Spaghetti squash prices down nearly 50% as domestic production grows

With an average weight of three kilograms, a squash costs nearly VND270,000, much more expensive than other types of squashes.

“[It] is very popular though it is three times more expensive than pumpkin and four times more expensive than zucchini,” Lan, a vegetable seller in the city’s District 12, said.

Oanh, a vendor in District 8, said she sells about 150-200 of them each day. Prices of this type of squash have decreased from the VND150,000-200,000 per kilogram seen a few years ago as more people are growing it.

After it is cooked, the flesh of spaghetti squash can be separated into long, thin strands resembling noodles. It used to be imported from either Japan or China’s Hainan Island before it was first cultivated in Lam Dong Province’s Da Lat City in 2020.

It has since become popular, especially among weight-watchers and other health-conscious consumers.

Spaghetti squash grown at a farm in Lam Dong Province. Photo by Yen Van

Thanks to its high prices, growers are earning more profits from it than other similar crops. Luong Thi Yen Van, director of Vuon Nha Da Lat Cooperative and one of the first people to introduce the vegetable to the market, said she imported the seeds from Japan and started planting it four years ago. From an initially small planting area, her garden has now expanded to nearly two hectares.