid Association (Lam Dong) Phan Thanh Sang said that currently, the source of orchids originating from this province basically meets the consumption demand in the Central and Southern markets. For the Northern market, Dalat orchids only account for about 10%, the rest are mostly imported from China. Also according to statistics from orchid traders, with phalaenopsis orchids alone, each year the Northern market imports and consumes about 2 million branches, not to mention many other types of flowers that must also be imported from China.

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs (Ministry of Finance), the Tet flower season, calculated from the beginning of December 2017 to the end of January 2018, shows that the number of imported flowers and ornamental plants from China has increased sharply. Preliminary statistics from December 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018, Vietnam spent 3.6 million USD to import flowers and ornamental plants from China, an increase of over 60% compared to the entire Tet season in 2017 (over 2 million USD).

From the perspective of a flower grower and trader (mainly for export), Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra My, Vice President of The Pan Group (a company growing chrysanthemums for export to Japan), shared that looking at the Tet market flooded with Chinese flowers and ornamental plants, she could not help but feel sorry for Vietnamese farmers. Diverse designs and competitive prices are the most important factors that make Chinese flowers flood the market even though the flowers are much less durable. Even in places considered to be traditional flower markets or flower markets, it is not difficult to recognize the overwhelming presence of Chinese flowers and ornamental plants.

This situation raises a big question mark about the domestic market and production capacity. How can domestic flower growers meet the needs of flower players in terms of variety and durability of flowers while still ensuring reasonable prices? However, with fragmented and unfocused production, it is difficult to solve this problem. We need systematic investment in terms of scale, technology, techniques, and human resources, not to mention the need to take advantage of production linkage models connecting all parties (farmers, businesses, the state/associations) to increase the new strength and competitiveness of Vietnamese flowers.

According to Ms. My, Vietnam's flower growing industry has many advantages and development potential when there is a lot of land to develop this field with favorable soil and climate. Meanwhile, the domestic flower consumption demand increases by more than 10% each year, which is a very potential number. Increasing living standards make consumers' requirements more and more strict in terms of flower design, variety and quality.

“To exploit this potential, farmers and businesses need not only to grasp market trends, but also to make serious and professional investments. Investing in producing beautiful flowers at the right price in the right season only accounts for 49% of success, the remaining 51% lies in the ability to build a brand, advertise, transport, store and distribute to consumers,” said Ms. My.