Chilean cherry prices plunge to less than $6 per kilogram

Cherries imported from Chile are at their lowest prices in years, with small-sized fruits selling for VND149,000 (US$5.9) per kilogram at markets and online retailers.

Bigger ones cost VND180,000-220,000 per kilogram. These prices are 20-25% lower than a year ago and down from VND350,000 last month.

Lan, a vendor at Ba Chieu Market in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District, said she has never seen Chilean cherries as cheap as this.

Nguyen Van Thanh, a fruit importer in HCMC, said China, the main market for Chilean cherries, recently tightened quality regulations. As a result, exports to the market have been reduced, creating a supply overhang, causing exporters to offload the fruits to other markets, including Vietnam, at competitive prices.

Saltoro, a ship that was delivering 1,300 containers of Chilean cherries to China, encountered a technical issue near Micronesia on Jan. 13, which delayed its journey until after the Lunar New Year.

Demand for the fruit in China usually peaks during the holidays. This incident also contributed to the decline in prices.

This year Chile’s cherry production was 60% higher than in 2024. According to customs data, Vietnamese im