The prices of vegetables and fruits at traditional markets in HCMC are now twice as high as in supermarkets, which is causing many people to cry out while the pandemic has already caused many difficulties.

The food price storm in recent days in Ho Chi Minh City has made it even harder for people who are already struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic to make ends meet.

The food has jumped in price by 2-3 times

According to a survey by VTC News reporters on July 13th, at some traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City, food prices continue to rise these days, with some items even priced 2-3 times higher than usual.

Nowadays, the retail price of cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and lettuce is 45,000-50,000 VND/kg depending on the type; tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots are 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg; spinach is 60,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Tuan, who lives in Thu Duc City, said that life is already difficult, but the rising prices make people even more miserable.

"For example, this watermelon is normally 10,000–12,000 VND; I still find it expensive, but now it's 30,000 VND. The prices of unnecessary things don't increase much, but the prices of things we use every day like vegetables, meat, and fish go up rapidly," said Mr. Tuan.

Mr. Binh, who lives in Thu Duc City, also said that food prices at the market these days are "sky high." "Normally, I buy white radish for only 20,000 VND/kg, but now it's up to 40,000 VND/kg. When I go to the supermarket, I see long lines. Therefore, the only way to buy is here," said Mr. Binh.

Explaining why food prices are strongly increasing, Ms. Dung-a food trader at Thao Dien market in Thu Duc city, said that due to the pandemic, many localities implemented social distancing, so the transportation of goods was difficult, especially vegetables, fruits, and seafood, leading to import prices increasing compared to normal, so sellers also had to increase prices to make a profit.

"The supply of goods is also decreasing, people's demand has increased strongly, along with prices at delivery points increasing, and shipping costs have also increased, so small businesses and many stores are forced to increase selling prices," Ms. Dung said.

Food prices in supermarkets are still stable

According to a reporter's survey, food prices in supermarkets in the city are still stable without much variation.

At Co.opmart Dong Van Cong supermarket in Thu Duc city, the prices of many food items have not changed much compared to normal. While the price of tomatoes in traditional markets is 50–60 thousand VND/kg, at this supermarket it is only 26 thousand VND/kg. Cucumbers are sold at the market for 40 thousand VND/kg, while in the supermarket they are only 19 thousand VND/kg. Similar to this, the prices of many other food items at the supermarket are also much lower than in traditional markets.

An employee at Co.opmart Dong Van Cong supermarket said that food prices have not much variation, only increased very slightly, and many items have even had lower prices than usual. The supply of goods is always profuse, meeting the needs of customers.

According to information from the Saigon Union of Trading Co-operation (Saigon Co.op), despite being under a lot of pressure from costs arising from transportation, shipping, testing, some locally difficult items, and many difficulties in human resources, this retailer is determined not to increase prices of goods to share spending pressure with people, and at the same time, it has started to add processed and cooked foods to increase convenience during the pandemic.

At Bach Hoa Xanh store, Thanh My Loi ward, Thu Duc city, according to records, the prices of some food items have not much variation. However, there are still some types of food with quite high prices.

In response to information reflecting that the prices of vegetables and tubers sold at many Bach Hoa Xanh stores have increased compared to the time before the social distancing period. Recently, Bach Hoa Xanh has officially responded.

According to Bach Hoa Xanh, Vietnam is facing the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic and the most serious outbreak ever.

To coordinate with the Government in the fight against the pandemic and accompany local authorities in provinces and cities in ensuring the supply of necessities to people, the Bach Hoa Xanh retail chain has made every effort to continue to open to serve customers despite the risk of the pandemic for its staff (despite receiving priority vaccination support from the Government).

"With this announcement, we affirm that Bach Hoa Xanh has no intention of increasing retail prices to make a profit during the pandemic. However, we cannot keep the selling price as before the pandemic for some items," Bach Hoa Xanh said.

The reason for the increase in food prices, according to Bach Hoa Xanh, is due to difficult transportation times, increased labor costs, testing costs, damage to raw goods, and suppliers.

Explaining the reason for the increase in food prices, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade said that currently, 2/3 of the markets in the city, including 3 wholesale markets, have temporarily suspended operations due to COVID-19 infections. In the markets that are still open for sale, traders have not imported many goods, while purchasing power has skyrocketed in the past few days. During certain times when there are many customers and the amount of goods is low, traders do not have a plan to supplement the source, so they automatically raise prices.

Another reason is that most wholesale market traders are selling goods by phone, having to adjust their delivery methods from large vehicles to small vehicles while gasoline prices increase. Transporting vegetables, meat, and fish from provinces and cities to HCMC for consumption is difficult because localities have increased pandemic control, increasing testing costs, time costs, etc. All of these are included in the cost price, so the selling price to consumers varies accordingly.

According to VTC.vn