The truth about cheap Aukobe beef flooding the Tet market

Advertised as the “brother” of Japanese Kobe beef, Aukobe beef with its eye-catching marbled fat is “covering” the online market as the Tet market enters its peak shopping season.

With the "excellent" quality as advertised, but instead of costing millions, the price of Australian Aukobe beef is surprisingly cheap, only 220,000-270,000 VND/kg. In the last days of 2024, Aukobe beef is always crowded with buyers and sellers.

Explaining why the price of Aukobe beef is advertised as being of the same quality as Japanese Kobe beef but at a super cheap price, Mr. Tran Van Cuong - manager of a food chain in Hanoi - said that cheap Aukobe beef could be goods that are about to expire, being sold by warehouses. In addition, in the world , there is also a technology to inject fat into beef to create layers of fat interwoven with lean meat that people often call marbled.

Not only with Aukobe beef, in Australia, fat grafting technology to create marbling is also applied to the famous Hokubee beef.

Because of the technology of injecting fat into the lean meat, when thawed and processed, the beef will be a bit loose and not as tightly bound as natural beef. Therefore, the price of this type of beef is also much cheaper. (See details)

Pork prices increased sharply

The price of live pigs nationwide is at a high level. According to the Lao Dong Newspaper, on December 30, 2024, in the Northern region, the price of live pigs was traded at around 67,000-69,000 VND/kg. In the Central Highlands - Central region, the price fluctuated around 65,000-68,000 VND/kg. The Southern region did not record any price adjustment, purchasing at around 64,000-68,000 VND/kg.

In Ho Chi Minh City, retail pork prices are still increasing by 20-30% compared to a week ago. Many businesses and facilities producing pork sausage, fatty sausage, sausage, pickled pig ears, Chinese sausage, spring rolls... have had to adjust their selling prices by 10,000-20,000 VND/kg.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, the increased demand for pork at the end of the year while the supply of pigs of sufficient weight for slaughter has been lacking has led to fluctuations in pork prices in the market in recent times.

The world's most expensive red devil shrimp, priced at 4.7 million VND/kg, hits the market

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Red devil shrimp are sold at Tet market with sky-high prices. Photo: NVCC

The high-end seafood market is entering its busiest days of the year as the Lunar New Year approaches.

To meet the increased shopping demand during this time, in addition to traditional products such as lobster, king crab, abalone, geoduck, etc., stores also increase the import of many unique seafood products at expensive prices.

Red devil shrimp from the Mediterranean Sea are landing in Tet markets. This type of shrimp is expensive but the size is only equal to the large Vietnamese tiger prawn.

This type of shrimp costs from 3.5 to 4.7 million VND/kg for the size of 10 to 20 shrimp/kg. With this price, red devil shrimp surpasses all types of lobsters to become the most expensive item in the Vietnamese market. (See details)

Durian worth millions of dong has dropped in price to only a few tens of thousands of dong.

Durian custard apple, a fruit that used to cost millions of VND per kilogram, has recently been widely sold in traditional markets and online markets at surprisingly low prices. According to the newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong, instead of being priced at 600,000-700,000 VND per kilogram, sometimes up to a million VND per kilogram 2-3 years ago, durian custard apple has now dropped in price sharply.

In the Northern provinces, durian custard apples usually cost around 65,000-100,000 VND/kg. In the Southern region, due to transportation costs, durian custard apple prices are about 10% higher.

In Ho Chi Minh City, this fruit is being sold quite a lot and is no longer scarce like a few years ago. The price is about 170,000-230,000 VND/kg for grade 1 and 120,000-150,000 VND/kg for grade 2, down 80% compared to the time when this fruit was first introduced to Vietnam.

The fact that Vietnam has successfully researched and grown durian custard apples, instead of importing them as before, is the reason why the price of this fruit has dropped sharply.

Green-skinned grapefruit prices increase

Currently, many types of fruit in Ben Tre province have increased in price and are in high demand. According to VOV, green-skinned grapefruit, due to its high quality and strong export, has seen its price increase dramatically.

In recent days, traders in Ben Tre province have been buying green-skinned pomelos (grade 1) from gardeners at a price of over 40,000 VND/kg, while regular pomelos cost around 35,000 VND/kg. Compared to last month, green-skinned pomelos have increased by over 10,000 VND/kg. According to local gardeners, at this price, each kg of pomelo brings in a profit of over 20,000 VND.