At a forum on boosting trade of purple onions held several days ago, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) reported that Vietnam has 14,000-15,000 hectares of onion growing area, mostly in Soc Trang, Hai Duong, Ninh Thuan and Quang Ngai, which has an output of 220,000 tons a year. Hai Duong and Soc Trang are two provinces with the largest output.

February and March are high harvesting times. In the first months of 2023, the market demand was weak, while production capacity was still high enough for domestic demand and export. 

According to the Agency of Crop Production, the weak points in onion production are fragmentation, difficulty in traceability, lack of connections, price instability, restrictions in certified growing areas, difficulty in quality control and food safety, and the lack of preservation procedures. 

Tran Trong Khiem, deputy director of Soc Trang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, admitted that farmers operate production separately, but they don’t cooperate in production. 

Because of the lack of market information, farmers don’t sell products when prices are good, but sell onions later when the prices fall and take a loss.

Before the 2023 Tet holiday, the price hovered VND38,000-45,000 per kilogram, but it has fallen to VND15,000-26,000 per kilogram.

Regarding consumption, because of high prices, Vietnam finds it difficult to compete in both domestic and foreign markets. 

Le Vuong Quoc, deputy director of CP Gimex Vietnam, commented that Vietnam’s purple opinions have special characteristics. 

“Indian and Chinese onions are 50 percent cheaper than Vietnamese,” Quoc said.

According to him, the output of Soc Trang, Quang Ngai and Ninh Thuan is enough to satisfy domestic demand, but imports are still high.

Paul Le from the Central Group noted that onion and garlic are used in every meal of Vietnamese people so the demand is very high.

However, supermarkets need to classify products in accordance with quality to sell to different target consumers. Soc Trang, for example, is leading in producing purple onions, therefore, it needs to go ahead with the branding and showing the origin and quality of products.

French-style onion soup made of Vietnam’s soup will be tastier than the onion of other countries. So, farmers and sellers need to tell the story about why the onion is so special to clients.

Tran Chung