"This is the most expensive and rarest seedless lychee season ever," Tran Thi Ngoc Chau, a fruit trader in HCMC, said.

Seedless lychee in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.

She has sold the fruit for years but never found sourcing it as difficult as this year. But despite the high prices, many customers placed orders early, and she could not meet their demand, she said.

Hoang Oanh, a trader, said she had accepted orders in advance, but, shortly before harvest, many orchards reported crop failures and said they could not deliver. So, she had to cancel many orders, she said.

Many people are searching to buy the fruit but without success. Hoa, a local resident, planned to buy five kilograms of seedless lychees as gifts for business partners, but could not find it and had to opt for another fruit.

"I asked three stores that used to sell seedless lychees, but they said they could not source any."

This year’s lychee crop has suffered widespread losses. The Plant Production and Protection Department said unfavorable weather affected flower bud differentiation, flowering, and fruit setting.

Vietnam has 55,000 hectares under lychee, mainly in northern provinces. The output has fallen sharply in many of the key growing areas, with some recording declines of more than half year-on-year.

Ho Guom – Song Am Company in the central province of Thanh Hoa is the only firm to cultivate and commercialize the fruit since 2023, but it too has only limited quantities to sell.

Some areas, such as Bac Ninh Province, have been trying to grow the fruit but without notable success.

Explaining the shortage, Bui Duc Thuy, deputy director of Ho Guom - Song Am, said many northern lychee-growing areas have been hit by extreme weather this year, with some areas losing up to 90% of their crop.

At the company’s seedless lychee growing area in Thanh Hoa, the initial flowering rate had been a mere 27% before prolonged heat followed by thunderstorms during the fruit-setting stage caused young fruits to shed in large numbers.

As a result, the company’s seedless lychee output this year was only one ton, down from around seven tons last year.

The tight supply pushed wholesale prices to more than VND600,000 per kilogram, double the VND310,000 in the same period last year.

Thuy said the harvest was so small that the company could not fulfill its pre-season orders. He also warned consumers to be cautious about products advertised as seedless lychees.

Bac Ninh expands regional tourism partnership to boost lychee-season travel

BAC NINH - The Bac Ninh Tourism Association has launched a regional tourism cooperation programme and promotional campaign for lychee-season tours, bringing together tourism associations from Thai Nguyen, Lang Son and Hanoi in a move aimed at strengthening interprovincial travel links and attracting more visitors during the summer season.

Facilitating export of Bac Ninh’s lychee via Kim Thanh Border Gate

BAC NINH- This time, the authorities at Kim Thanh International Border Gate No 2 (in Lao Cai province) are taking various measures to facilitate the export of fresh lychee from Bac Ninh to the Chinese market. With the highest priority for fresh lychee, all stages including traffic regulation, arrangement of temporary storage areas and custom clearance procedures are being handled efficiently to ensure smooth and uninterrupted operations

Deep processing of lychees eases sales pressure, boosts value

BAC NINH - Expanding the processing industry for agricultural products has long been a priority for Bac Ninh Province, one of Vietnam’s largest lychee-producing regions. By turning fresh fruit into processed goods, producers can extend shelf life, diversify export markets and increase the value of local farm products.

Century-old ancestral lychee tree draws visitors in Bac Ninh

A more than century-old ancestral lychee tree in Thai Hoa village, Phuc Hoa commune, Bac Ninh province, has become a popular attraction.

 

Bac Ninh’s lychee sales exceed 30,100 tonnes as prices rise

BAC NINH - Bac Ninh Province has sold more than 30,100 tonnes of lychees since the start of the harvest season, with prices significantly higher than in previous years despite lower output, according to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.

Bac Ninh seeks to boost lychee exports through stronger supply chains

BAC NINH - Authorities in the northern province of Bac Ninh has recently launched a trade promotion conference aimed at expanding domestic and overseas markets for lychee and other key agricultural products, while strengthening logistics and supply-chain connectivity.