Peach and kumquat traders struggle to liquidate ornamental plants after Tet

Struggling to liquidate peach and kumquat trees

Although people often buyTet ornamental plantsbefore New Year's Eve, but until now, on the 8th day of Tet, there are still places selling peach and kumquat trees that have not been cleared out yet, still on the sidewalk.

There are places where sellers have completely abandoned their business, but there are still places where small traders try to hang on to "whatever tree they can find, they will" even though not many people are interested anymore.

Sitting absentmindedly next to dozens of kumquat trees on Lenin Avenue on the morning of the 7th day of Tet, Ms. Ha, from Hung Yen province, still hopes that someone will ask to buy them, no matter the price. Ms. Ha shared: “At this time, if customers buy them, it is not for Tet decoration but can be used as ornamental plants to grow in the home garden, because if well cared for, the trees can still be green until Tet in the following years. This year, I brought 1,000 kumquat trees to Vinh, but only sold 400, the remaining 600 are both sold and given away, this year I have suffered a heavy loss…”.

It is known that each kumquat tree was sold for 300,000 - 1 million VND before Tet, however, now it is only sold for around 100,000 VND. According to Ms. Ha's explanation, she sold it to recover capital, and hoped to liquidate all of it to avoid the cost of hiring a truck to transport the trees back to Hung Yen.

Not far away, Mr. Doan Phong, a long-time Tet ornamental plant trader in Vinh City, is also having a “headache” with how to deal with dozens of Dien grapefruit trees that were unsold during the recent Tet holiday. These trees are large in size and have high prices. Now they cannot be sold and do not know where to take them. After Tet, he still has to keep an eye out for bad guys to destroy the trees. This year, for Mr. Phong, it is considered “no Tet”.

“I spent about 6 billion VND importing ornamental plants to sell at 2 locations in Vinh and Ha Tinh, mainly Dien grapefruit, peaches, and kumquats for Tet. However, this year is the year of the heaviest loss, both locations only sold about 50% of the plants before Tet, the rest had to be liquidated, hoping for buyers because these plants cannot be thrown away as firewood like a few peach branches. After 3 days of Tet, I am here every day hoping for customers to come and ask to buy, the price is very cheap now…” Mr. Phong said sadly.

It is known that for large Dien grapefruit trees, the price before Tet was from 40 to 50 million VND, now it is only about 10 million VND. For small trees, the price was from 10 to 15 million VND, now it is only from 2 to 5 million VND, but very few people ask to buy.

“Yesterday, a customer in Quynh Luu asked to buy a whole garden of 40 small trees for 120 million VND. I will probably negotiate to finish these trees and return the land, but I cannot stay any longer…” Mr. Phong emphasized.

According to the traders selling Tet ornamental plants, there are currently 3 main ways to deal with unsold plants. The most popular solution is to sell them at extremely low prices, both selling and giving them away. The second way is to return them to the ornamental plant dealers in the North at only half the price when the traders imported them. The last way is to hire gardeners in Vinh City such as Nghi An, Nghi Lien... to take care of the plants so that they grow well next Tet and can be sold again...

Currently, at these ornamental plant selling points, due to being displayed for too long (more than 1 month), many trees have lost their fruits, leaves, and rotted, affecting the environment as well as the urban beauty. Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Huy Tap Ward (Vinh City) said: In fact, this year, the ornamental plant business of small traders has encountered many difficulties. Although the deadline for cleaning up the selling points and returning the premises to customers has passed, some small traders are still staying to recover their capital. The locality has also propagated and reminded to find solutions to handle the remaining ornamental plants as soon as possible. At the same time, coordinate with the environmental company to clean up the premises according to the city's regulations.

Why are Tet ornamental plants selling at a record low?

According to the assessment of small traders, the business of Tet ornamental plants has never been as miserable as this year. The lucky ones have little profit or break even, but most have to liquidate and sell off their goods to save capital before New Year's Eve. The number of ornamental plants that have become "firewood" piled up on the streets and sidewalks is proof that the Tet ornamental plant market has experienced an unprecedentedly gloomy year.

There are many reasons why Tet ornamental plants are sluggish. First of all, 2023 is a year of economic recession, people's incomes have decreased, many people are unemployed. High-end plants are almost unsold because people buy more practical items to spend on their families during Tet.

Second, the number of ornamental plants imported during the recent Tet holiday was too large. Although Vinh city only allowed the sale of ornamental plants for Tet at 8 locations, in reality, on any sidewalk or vacant lot in the area, there were an overwhelming number of ornamental plants, leading to supply exceeding actual demand.

Besides, this year is a leap year, according to the assessment, the quality of Tet ornamental plants is not as beautiful as previous years, especially for Tet peach and apricot blossoms, which bloom about half a month earlier. For that reason, people are more selective.

In addition, currently in the province, "domestic" peaches are supplied to the market in large quantities, including famous peach gardens such as Minh Thanh (Yen Thanh), Nam Xuan, Nam Anh (Nam Dan), Nghi An, Nghi Lien (Vinh City)... The advantage of these peach gardens is that they do not have to spend money on renting space, so the prices are cheap and affordable for people. Meanwhile, most of the unsold peaches are imported at expensive prices.