At the beginning of the season, Vietnamese people ate more than 7,000 tons of Chinese plums.

Housewives still think that plums sold in the market are Vietnamese specialties because they are in season, but they do not know that Chinese plums have quietly invaded and disguised themselves as Vietnamese plums. Therefore, although it is just the beginning of the season, Vietnamese people have already eaten about 7,200 tons of Chinese plums.

Surveys at markets in Hanoi show that Tam Hoa plum and Hau plum originating from Moc Chau (Son La) and Bac Ha (Lao Cai) are at the end of the season, with large, red fruits. Plum prices have also increased, ranging from 50,000-100,000 VND/kg depending on the type, because the supply of these two types of plums is increasingly scarce.

Besides the post-harvest plum and the three-flower plum, at this time, the markets and the streets are also flooded with green plums (traders call them sugar-rice plums) and black plums at very cheap prices, only from 25,000-35,000 VND/kg, depending on the type. These two types of plums are popular because many people think they are Vietnamese specialties. Notably, the prices of these two types of plums are quite cheap, only 1/2 or 1/3 of the price of post-harvest plums and three-flower plums.

Chinese sugar plums are flooding the market.

However, according to Long Bien wholesale market traders, black plums and sugar plums are Chinese plums, not Vietnamese plums. These two types of plums often appear at the end of the season for Tam Hoa plums and Hau plums. That is also the reason why many housewives often buy Chinese plums to eat without knowing, thinking that Vietnamese plums are not out of season yet.

Speaking to PV.VietNamNet, Mr. Le Son Ha, Head of Plant Quarantine Department (Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that in 2016, Vietnam imported about 9,100 tons of Chinese plums through Lang Son and Lao Cai border gates. This year's plum season alone, we imported about 7,200 tons of various types of Chinese plums.

Previously, the leader of a plant quarantine department at the northern border gate also admitted that Vietnamese specialty plums at the end of the season start to be imported in large quantities from China. Specifically, from around June to August is the time when Chinese plums start to flood the market.

Check out the varieties of Chinese plums that are sold in the market

Although 7,200 tons of Chinese plums have been imported, in the market, Chinese plums are all labeled as "Vietnamese plums" with names such as "Bac Ha plums", "Sapa plums",... So, how can we recognize the Chinese plums being sold in the market today?

According to Mr. Nguyen Phi Long, a wholesaler of fruit at Long Bien wholesale market, the market is currently full of the following two types of Chinese plums:

Plum and sugar: Usually appears when the three-flower plum enters the end of the season, price 30,000-35,000 VND/kg.

This type of plum is characterized by the fact that at the beginning of the season, the plum is still green and crunchy, has a sour taste, and does not peel off the seed. The outer skin is yellow-green, and the fruit is larger than the Vietnamese rice plum (the Vietnamese rice plum season is before the Tam Hoa plum season, which is around March-April every year).

When the sugar plums are ripe, they turn yellow with a few red spots. They are crunchy, sweet, and have no seeds. Traders call these plums sugar plums, because when ripe they are considered to be the sweetest plums of all plums.

Chinese black purple plum disguised as Lao Cai black plum.

Black purple plum:Traders often call this type of plum black purple plum or buffalo plum because the plum is about 4-5 times bigger than the three-flower plum. Usually 1kg of black plum has about 7-9 fruits.

The most outstanding feature of this plum is that it is extremely uniform in color, the skin is black when ripe, and purple when slightly green. When you cut open the plum, you will see that the inside is yellow, with lots of flesh and small seeds. When eaten, it has a slightly sweet taste, soft flesh, many fruits are a bit bland and sour (uneven quality). The price of this plum is around 25,000-30,000 VND/kg.

This giant black plum is often labeled by traders as “Sapa plum” because it is quite similar to the black plum in Lao Cai. However, Lao Cai black plums are very rare, the fruit is half or 1/3 as small as the Chinese black plum (Lao Cai black plums are as big as Tam Hoa plums or Hau plums).

Mr. Long also said that in addition to the two plums above, in about a month, the market will have a red plum variety, similar in weight to the black-purple plum, with yellow flesh inside and a sweet taste. Traders often advertise it as American plum and Lao Cai blood plum.

However, Lao Cai blood plums are only as small as post-plums. They are now in peak season but the quantity is not much, Mr. Long shared.

According to VNN