Imported Tet jams are coming in droves by hand-carried means.

To promote the Dinh Dau Tet holiday, besides the "homemade Tet jam" line, imported jams and dried fruits are also bustling into Vietnam by hand-carried means.

While homemade jams, sold online under the general name "homemade Tet jams", choose food safety as an element to attract customers, imported jams, which have been present for a long time during Tet, appeal to the psychology of liking foreign goods, luxury, new flavors and easy to give as gifts. On forums, social networks or online markets, the number of individuals and small retail stores selling imported jams and dried fruits has increased significantly in the past month.

The main products introduced include: raisins, currants, blueberries, dates… imported from Australia; dried persimmons from Korea, candied grapefruit peel from Thailand. Some more unusual products include: Israeli dates, dried peaches from South Africa, apricots and figs from Türkiye.

There are many people involved in the business of jams and dried fruits, from individuals whose relatives come back from abroad during Tet to small-scale shops specializing in selling gifts or shops specializing in selling imported goods from abroad. The level of trust in the origin mainly depends on the trust in the seller and the label on the outside.

Imported whole-bunch raisins are still the top imported dried fruit chosen for Tet.

“The raisins, currants, blueberries, and dates are hand-carried directly from Australia by relatives, so you can rest assured about the quality,” said an employee at a store specializing in selling hand-carried fashion and cosmetics on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.

During this seasonal business, the store sells raisins, currants, and blueberries for about 120,000 VND per 200 gram box. According to records, raisins and dates are more popular because they are easier to eat. Blueberries have a sour and slightly astringent taste, so they are a bit picky about customers.

Also a hand-carried goods seller, Ms. Nga - an office worker in Ho Chi Minh City said that Australian raisins are available all year round but are consumed quite strongly during Tet. With a price of about 480,000 VND per kg, each family usually buys about half a kg for use.

She said she sold several dozen kilograms of raisins on the branch during this Tet holiday. “My goods come from the warehouse of a large import company, with clear labels and import/export dates. I sell good products so I am confident, but raisins are not rare. Sometimes people buy goods of unknown origin. I only sell genuine and reputable products,” said Ms. Nga.

At some systems specializing in selling imported goods, jams and dried fruits for this Tet holiday are also quite abundant. Whole dried blueberries from Canada cost 120,000 VND for a 100 gram bag. Whole dried cranberries imported from the US cost about 90,000 VND for a 150 gram bag. Whole dried Sunsweet plums from the US cost about 500,000 VND for a 1.6 kg bag. For the convenience of customers buying as gifts, some units also repackage them with carefully designed packaging, printed with a drawing of a chicken on Japanese draft paper.

While the price level of "homemade jam" tends to be higher than last year's Tet, according to hand-carried sources, the price of imported dried fruits and jams this year tends to decrease, such as raisins and dates. In addition, most imported products are already known to a segment of consumers with high spending power or need to give gifts. There are not many relatively new products. Some units actively introduce new products such as chocolate dates and almonds with a price of about 250,000 VND per 250 gram box. Each chocolate is actually a date with an almond inside and covered with milk chocolate on the outside. In general, the change in the market is that the origin of the introduced products is somewhat more diverse. For example, in addition to American cranberries, there are cranberries from Canada; in addition to Australian dates, there are whole-branch dates from the UAE.

According to VNE