Consumers 'eat bitter fruit' with 'disguised' Hung Yen labels

Currently, in Hung Yen, it is quite difficult to buy genuine longan, not to mention other provinces and cities. Because the area of ​​longan cultivation is quite small, the price is up to 200,000 - 300,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, in the markets, the catchphrase "genuine Hung Yen longan" is only 40,000 VND/kg, still easily deceives consumers.

In markets and crowded streets these days, it is not difficult to see street vendors selling fruit, especially longan.

The catchphrase of these sellers is always "Do you want longan? My longan is really "genuine"!?".

Street vendors these days often have trays of longan, advertised as Hung Yen longan.

But in reality, that is not the case, because according to Mr. Nguyen Khac Tho, a longan grower for decades in Doan Dao commune, Phu Cu district, Hung Yen: “Longan season starts from the 6th lunar month to the end of the 7th lunar month. But standard longan is almost never sold retail along the roadside. When the longan tree just blooms, traders will immediately come to buy the whole tree. Trees with many flowers have high prices, trees with few flowers have low prices, at least 15 million VND/tree.”

“Quantity is very limited, this year the longan crop is still bad, sometimes when you buy it from the time it flowers, there are still trees that do not bear any fruit, if you are lucky enough to buy a tree with lots of fruit, you will win big. But most people buy longan as gifts, they rarely sell it because the quantity is too small,” said Mr. Tho.

Longan trees on the shore of Pho Hien lake in Hung Yen city also do not bear fruit due to crop failure.

Regarding the fake longan being sold everywhere, Mr. Tho said: "Hung Yen longan has been in season for about 2 weeks now, there are many delicious longan varieties such as Huong Chi longan,... but to sell easily and get a good price, sellers still say it is fake longan."

“But with the current price ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 VND/kg, it is definitely not genuine longan. Not to mention that it is the beginning of the season, genuine longan is very rare and difficult to buy,” said Mr. Tho.

If there are any, Mr. Tho calculates: “At the beginning of the season, longan prices are high, up to 300,000 VND/kg, which is normal. But when the main season comes, there will be many types of longan that are just as delicious as longan, so the “hotness” will also decrease, the price will drop to 200,000 VND/kg.

“At the end of the season, when people are fed up with longan, it is only about 100,000 VND/kg. At this time, there are still longan trees because the fruit is late. Talking about the price, but the retail quantity is also very small, and mainly only for gifts,” Mr. Tho added.

According to Mr. Tho: "Recognizing Hung Yen longan or good longan is quite simple. Just touch the skin, if the longan feels rough like touching sandpaper, it is a standard longan."

Longan tree

This year, the weather was not favorable, both lychee and longan did not yield as high as usual. The reason was that the flowers bloomed right after the drizzle after Tet, so pollination was not possible. The flowers almost all fell off and rotted. Many households even lost their entire gardens without any fruit.

Mr. Tho's family has 10 longan trees, which usually yield 500 kg of longan. But this year, only one tree bore fruit, luckily, this tree yielded 300 kg, which is considered a rare record in the commune.

Longan tree yields 300 kg.

This Huong Chi longan variety is a hybrid variety grown quite a lot in Phu Cu, Hung Yen. The quality is also quite good so the price for the past 2 years has been maintained at 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg.

Meeting a street vendor selling longan on Xa Dan street, she enthusiastically peeled a longan for the reporter to eat and said: "Hung Yen longan is 40,000 VND/kg, guaranteed delicious. If you buy 2 kg, I will give you a discount of 10,000 VND."

However, when the reporter asked: "Are you sure this is longan? I'm from Hung Yen!", the seller stammered: "Don't worry, if it's not delicious, bring it here and I'll pay for it" and did not mention the origin of the longan at all.

Interviewing Mr. Tran Duc Giang, a customer who just bought longan at this store, he said: "The longan is quite sweet, the flesh is also relatively thick, but whether it is a longan or not, the buyer really cannot distinguish."

“There are many delicious types of longan nowadays. As long as they taste good and are not soaked in chemicals to keep them fresh, many people are willing to spend money to buy them. It is not necessary to buy longan in cages,” Mr. Giang added.

According to VNN