The latter costs VND45,000-120,000, cheaper than a year ago amid a bumper crop, according to farmers and vendors.

Thanh Tam, who owns a fruit store in Nam Tu Liem District, said the seedless lychees are expensive because they are grown in China’s Hainan Province and mostly exported to the Japanese market.

Customers buying the fruit are either gifting it or looking to try something new, she added.

Ngoc, owner of a store in Dong Da District that has imported 200 kilograms of the fruit since early June, said it has reddish-pink skin and thick, juicy flesh.

Mostly seedless, it occasionally has a small seed the size of a mung bean, she said.

On e-commerce platforms, the product is mainly sold in two-kilogram baskets kept with ice packs to preserve freshness.

But some sellers report that its skin can discolor within a short period. Its quality is also inconsistent, resulting in mixed feedback from consumers.

Hoang Anh of Cau Giay District said she bought some to try, but found it did not taste as good as local varieties.

“It had a slightly sour and bitter taste and its skin darkened after just one day,” she added.

Seedless lychee is also grown in a few parts of northern Vietnam, and only costs around VND280,000 per kilogram.

Some 500 trees in Bac Giang Province have been bearing fruit since 2022, but yields are low and quality is inconsistent.

Le Ba Thanh, deputy director of the province Department of Agriculture and Environment, said there are currently no plans to scale up production.

A company in Thanh Hoa Province, which grows seedless lychees on more than 1,000 hectares, said it has been exporting the fruit to Japan and the U.K., where they retail for VND800,000 per kilogram.