Over the past year, the prices of rare mutant orchids have plummeted from billions of Vietnamese dong to hundreds of thousands of dong, with many mutant orchid varieties now priced lower than industrial orchids.

The steep price decline has left some of the country’s most sought-after orchid varieties, including Co Do (Red Flag), Bao Duy, and Doi Mat Pleyku (Pleiku Eyes) orchids, virtually worthless.

Even Phu Tho and Hien Oanh orchids, two varieties deemed 'national orchids,’ now sell for just thousands of dong each.

Vo Thanh Rin, a veteran orchid seller who sets up his stand each day at the Cau Trang intersection in Binh Hung Hoa A Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, has been struggling amidst the falling prices.

“I’m forced to sell my mutant orchids, including five-petal white Phu Tho and Hien Oanh, for just several hundred thousand dong,” Rin explained.

A bitter reality

The sudden pop of Vietnam’s orchid bubble has left sellers across the country with significant debt.

In mid-2020, D., a mutant orchid seller in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, spent VND50 million (US$2,109) buying two five-petal white Phu Tho kies, one five-petal white Hien Oanh kie, and one Hong Yen Thuy.

At the end of 2020, he sold all four plants for VND300 million ($12,644).

Hoping to piggyback off that success, he mortgaged his house for over VND5 billion ($210,747) and used the money to invest in mutant orchids.

Now, with prices plummeting and mortgage payments stacking up, D. is at risk of defaulting.

“The maturity date is coming, but I don’t know how I will pay my debts,” he said.

B., an orchid grower in Hanoi, is facing similar issues.

B.’s debts currently amount to more than VND20 billion ($843,410), but his garden is now virtually worthless.

“This is a difficult time for me. At the end of last year, despite falling prices, I could still sell my orchids. Now they are worth next to nothing," B. said.

“I can barely pay the interest, let alone the principal on my loans.”

V., an orchid gardener in central Quang Ngai Province, attempted to mitigate the effects of the price drop by bottom-fishing, but only found himself in deeper debt.

“I bought five-petal Bach Tuyet (Snow White) mutant orchid for VND1.2 billion [$50,604] per kie but the price tumbled to VND500 million [$21,075] and then to VND5 million [$211]," V. shared.

“I’m now trying to sell it for VND1 million [$42] per kie but I still can’t find a buyer."

While some mutant orchid collectors have resorted to attempts to recoup their losses by auctioning off their orchids on Facebook, others have decided to leave the profession all together.

Duy Pham, the owner of an orchid garden in Quang Ngai City, recently abandoned his orchid business to find work elsewhere. 

“I still water and care for [the orchids], but only as a hobby. With the current orchid prices, the costs to [care for them] are much higher than their selling prices,” Duy Pham said.

Mutant orchids are typically sold by the 'kie' – a bud that arises from a knot in the plant’s stem. In the past, these orchids were measured and sold based off their height. 

Hong A Hau, Hong Minh Chau, and five-petal Bach Tuyet for example, used to cost hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong per centimeter.

Their prices currently sit at about VND1 million per kie.

Co Do, Bao Duy, and Doi Mat Pleyku which at one point hit dozens of billions of Vietnamese dong per kie now sell for just tens of millions of Vietnamese dong.

Phu Tho and Hien Oanh, two other popular orchid varieties, now cost just several thousands of Vietnamese dong per centimeter.

Price manipulation

Despite early warning signs, including a serious price drop in 2019, many orchid growers stayed in the business – a decision that has pushed many to the verge of bankruptcy. 

Since then, orchid hoarders have attempted to artificially inflate prices.

Investors were wooed by gardeners who claimed the supply of mutant orchids was relatively small.

In reality, the supply was much larger than anyone could have imagined, eventually leading to a mass over-supply and severely decreased prices.

Taking caution

With mutant orchids falling out of favor, growers are turning their signs on new plants. Indian taro, for instance, peaked in price for a short time before crashing around the same time as mutant orchids.

As with mutant orchids, the price crash was caused by growers manipulating the supply to attract investors and then flooding the market.

The inflation of agricultural and ornamental plants seems to be a vicious cycle with an endless supply of investors.

Amid the orchid price bubble, news agencies and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have repeatedly issued warnings that have gone unheeded.

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