With their increasing prosperity, Vietnamese consumers are willing to shell out extra money to buy quality or unusual products for Tet and manufacturers are obliging.
Saigon Fisco, for instance, has unveiled a special frozen hotpot. Unlike normal hotpots, this one weighs almost a kilogram, has enough seafood for 10 people, and is targeted at families that gather or travel together during Tet.
Housewives will be much less desperate this year considering some of the other foods on sale, especially Vissan’s new herbal chickens. These chickens were fed a diet of mixed natural herbs for about two months before being slaughtered, ensuring their meat is much firmer and better tasting than normal chickens.
Each chicken weighs 1.3-1.5kg and costs VND104,000 (US$5.3) per kilogram. A Vissan spokesperson since this was the company’s first attempt at this and quality had to be strictly controlled, it would produce only 5,000 herbal chickens for Tet.
Another unusual treat this year is the candied grapefruit peel that comes in thin yellow slices like candied ginger, and amazingly, tastes bitter, sweet, salty, and pungent at the same time.
The strong, lingering taste of grapefruit peel in our throat can be further accentuated by a cup of hot tea, and we can feel the heat permeating the whole body.
Ngoc Thuy, owner of Thanh Long candied fruits supplier, said making candied grapefruit peels is a demanding process, and 10 tons of peels yield just a ton of candies. “The price is around VND70,000 for a kilo. Since it first appeared in the market, it has attracted a lot of customers, especially in the central and northern regions where people consume them to keep themselves warm during the freezing cold of Tet.”
Watermelons are a must-have fruit during the New Year. This year farmers in Long An and Hau Giang Provinces will introduce organic watermelons for the first time in cooperation with Syngenta Company.
Truong Tran Quang Phuong, Syngenta’s southern regional sales director, said farmers who participate in the organic watermelons program must scrupulously follow growing procedures such as not using forbidden chemicals and proper disposal of pesticides.
“When harvest time comes, the company and local authorities will take samples for analysis and only when they meet all the requirements will the melons be certified as organic,” he explained.
Unusually-shaped melons continue to be in great demand. There are square or sycee-shaped melons and even ones with words like Phuoc (Fortune), Loc (Prosperity), Tho (Longevity) etched on their peels.
However, despite the much higher supply this year, their prices are not lower than last year.
According to a melon supplier in An Giang Province, a mixed pair of melons -- one square and one round -- costs VND800,000 ($40), while a pair of square ones and a pair with embossed words cost VND1.2 million.
Artistic speakers
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Customers choosing artworks that double up as speakers at AA Company
Paintings that are actually speakers with excellent sound quality will be a unique gadget to show off to visitors during Tet.
This idea was conceived a long time ago by Nguyen Hung Son, director of AA Company (District 11), and now artistic speakers in more and more designs and materials have hit the market.
With sound equipment imported from Taiwan, China, Denmark, and other places, and paintings made by artists in various styles, the company provides customers a wide range of choice.
Customers can also provide photos or artworks for making custom-built speakers. The speakers too come in a wide range -- from 1.5W to over 100W -- and even lend themselves to karaoke singing.
AA also offers speakers of under 30W with a music collection integrated in a built-in USB that do not have to be connected to amplifiers and disc players unlike in the case of speakers of 60W and above.
For all of the above, prices range from $150 to $350.
According to Son, the most important factor remains the sound quality and it is also the hardest to ensure. Admittedly, in terms of sound these speakers cannot be compared to top-of-the-range speakers, but they are still a good choice for people who want to dazzle their Tet visitors.
Ornamental apricot blossom trees rented
An unusual service is the rental of apricot blossom trees. Thong, the owner of Minh Thuy apricot blossom garden in Thu Duc District, HCMC, said that the number of people renting the trees this year is large despite the high price of VND10 million to VND50 million for a tree that is more than 50 years old.
Hieu, owner of another apricot garden nearby, said more than 100 trees have been rented for up to VND15 million. A rough survey shows the rental costs 30 percent-50 percent of a tree’s value.
Gardeners said those renting trees are mostly households or businesses that cannot take care of the trees all year round and only needed them during Tet. People can rent the trees until next year, paying the owners an upkeep fee of up to 20 percent of their value.
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High-value apricot blossom trees are of high demand this Tet season
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