Plentiful supply of vegetables, fruits for Tet market in HCMC at stable prices

Visiting and discussing that the carrot and scallion farm, Mr. Bui Trung Kien, Director of Xuan Thai Thinh Company, shared that this whole area would be harvested next week and supplied to the Tet market in HCMC. The company has a total area of 50 hectares, and the average yield is about 35,000-40,000 tons per year, with 50 different types of vegetables and fruits. Currently, the supply for the HCMC market accounts for 70 percent of the total output, and the rest is distributed to other Southern provinces. According to the plan, the company has prepared 200-300 tons of goods for consumption during the festive season in HCMC.

What makes Mr. Kien worry is that the production of goods this year is excessive, while the purchasing power at this time decreases by 20-25 percent compared to the same period. As a result, the selling prices at the peak of the Tet holidays will hardly reach the desired level of the company. Carrots, cabbages, and sweet potatoes are expected to devalue most. Currently, his company is closely watching the purchasing power in the market so that they can coordinate with distributors to increase promotions and reduce selling prices to quickly release the amount of vegetables and fruits to the market.

At the preliminary processing and packaging facility of Phong Thuy Agricultural Product Trade Manufacturing Limited in Lien Nghia Commune in Lam Dong Province’s Duc Trong District, goods are going in and out heavily, and hundreds of workers are working hard to timely deliver goods to HCMC and other provinces. Currently, Phong Thuy has produced under the VietGAP standards on an area of 130 hectares, with a supply capacity of 10,000-12,000 tons per year. It mainly supplies to supermarket networks in HCMC and exports to Europe and Japan. It is expected that during 20 days before and after the Lunar New Year, Phong Thuy will provide HCMC with about 600 tons of vegetables and fruits of all kinds. Of which, goods in the market stabilization program account for about 60 percent.

Contrary to Mr. Kien’s concern, Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong, Director of Phong Thuy Company, said that because of fluctuations in domestic consumption demand and export goods, the growing area this year decreased slightly. However, in general, the supply will not be insufficient, but the selling prices of some products will possibly edge up compared to the same period last year for many reasons. For instance, the price of tomatoes may advance because the weather is not stable, changing the ripening time of the tomatoes. Currently, the company is putting them in cool storage to adjust the volume to reduce pressure on the price increase for the Tet market.

Mr. Vuong Duc Phuc, Deputy Director of Anh Dao Cooperative, said that the total output reached 30,000 tons per year, with 60 kinds of vegetables and fruits. Of which, the amount of vegetables brought to HCMC for consumption accounts for about 60 percent of the total output, and the rest is exported and sent to other provinces and cities. The volume of goods to the HCMC market in the ten days before Tet is 1,200 tons. Of which, the amount of goods participating in the market stabilization program for five main products, including cabbage, carrot, napa cabbage, potato, and tomato, accounts for about 20-30 percent. The selling prices of all these five products have been pegged for 60 consecutive days, from January 13 to March 13, 2021.

Mr. Le Huynh Minh Tu, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that he felt reassured about the supply of vegetables and fruits for the Tet market because the mission had seen the vast fields of vegetables, and fruits, ready for harvest, with their own eyes. In terms of prices, some products may increase slightly or decrease depending on the market demand. However, they should not worry because as reported by enterprises, an increase of less than 10 percent for some products is acceptable.