Searching the North to collect 5 tons of red carp: Waiting for an opportunity to make a profit of 100 million

For fish traders, the busiest market season is before and after Tet, in which the 23rd of December (Tet Ong Cong Ong Tao) is the time when fish traders make a lot of money. On that occasion, most households buy red carp. Some people buy a set of 3-5 fish, others buy a lot of fish to worship and send Ong Cong and Ong Tao to heaven.

After 7 pm, before having time to cook anything for her children, Ms. Le Thanh Hai, owner of a famous seafood wholesaler in Nguyen Trai (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) was still busy with her workers checking the oxygen tanks and cleaning the fish tanks.

According to Ms. Hai, during the whole year of trading, the Tet Ong Cong Ong Tao is the day when red carp is consumed the most. That day, every household buys red carp. Some families buy a set of 3 red carp, some buy a set of 5 red carp, some even buy a set of 7 or 9 red carp to worship and then release them in ponds or lakes.

“Now I just have to wait until December 23 to go to the pond to catch carp and bring it back to Hanoi to sell. I have been collecting and ordering fish for a month now.” However, Ms. Hai said that in the past 3 years, the amount of fish consumed in Hanoi has decreased significantly, and carp sales have also been sluggish.

However, to meet the market demand for Ong Cong, Ong Tao Tet, this year she still ordered 3 tons of fish. Of which, 2 tons were ordered in Cam Khe district (Phu Tho), the remaining 1 ton was ordered in Hung Yen with different sizes, from small ones the size of 2 fingers to the size of a whole hand.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhan, a fish wholesaler at Thanh Tri wholesale market (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) also said that to prepare for the Ong Cong Ong Tao Tet market, she has ordered 5 tons of various types of red carp.

Red carp meat is not as delicious as white carp, so this type of fish is raised by ponds and lakes only to serve the market during the Ong Cong and Ong Tao Tet holidays. At wholesale markets, the amount of fish consumed at each stall is up to a ton. Therefore, if we do not buy fish from now, there will not be enough supply to sell.

Last year, starting from December 20, Ms. Nhan sold about 2 tons of red carp every day. By December 23, she had sold 5 tons of fish.

“This year, I only dare to take 5 tons and not more. Because I can’t take too much, even though I sold out of carp quite early on December 23 last year,” she said.

Ms. Nhan revealed that red carp only sells well for 3 days, from December 21 to 23, but retailers can earn from 500,000 to 1,000,000 VND/day in profit during this time. As for traders like her, each Ong Cong and Ong Tao season, the profit can reach tens of millions to hundreds of millions. Like last year, after selling all the carp she brought back, she pocketed nearly 100 million VND.

According to traders, this year the source of red carp in the provinces has not fluctuated much, the price is the same as last year. Therefore, the retail price of carp to consumers is expected to be from 25,000 - 50,000 VND/set.

In addition to red carp, there is also a type of koi fish on the market that is sold for 200,000 - 800,000 VND/fish, depending on the type. This fish originates from China and is not raised in Vietnam.

This is a high-end fish so it is quite picky about buyers, usually only wealthy families buy koi carp to worship and then release them. Notably, customers also only choose to buy regular koi fish for a few hundred thousand VND/fish to worship and send the Kitchen Gods to heaven. As for the koi carp that cost tens of millions of VND, they buy them as pets, said Mr. Phan Van Lam - a fish shop owner in Yen Phu.