Our country has a very famous grape growing region, but the output is quite modest compared to domestic consumption demand. Therefore, every year, grapes are always in the top of the most imported fruits to Vietnam.

Last year, after apples, the second most imported fruit to Vietnam was grapes, reaching 158.4 million USD (about 3,900 billion VND), accounting for 14.6% of the total fruit import turnover of our country.

At this time, there are no specific statistics on grape import turnover, but this fruit always covers the Vietnamese market. In supermarkets, fruit shops, traditional markets and "online markets" there are dozens of types of grapes imported from Japan, Australia, the US and China. However, the most popular are still grapes imported from China.

Accordingly, not just 1-2 types but in the Vietnamese market there are nearly ten types of Chinese grapes being sold such as: milk grapes, black corn milk grapes, Ruby grapes, red grapes, green grapes... Notably, compared to imported grapes sold on the market, grapes originating from China are often very cheap, even super cheap.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhu (a fruit dealer in Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that Chinese grapes are in the harvest season, so this time she imports and sells all kinds of grapes, from milk grapes, red grapes to corn grapes.

Today, she sells seedless Ruby grapes and red grapes for only 50,000 VND/kg; corn milk grapes are as cheap as vegetables, only 130,000 VND/box of 6-7kg (about 20,000 VND/kg). Two days ago, she brought back the milk grape line of 3-4 corns (bunch) for 200,000 VND, which is only about 70,000 VND/kg.

“All kinds of Chinese grapes are very cheap. Especially, this year, the milk grape season has just begun, but the goods have flooded the Vietnamese market, and the prices are much cheaper than last year,” she shared. Therefore, the amount of grapes consumed has increased quite sharply. On average, Ms. Nhu sells about 1 ton of goods a day, both wholesale and retail. In particular, last weekend, she brought in a batch of 1.5 tons of milk grapes, and in less than a day of selling them, they were “sold out”.

Ms. Thu Quynh - an employee who closes orders at a large fruit store chain in Hanoi - also admitted that many types of imported grapes are being sold at the store chain. However, the most popular type is still Chinese milk grapes because of their cheap price.

According to Ms. Quynh, there are many types of milk grapes coming to Vietnamese markets, with prices ranging from 60,000-140,000 VND/kg. At the store system she works at, prices vary depending on each batch of goods.

She cited an example: the batch of milk grapes imported by the store on July 1 was packaged in 1.5kg boxes and sold for only 100,000 VND/box. The store imported 2,500 boxes but they were still "sold out". Because the first-season milk grapes are cheap, crunchy, sweet and have a milky flavor, most customers order 2-3 boxes at a time. Some customers even buy 5-10 boxes at a time.

Yesterday morning, the store received 600-700 gram/bunch milk grapes for sale at 65,000 VND/bunch. Customers also rushed to buy nearly 3,000 bunches, Ms. Quynh said.

Like apples, Ms. Quynh said, grapes are imported year-round, not seasonal. However, summer is the peak season, when grapes are harvested in many countries, so they are imported to Vietnam in large quantities. As a rule, the more goods are imported, the cheaper the price. Therefore, she predicts that in the near future, milk grapes will be much cheaper than now.

Spending nearly 2 billion USD on imports, which fruits are flooding into Vietnam the most? To serve consumer demand, our country spends nearly 2 billion USD on importing fruits and vegetables, mainly from China. So which fruits are imported and sold the most in the Vietnamese market?