It only took a few minutes for Ms. Dam Thi Hai in Dich Vong Hau (Cau Giay, Hanoi ) to finalize an order for berries at 50,000 VND/kg and medium strawberries at 100,000 VND/kg. She ordered 2kg of each type of strawberry to get free delivery.

“Everyone in my family loves to eat this fruit. However, during Tet, the price is expensive, so I only order 0.5kg of marbles at a time,” she said. During this time, all types of strawberries are cheap, so she is willing to buy a few kilos at a time. Accordingly, the marble type is for smoothies or eating with yogurt, and the medium-sized strawberries are for dipping in condensed milk.

As soon as she closed the order, Ms. Hai received a call from the staff, promising to deliver the goods 30 minutes later with an "exchange" policy if the strawberries were damaged. During Tet, each time she bought, she had to order 1-2 days in advance to receive the goods.

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Son La strawberries are sold red in Hanoi market. Photo: Tam An

In Hanoi these days, strawberries - a specialty fruit of Son La province - are "dyed red" from traditional markets to "online markets".

Notably, before the Lunar New Year, Son La strawberries generally cost between 300,000 and 500,000 VND/kg depending on size. Grade A strawberries cost up to 600,000 and 750,000 VND/kg, while special strawberries cost nearly 1 million VND/kg.

Now, this Son La specialty is super cheap. Specifically, the price of special strawberries has been reduced to 200,000-250,000 VND/kg; large strawberries are 150,000 VND/kg; medium strawberries are 100,000 VND/kg; cherry strawberries are 80,000 VND/kg, and marble strawberries are 50,000 VND/kg.

Ms. Pham Thi Kieu, who sells fruit online in Minh Khai (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi), said that the price of Son La strawberries at the beginning of the season is very expensive. She collects orders every 3 days to deliver a shipment of about 30-50kg depending on the order.

But since the Lunar New Year, strawberries have been in the main harvest season, with abundant supply, so prices are super cheap. For the past week, she has been bringing in about 250-300kg of strawberries of all kinds every day to fulfill orders for customers.

Regarding the price of strawberries, according to Ms. Kieu, all kinds are cheap. For example, large, ripe, red strawberries are now only 150,000 VND/kg. Cherry strawberries cost 50,000-60,000 VND/kg. Because of the cheap price, she discarded the strawberries with blemishes and posted them on Facebook to give to customers.

“From morning until now, I have closed nearly 400 orders to buy Son La strawberries,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung, an employee of a large fruit chain in Hanoi.

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During the harvest season, there is a type of strawberry that costs only a few tens of thousands of VND per kilo. Photo: Tam An

Ms. Nhung said that during strawberry season, the store system has several employees working in shifts like her to close orders. Because, there are days when employees sit until 2 am to close orders, the amount of strawberries sold is up to 3-4 tons/day.

“The prices are cheap so women are racing to close orders,” said Ms. Nhung, adding that these days very few customers order 1kg, most buy 2-3kg per order.

Yesterday, just once, the store advertised medium-sized strawberries for sale on the store's fanpage at 190,000 VND/4 boxes (500 grams/box), and the store closed 120 orders. Accordingly, in addition to customers ordering 1 set of 4 boxes, some customers also bought 3-5 sets. The staff also closed orders for other types of strawberries "tired hands".

Talking to PV.VietNamNet , Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Director of Xuan Quy Strawberry Cooperative in Mai Son (Son La), said that the strawberry harvest season lasts from November until early April of the following year. This is the main strawberry harvest season.

At the beginning of the season, the cooperative only harvested a few hundred kilograms of ripe strawberries each day. But during the peak strawberry season, the cooperative harvested more than ten tons of strawberries each day. This quantity of strawberries will be distributed to fruit store systems, wholesale markets in Hanoi, and even shipped to Ho Chi Minh City for consumption, Mr. Nam said.

In Son La, strawberries are grown mainly in Moc Chau, Yen Chau and Mai Son. Mai Son district alone has a strawberry area of ​​up to 450 hectares, with an estimated average yield of over 12 tons/hectare and an output of about 5,400 tons. Compared to the 2022-2023 crop, the area has increased by nearly 80% and the output has increased by over 250%. Therefore, strawberries have flooded the market and prices have cooled down.

Son La specialty fruit cannot be picked in time for sale, in Hanoi the most expensive is 1 million VND/kg . On the high mountain districts of Son La province, farmers are busy picking ripe, plump strawberries. This specialty fruit is pouring into Hanoi with sky-high prices, some types cost up to 1 million VND/kg.