Ly Son garlic, considered 'white gold' by local people due to its quality and economic value, is now suffering from falling prices due to fake goods.

Ly Son garlic brand suffers from fake products

Farmer Nguyen Thi Thanh said by the end of August, a tonne of garlic was sold for VND70,000 (USD3), which is much lower than previous years when the highest prices for a tonne of garlic was 150,000 (USD6.43) and the lowest was VND60,000. She decided to stockpile nearly 10 tonnes of garlic instead of selling. However, prices have kept on falling.

"I have to sell it or else the garlic will go bad. Garlic prices have never been so low. We'll incur huge losses," she said.

Statistics from Ly Son District People's Committee show that the farmers harvested over 2,000 tonnes of garlic for the spring-winter crop and 300 tonnes are stockpiled. The authorities are calling for help from the public to buy the garlic at VND60,000 (USD2.57) per tonne.

Nguyen Canh, a garlic trader, said the prices had dropped two months ago. Tourists often buy Ly Son garlic as presents but because of increasing number of fake and sub-standard garlic from other places mixed in, the Ly Son garlic’s reputation and value have declined.

"Garlic from the mainland is brought to the island and sold to customers," he said.

If this situation isn’t dealt with, Ly Son garlic prices will continue dropping and farmers may have to find another job. Farmer Nguyen Van Cong said calling on the public to help out was a temporary solution, the authorities should find ways to deal with non-local garlic.

Vice chairman of the Island’s Garlic and Purple Onion Processing and Trade Association Nguyen Van Dinh suggested investing in geographical indications, labels and anti-counterfeit stamp.

Ly Son District People's Committee Chairwoman Pham Thi Huong said it would not be easy to improve Ly Son garlic’s reputation.

"Bringing garlic from the mainland to the island is normal, we can't ban this. We can only apply fines if traders are caught faking other garlic as Ly Son garlic. We mostly call for co-operation from the locals," she said.

Nguoi Lao Dong/Dtinews