Durian-like Chinese sweet potatoes win over Vietnamese buyers despite triple local price

"Durian sweet potatoes" have been widely sold on social media since July with sellers promoting their smooth texture and durian-like sweetness.

Hong Anh, the owner of a food store in HCMC’s District 12, said when her suppliers first told her about the product she was hesitant due to its very high price.

But on trying it, she found it chewy, sweet and "melting" in the mouth, and decided to sell it.

"Within half a month I sold about 300 kilograms," she said. "Customers like them because the potatoes look attractive and are uniformly sized. Buyers are also curious due to their unusual name."

Chinese sweet potatoes sold online in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of sellers

She now sells them at VND96,000 (US$3.64) per kilogram – double the price of the best domestic variety and three times that of regular sweet potatoes.

In Vietnam, sweet potatoes are a common agricultural product, grown extensively in the Central Highlands and Mekong Delta. Last year their exports fetched nearly VND900 billion.

They sell for VND14,000-16,000 per kilogram at the farm gate and retail at VND25,000-50,000.

Sellers have been buying more of the Chinese variety as demand soars. To Khuyen, a wholesale distributor in Lao Cai Province on the China border, has imported thousands of boxes in just over a month.

She initially sold it at over VND100,000 per kilogram due to limited supply but has since lowered prices by 15%. "Since early July the sweet potatoes have been selling out. As soon as the trucks arrive, they are snapped up by wholesalers."

Besides the chewy and sweet flavor, the sweet potatoes also have thick skin, which is easy to peel, and are packaged in attractive cardboard boxes, making them appealing to customers. But they remain a niche product.

Representatives of the Thu Duc and Hoc Mon wholesale markets in HCMC said they have not seen them yet, and their markets only sell Vietnamese varieties.

Consumers should be cautious with new products whose origins are unclear, some market sellers have warned.

According to China’s Guangdong Provincial Information Portal, the sweet potato belongs to a variety called Xinxiang, or mini sweet potatoes, recognized since 2007, and are now widely grown in southern provinces such as Zhejiang and Guangdong. Traders pay farmers from CNY13-16 ($1.82-2.24) per kilogram.