With just over a month until the 2026 Lunar New Year, Vietnam’s key flower-growing regions are bustling with activity. However, despite the flurry of preparations, growers are grappling with a looming sense of uncertainty as market demand remains sluggish.
In Bình Lợi, Ho Chi Minh City’s largest yellow apricot (mai) flower hub, Lê Hữu Thiện, Deputy Director of the Bình Lợi Yellow Apricot Cooperative, reveals that supply is far outpacing demand. The area under cultivation has expanded from 500 to 600 hectares, while new growing regions like Tây Ninh (5,000 hectares) and Đồng Tháp (1,000 hectares) are intensifying competition.
Despite ample supply, consumption and prices have plummeted. Thiện notes that in previous years, traders from Central and Northern Vietnam would have secured 30% of the crop by now. This year, however, these buyers have virtually disappeared.
A mai garden in Bình Lợi Village
The cooperative reports that last year, the Northern and Central markets absorbed 70% of Bình Lợi’s potted and ground-grown mai. This year, traders are favoring Vĩnh Long’s potted mai over Bình Lợi’s traditional ground-grown varieties, leaving the cooperative struggling to find buyers.
To stimulate demand, Bình Lợi growers have slashed prices by 10-20% compared to last year. Three-year-old ground-grown mai now sell for 250,000–300,000 VND per tree, while four- to five-year-old trees fetch 500,000–600,000 VND. Small potted mai have also dropped by 200,000 VND, now priced at 500,000–600,000 VND per pot.
Compounding market challenges, adverse weather in Ho Chi Minh City—marked by rain, frost, and erratic temperatures—has caused some mai trees to bloom prematurely. “This year’s market is bleak on both fronts: low prices, weak demand, and unfavorable weather,” laments Thiện. “During peak years, we sold 500,000–600,000 trees, but now even reaching 200,000 seems optimistic.”
Prematurely blooming mai in Bình Lợi
In response to tightening consumer budgets, many growers in Bình Lợi and Chợ Lách (Vĩnh Long) are pivoting to more affordable products. Instead of focusing on large, expensive trees, they are investing in small potted mai and tabletop varieties priced between 100,000 and 200,000 VND. Bà Bảy Việt, a grower in Chợ Lách, shares that she is exclusively cultivating low-cost mai this year to ensure sales.
Meanwhile, flower-growing regions in the Mekong Delta, specializing in cut flowers and ornamental plants, are faring better. Trần Hữu Nghị, Deputy Chairman of Chợ Lách Commune (Vĩnh Long), reports that the area has prepared approximately 2.5 million Tet flower products (chrysanthemums, mai, paper flowers), a 5-10% increase from last year.
Approximately 70% of the crop has already been secured by traders, with the remaining 30% to be sold directly at traditional markets. Prices remain stable, with chrysanthemums ranging from 150,000 to 200,000 VND per pair and marigolds at around 100,000 VND per pair. Favorable weather and proactive water storage measures are supporting healthy crop development.
In Sa Đéc (Đồng Tháp), Nguyễn Thị Ngọc notes that her flowers are thriving thanks to elevated cultivation methods that minimize flood damage. New varieties, such as multi-colored calla lilies and two-tone chrysanthemums, are gaining popularity. Prices for chrysanthemum baskets range from 80,000 to 120,000 VND, while saffron pots sell for 40,000 to 60,000 VND.
