Ho Chi Minh City’s largest dong leaf market opens early for Tet

In recent days, stalls selling dong leaves have appeared along Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in Tan Son Nhat Ward, where the seasonal market operates for a short period before the Lunar New Year or Tet Festival.

The market, long known as the city’s main source of dong leaves used to wrap traditional Tet cakes, typically becomes busy around the 10th day of the 12th lunar month. This year, however, some traders began selling from the sixth day.

There are currently five to seven stalls, mostly run by long-time traders. Much of the trade is wholesale, supplying bakeries and companies ordering banh chung as gifts for employees, although retail sales are also available.

Hoang Thi Thu, a trader from Dong Nai who has sold dong leaves for nearly a decade, said she opened early to serve regular customers.

“Many companies ordered leaves early this year to make banh chung as Tet gifts for their employees, so I started selling early,” she said. “Family customers will likely come in large numbers after the 20th day of the 12th lunar month.”

Thu said her leaves are sourced from Dong Nai and Lam Dong, cut in the gardens and transported to Ho Chi Minh City by truck on the same day to keep them fresh. Each shipment includes about 500 to 600 bundles, with 50 leaves per bundle. She expects to sell around 100,000 leaves by the final days before Tet.

Dong leaves are sold by the bundle or in lots of 50 to 100, sorted by size. Traders said early-season prices were lower than last year due to weaker purchasing power. Extra-large leaves are selling for about VND 120,000 (about USD 4.69) per 100, down from roughly VND 150,000 (about USD 5.86) at the same time last year. The smallest leaves cost about VND 50,000 (about USD 1.95) per 100.

Bamboo strings used to tie the cakes are selling for about VND 10,000 (about USD 0.39) per bundle at retail, and around VND 7,000 (about USD 0.27) for bulk orders.

Hai Trang, another long-time trader at the market, said prices fluctuate daily depending on supply from growers.

“Some days extra-large leaves are VND 100,000 per 100, other days only VND 80,000,” she said. “Prices in the coming days will depend on supply and demand.”

Bakeries remain the market’s largest and most consistent customers. O Ngoc, who runs a banh chung bakery in Tan Hung Ward, said she typically buys 5,000 to 6,000 leaves each Tet season.

“I usually start making banh chung from the 20th day of the 12th lunar month,” she said. “Each cake uses six to eight leaves so it keeps well. This year, I’ve been able to buy leaves cheaper than in previous years.”

Alongside dong leaves and bamboo strings, stalls also sell wooden moulds used to shape banh chung. Prices range from VND 20,000 to VND 50,000 (about USD 0.78 to USD 1.95) depending on size and thickness, and have remained largely stable this year.

Traders said the market is no longer as crowded as it once was. In previous years, stalls stretched for hundreds of metres, but the market has gradually shrunk, with fewer sellers and lighter foot traffic.

Dep, 61, who has sold dong leaves for 47 years, said early opening had not yet brought a large number of customers.

“We opened early this year, but there aren’t many customers yet,” she said. “It’s seasonal work, so we can’t sell for long.”

Despite its smaller scale, the Ong Ta dong leaf market remains a familiar year-end destination for many residents, closely tied to the Tet tradition of making banh chung and banh tet.