Vegetable prices in HCMC have continued to skyrocket in retail markets leaving consumers shocked.

The prices of some vegetable's went up by 10-40% and some surged up by 50-75%. Cucumbers, carrots, beans and more have all been on the rise.

Dramatic increases in vegetable prices leave consumers hurting (Photo by Hoai Nam)

Purchasing many kinds of vegetables and food from Phan Van Tri market in Binh Thach District, Tran Mai Hoa was astonished with the price she had to pay.

“Cucumbers are VND10,000 ($0.52) per kilo. Bitter melons are VND13,000 ($0.67) per kilo. Other kinds of vegetable have much higher prices. Earlier, I spent only VND12,000 ($0.62) on vegetables for each meal but now I have to pay over VND30,000 ($1.56). It’s not enough for my whole family. Vegetable prices seem to be rising day by day for half month now,” complained Hoa.

Nguyet, living on Huynh Van Banh Road, Phu Nhuan District, hadn't gone shopping in the markets for a long time. She could not believe what she heard when the seller told her about the prices of some herb she bought. “This costs VND14,000 ($0.72)? Are you sure?” The seller replied, “Yes I am, and I gave you a discount. The salad price is VND4,000 ($0.2) but I charged you only VND3,000 ($0.15).”

Nguyet said that this herb used to cost her only about VND5,000 ($0.26). Now, she has to calculate the amount of money she needs to pay before buying when she discovered the rise in prices.

“Petrol and gas prices went down recently; I did not expect vegetables to go up like this. Now a bulb of carrot is about VND5,000 ($0.26),” added Nguyet.

The prices of vegetables are very high in other markets, so many consumers are hesitant to buy this commodity. Many small businesses in retail markets explained that the reason was because supply in wholesale markets could not meet the demand.

However, management units of agriculture product wholesale markets of Thu Duc and Binh Dien said that the supply of vegetables remains stable with 6,000 tonnes per day. They said the reason behind the price increases were that small businesses marked up the prices when the demand rose.