The Green Banana Price Surge: Northern Demand Drives Southern Harvests with Prices Doubling, Even Quadrupling, Last Year’s Rates

Green bananas are a staple in the North’s tray of five fruits. They symbolize the wood element in feng shui and are believed to bring families together and signify abundance and warmth.

Unfortunately, Typhoon No. 3 and flooding severely impacted the green banana crop in the North this year, leading to a scarce supply for the Lunar New Year market.

Ms. Nguyen Nhan, from Tu Ky District in Hai Duong Province, shared that her family had about one hectare of green bananas for the Lunar New Year market last year. However, this year’s crop was damaged by the typhoon, resulting in a total loss for the family.

Meanwhile, Mr. Minh Hoang, a trader in Hanoi, shared that he had just returned from Dong Nai, the country’s “banana capital,” with two truckloads of bananas to sell for the Lunar New Year fruit trays.

“I bought them directly from the gardens for 25,000-30,000 VND per kg. A bunch of ten bananas costs around 250,000-300,000 VND,” said Mr. Hoang.

In Hanoi, many retailers in the markets said that the price of green bananas for the Lunar New Year fruit trays is two to four times higher than last year. Well-shaped banana clusters can sell for up to 200,000-300,000 VND per cluster.

Earlier, Mr. Nguyen Hong Yen, Head of the Plant Protection and Cultivation Department of Hoa Binh Province, said that many northern provinces were affected by Typhoon No. 3, damaging banana crops. At the same time, the Chinese market has a high demand for bananas.

As a result, traders have been actively seeking to buy bananas at high prices. Many gardens are selling bananas for 500,000 VND per garden, and some traders are even locking up the gardens after purchasing them to care for the bananas themselves before exporting them to China for the Lunar New Year.

In the South, Mr. Vo Quan Huy, Director of Huy Long An Company in Long An Province, said that farmers benefit from the high banana prices.