Local businesses are using imported products from Cambodia, Australia, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan to attract wealthy Vietnamese ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday despite tight budgets in the face of a constricting economy.

Thanh Mai, the owner of a stall in District 10’s Le Hong Phong Market – a shopping center known as a one-stop shop for Cambodian products in Ho Chi Minh City, has been busy in the past few weeks preparing orders for Tet, which is due next month.

Mai specializes in products from Cambodia’s Tonlé Sap region. In particular, her stall sells dried tra fish, snakeskin gourami, snakehead fish, pangasius kunyit, beef, buffalo meat, shrimp, and lap xuong (dry-cured pork sausage) for VND350,000-1.2 million (US$15-51) per kilogram.

These products, Mai said, are extremely popular during Tet.

“A customer from Hanoi ordered 30 kilograms of dried fish yesterday and last week, I delivered 20 kilograms of dried fish, dried shrimp, and lap xuong to a family in District 2, [Ho Chi Minh City]," she said.

“This year, many overseas Vietnamese are visiting the country to celebrate Tet, so I have a lot of customers."

At a store specializing in American-made products on Tran Hung Dao Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Huu Dat, a local resident, was on the hunt for imported wine and chocolate gifts to friends and loved ones. 

Having worked in Ho Chi Minh City for 10 years, Dat considers Tet a great opportunity to shower his family with gifts that are not available in his hometown.

“Candies, cakes, and jams can be bought in my hometown, but imported products can only be found in Ho Chi Minh City,” Dat said.

Pham Thi Hang, another local resident, was unable to visit her family in their hometown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, however, she is excited to visit her loved ones and shower them with Australian macadamia, walnuts, Spanish seedless black olives, U.S. candy, and seedless Australian grapes.

Gifts from around the globe

For customers that have problems making decisions on their own, stores across the city offer pre-made Tet gift baskets. 

On Hai Ba Trung Street in District 1, one store was selling Tet gift baskets, including chocolate, grains, fruit juice, and champagne, imported from France, Germany, Switzerland, and Scotland, priced at VND1.3-4 million ($55-170) each.

A Japanese store on Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1, was offering similar baskets which included plum wine, sake (Japanese rice wine), and confections such as macadamia chocolate and Bourbon Torte cookies.

These gift baskets range in price from VND400,000 ($17) to VND1 million ($42.4). 

Do Thi Nhu Ha, the manager of the store, shared that the store also has plans to offer two new spice sets for Tet which will include seed oil, soy sauce, and Japanese chicken sauce.

At a store which specializes in South Korean products on Nguyen Huu Canh Street in Binh Thanh District, Tet gift baskets filled with South Korean products were on sale for VND700,000 ($30) and VND2.4 million ($102) each.

Ginseng-based products, such as ginseng candies, ginseng drinks, red ginseng, jujubes, lingzhi mushrooms, and grains were particularly common in these gift baskets.

All of these stores give customers with deep pockets the chance to customize these products to better suit their higher budgets.

Russian products in low demand

Stores which specialize in Russian products are not faring as well as their counterparts from other countries this holiday season. 

Having traded Russian products for over 15 years at the Russian Market on Vo Van Kiet Street in District 1, Nguyen Thi Khanh Van shared that business seems to be in a slump.  

Aside from low demand, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine military conflict has caused the prices of commodities and transport costs to surge by over 30 percent.

Van took used Russian caviar as an example, sharing that boxes of the delicacy used to sell for VND200,000 ($8.5) but now cost VND300,000-350,000 ($13-15). 

The price of string cheese has also risen from VND300,000 ($13) to more than VND400,000 ($17) per kilogram.

Many other specialties, such as black bread, smoked salami sausage, chicken legs, and duck have also seen price hikes. However, the store must keep the prices unchanged in order to retain customers.

The price escalation and low purchasing power have forced Van to halve imports.

“In previous years, the store was full of goods ahead of Tet, but this year I’m forced to moderate my imports,” Van said. 

“Some of my customers are concerned about the low selection.”

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