At his flower shop in Tan An Ward, Can Tho, Le Minh Chien, born in 1996, has attracted customers with bouquets unlike any others. Alongside traditional fresh flowers, his arrangements feature vegetables and fruit, creating gifts that are both visually striking and practical.

Chien previously worked as a life skills teacher for preschool and primary school students in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2020, he enlisted for mandatory military service.

After completing his service, he decided not to return to teaching and instead entered the floral business. The turning point came when a customer asked him to create a bouquet unlike anything available on the market.

From an unusual request to a viral idea
 

Faced with the challenge, Chien spent considerable time researching new ideas. While browsing the internet, he discovered examples overseas of bouquets made with vegetables and fruit. Inspired by the concept, he created his first arrangement by combining fresh flowers with corn.

Although the bouquet was far from perfect, the customer loved it. Chien later shared the creation on social media, where it attracted nearly one million views.

He said: "After making my first vegetable bouquet, I continued running my flower business in the traditional way. However, during major holidays, fresh flowers often become scarce and prices rise several times above their normal levels.

"At the same time, many customers felt that conventional flower bouquets had become too familiar and wanted gifts that were more distinctive. That inspired me to create arrangements combining fresh flowers with vegetables and fruit to give recipients a different experience."

His bouquets incorporate a wide variety of fresh produce, including carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, corn, shallots, bell peppers, chayote, oranges, apples and grapes. Carefully arranged among fresh flowers, the produce creates balanced, colorful bouquets that are both attractive and unconventional.

To make each bouquet even more lively, Chien decorates the vegetables and fruit with eyes, noses and mouths. Apples, onions, corn and broccoli are transformed into playful cartoon-like characters with cheerful, innocent expressions.

Creative gifts with practical value

According to Chien, making bouquets from vegetables and fruit requires not only creativity but also careful attention to preserving freshness. By the time customers receive the bouquets, the produce must still look appealing and retain its original quality.

To achieve this, he carefully selects fresh, high-quality ingredients and avoids piercing them with toothpicks, nails or other sharp objects during assembly. Instead, he uses food-safe adhesives and discreet fixing techniques that preserve both appearance and usability.

Since launching the product, Chien's bouquets have attracted a wide range of customers thanks to their originality and practicality. To ensure freshness, he does not prepare bouquets in advance but begins arranging them only after receiving an order.

Typically, he visits the market shortly before delivery to buy freshly harvested produce. During peak occasions such as International Women's Day on March 8, Vietnamese Women's Day on October 20 and Vietnamese Teachers' Day on November 20, however, demand consistently exceeds supply.

During these busy periods, Chien spends long hours developing new designs, sourcing ingredients and bringing in extra help to complete orders on time.

His vegetable and flower bouquets are priced from VND 180,000 (USD 7) to about VND 1 million (USD 39), depending on their size and customer requirements.

The occasion he remembers most was last year's Vietnamese Teachers' Day, when many students ordered the bouquets as gifts for their homeroom teachers. Many teachers were pleasantly surprised by the unusual presents.

According to Chien, several teachers later told their students they appreciated the bouquets because they were charming, distinctive and genuinely useful.

Vo Tan Duy, born in 1993 and also from Tan An Ward, Can Tho, purchased one of the bouquets as a birthday surprise for his mother.

"After learning about them, I found these bouquets combining vegetables, fruit and fresh flowers to be incredibly creative and unique," he said. "Besides serving as gifts and decorations for special occasions, the bouquets can later be turned into meals. That makes them even more meaningful because nothing goes to waste and they can be enjoyed twice."

Ha Nguyen