Prices of fruit and vegetables increase sharply

Ho Chi Minh City - Fruit and vegetable prices in HCM City increased sharply in the last week, especially following the recent storms and floods in the Central region.

The Ho Chi Minh City fruit and vegetable market has witnessed a significant increase in prices since last week.  Photo courtesy of thanhnien

Some fruit and vegetable prices doubled compared to other days, according to Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper.

Though the markup has slowed down since October 29, locals said that prices of fruits and vegetables are still relatively high.

While a kilo of runner beans costs VNĐ36,000, bok choy is currently priced at VNĐ30,000/kilo, calabash at VNĐ30,000/kilo, Dutch tomatoes at VNĐ41,000/kilo, water spinach at VNĐ30,000/kilo, and choysum at VNĐ30,000/kilo.

According to a vegetable seller at Tân Phước Market in Tân Bình District, the price of vegetables as of October 29 was cooling down, compared to two to three days before when a kilo of runner beans had sold for VNĐ50,000.

Many kinds of vegetables and fruits were transported to Central provinces after the floods, Lan said, adding that frequent rains in the Southern region had affected her stock as well.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thắm, a vegetable seller in Bình Thới Market in District 11, said that prices of lettuce of all kinds have increased from VNĐ10,000 to 15,000 per kilo, similar to other vegetables from Đà Lạt.

Despite the fluctuation in fruit and vegetable prices, the retail price of pork in the market has remained stable.

On early days of November one kilo of pork rib at Ông Địa Market in Tân Bình District was priced at VNĐ180,000, while bacon was VNĐ160,000/kilo and cutlets VNĐ140,000/kilo.

Tuyết Hiếu, a vegetable supplier from Đà Lạt, said that rainy weather in Đà Lạt had made it difficult to grow sufficient stock for Đà Nẵng, HCM City and Cần Thơ markets.

Her 1ha of garden's usual yield of 30 tonnes of vegetables had declined to just over 10 tonnes, resulting in a sharp increase in price due to limited stock.

“In fact, vegetable supply from the South to Central region was not that high, considering that the vegetable market from the North covered a large amount. It is worth mentioning that our customers in Central provinces tend to refuse to pay high prices for vegetables,” Hiếu added, emphasising that it was mostly heavy rains in Đà Lạt that caused the drop in supply.