Nguyễn Văn Dậu, who has more than 40 years of experience growing flowers in Đồng Tháp Province's Sa Đéc City. VNS Photo Văn Châu

Many farmers in the Mekong Delta, who supply flowers and ornamental plants for the coming Tết (Lunar New Year) market predict that they are facing multiple difficulties due to unseasonal rains causing damage to their crops and customers tightening their belts.

Nguyễn Văn Dậu, who has more than 20 years of experience growing flowers in Đồng Tháp Province's Sa Đéc City, shares his views about the 2025 Tết flower market with Việt Nam News.

How do you evaluate the Tết (Lunar New Year) flower market this year?

The finances of many people are difficult nowadays, I think that the Tết flower market this year will be even more difficult than last year. Therefore, I have decided to cut production by about 30 per cent compared to last year. Instead of growing 5,000 flower pots of all kinds for Tết season, this year I will only produce about 3,500 pots.

I will also focus on growing affordable flowers and ornamental plants to meet market demand.

Due to the difficult economic situation, to suit customer's budget, this year I chose to plant mostly small pots, with about 2,500 pots.

At this time every year, traders come to make deposits in advance, but this year is quite gloomy. Currently, only about 50 per cent of my flower pots have received deposits from traders, instead of 80 per cent or even all of them like previous years.

However, traders only paid the same price for Tết flowers this year as last year, while the cost of fertiliser, plant medicine and labour for this year's flower crop has increased by about 15 per cent.

Faced with such difficulties, what should flower growers do to adapt to the market?

Cutting costs, diversifying sales channels and producing unique flowers are solutions for farmers to adapt to the market demand.

Currently, many flower growers have learned the necessary knowledge to sell on e-commerce platforms and social media to diversify sales channels.

I sell my goods mainly through TikTok, livestreaming four times a week. Customers who do not watch the live session will watch clips later to choose ornamental plants. In addition, I post pictures of flower pots to make it easier for customers to buy.

My revenue grew more than 80 per cent compared to traditional sales alone.

By posting images of various flower varieties and interacting with customers via social networks, I have built a stable customer base, including flower shop owners in other provinces and cities as well as individual consumers.

This year, my farm is preparing 1,000 flower pots of all kinds to supply the Tết market through online sales. I also focus on taking care of the plants, creating beautiful shapes and many designs and price segments for customers to choose from.

Along with selling online, thanks to the investment in transport infrastructure, I can now receive orders by phone and deliver directly to customers in other provinces and cities such as HCM City, Bình Dương and Đồng Nai, even in the Central provinces.

Farmers are promoting flower sales during the Lunar New Year season through online channels. VNS Photo Văn Châu

Thanks to direct interaction with customers, I was able to grasp consumer tastes very quickly and proactively produce popular products.

Selling Tết flowers through online channels brings many benefits such as no cost of premises, labour and intermediary fees of traders, and farmers can interact directly with customers, and thereby keep up with trends.

Faced with major changes in customers' shopping habits, the application of technology and digital transformation is gradually becoming an indispensable trend. Flower farmers not only sell wholesale to traders but also actively use social networks to reach individual customers.

In the current context, flexibility and innovation will be the key for the Vietnamese flower sector to overcome all difficulties and develop sustainably.

Do farmers have any unique flower varieties for Tết 2025?

Besides diversifying sales channels, flower growers in the Mekong Delta also have techniques to create flowers with colours different from traditional colours to attract customers.

Raspberry daisy is naturally yellow. But farmers have cultivated them to come in other colours, including purple and pink.

These chrysanthemum pots are very popular with clients and are always in short supply.

Gardeners should constantly innovate and experiment with many flower varieties to meet market demand. Growing chrysanthemums with different colours has required me to learn the techniques thoroughly from engineers and experienced people. VNS