Soursop tea fever doubles fruit price

Soursop tea is a popular new drink in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/ Thi Ha

Each cup of soursop tea costs VND25,000-40,000 (US$1.06-1.70), depending on the cup’s size and the type of shop serving.

The owner of a tea shop chain in HCMC said the chain had sold more than 3,000 cups of soursop tea over the last month.

Loan, a resident in HCMC’s District 5 who regularly buys soursop to make smoothies, said she was surprised to see the fruit’s price increase twice in two months. The price surged to VND80,000 per kilogram in late May from VND50,000 in early April. The fruit cost just VND35,000 as recently as March.

Hanh, a fruit trader at Xom Moi Market in the city’s Go Vap District, said: “At present, I buy soursop at the price of VND50,000 per kilogram and then sell it for VND60,000.”

Soursop bought by a trader in the central province of Quang Binh. Photo by Anh Tuan

Thanh Mai, a trader who specializes in buying fruits from the Central Highlands region, said she used to buy soursop directly from orchards for VND10,000 per kilogram. But the cost has recently surged to VND20,000-40,000.

With an aroma similar to pineapple, the flavor of soursop has been described as a combination of strawberries and apple with sour citrus flavor notes, contrasting with an underlying thick creamy texture reminiscent of banana. The fruit tree is grown mainly in the South and the central region.

According to the Vietnam Fruits Association, soursop was proposed to be included on the priority list of negotiations for exported to the U.S. market.

Firms in Vietnam have exported soursop in the form of preliminarily processed fruit or dried tea. Their products are popular in many foreign markets.