Chinese grapes are being rampantly sold in Ho Chi Minh City and
neighboring localities behind “US grapes” banners, under a trick that could not
be simpler.
Some 30 tons of grapes, along
with apples, pears, and oranges, are imported to the city every night, and all
traders have to do to sell them as grown-in-USA fruit is “just tell buyers that
they are from the US,” said Lien, the owner of a fruit booth in the Thu Duc
wholesale market, in revealing the as easy as ABC trick to dupe consumers.
And yet her revelation is totally
true, and serious, as many customers seemingly do not care where the fruit they
buy actually comes from.
“The seller told me that they are
US grapes, and that’s so I know. I have no idea of their actual origins,” said
Ngo Quoc Tuan, a grape buyer hailing from HCMC’s District 1.
Lien, another fruit wholesaler,
said Chinese grapes will be transported across the country, even to the Central
Highlands and the central region, but HCMC and the Mekong Delta provinces still
post the largest consumption.
Authorities in Hau Giang Province
have recently warned local consumers against the street stands that sell “US
grapes” in the locality, as they are all actually from China.
The disguised US grapes are on
sale at the quite reasonable price of VND40,000 a kg, while authentic American
fruit is available in supermarkets at high prices from between VND160, 000 and
VND200,000 a kg. (US$1 = VND20,800)
The cheapies thus attract a large
number of local consumers, despite the fruits’ dubious origins and safety and
hygiene standards.
Meanwhile, in HCMC, the
inauthentic fruits are on sale at exorbitant prices.
Chinese grapes are imported to
the city at only VND25,000 – 37,000 a kg, according to Tai, a wholesaler in Thu
Duc market.
But vendors who frequent streets
across the city and even small traders in markets citywide are selling them at
VND90,000 – VND100,000 a kg.
TUOI TRE
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