Selling fish food is another business service of Koi fish coffee shops
Fish also has “a birth certificate”
I suddenly become interested in watching Koi fish for relaxing at weekends or when I am stressed since my husband became "a scholar of Koi fish". He not only regularly brings the whole family to the Koi fish coffee shops at leisure time but also invests in building aquariums, buying fishes, as well as taking care of the fishes, then trading and becoming a member of the Koi fish group.
He is extremely addicted to Koi fish to an extent that besides his work, he only cares about Koi fish. Even sometimes, he forgot to pick up our children. At first, I was so annoyed with him for that, but nothing has changed. Then, I started to learn about Koi fish and found myself gradually became passionate about this kind of fish, though I still not reaches the "level" of remembering all name of them.
There are many varieties of Koi fish, but in general, it is a carp with two major colors which are red and white. Later on, during the selective hybridization process, this type of fish has more different colors so it is often called colorful carp or Koi fish.
About the origin of this fish, some documents said that the Koi fish is originated in Japan, still, China or France also has its own varieties. Therefore, choosing Koi fish is up to each person's preference. However, according to the survey, most coffee shops and Hue people are in love with Japanese and Vietnamese Koi.
Japanese Koi fish is sold with “birth certificate”
Mr. Huy, an owner of Koi fish coffee shop in the area informed that it’s arduous to take care of Japanese Koi fish and the price is also "quite acrid". It is estimated that a Koi fish with 30 - 40 cm in length can cost around 4 to 10 million VND, depending on its shape and color. The bigger ones can get the price ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions VND. On social networks, some special Koi categories are up to billions for sale, but except for the information, he has never seen it by his own eyes, so he can’t make sure about the purchasing.
Due to the difficulties in the caring process and high price, many coffee shops choose Vietnamese Koi fish to do their business. This type of Koi fish is easy to look after; the fish food cost is also affordable and the input purchasing price is acceptable.
While it costs only some tens of millions for a medium-sized aquarium nurturing Vietnamese Koi fish, the price for the same aquarium with Japanese Koi fish inside would cost at least double to triple. Therefore, it is clear to realize that most of the coffee shops in the provincial area doing business with Vietnamese Koi fish. As mentioned, Japanese Koi needs a large investment and an expensive care process as well.
Sometimes, just the name of Koi fish is enough to make me “fall into confusion”. They are regularly called according to their varieties and colors.
Accordingly, there are 8 types of fish with different color characteristics, including white and red is Kohaku, white blended with red and black is Showa Sanke, black blended with white is Shiro Utsuri, platinum or gold colors is Kinginin, and white with a red circle on the top of the head is Tancho, which symbolizes the national flag of Japan, so the price of this type is quite expensive if it is purebred Japanese variety.
Nowadays, not only Japan but many European and Asian countries know how to breed Koi fish. However, no other kinds of Koi fish can be compared to the purebred Japanese variety when talking about pure beauty, as well as the common color patches and the density of monochromatic colors.
Therefore, the purebred Japanese Koi always has the highest price and it is not rare to receive the enclosed "a birth certificate" with full information on color, size, gender, number of months… written in Japanese when buying this kind of fish. Because of those characteristics, most of the Koi fish that the coffee shops are invested in come from both the tastes of the market and, primarily, from the owners' passion.
Passion & customer attraction
In terms of meticulous and expensive investment, it must be worth mentioning the Koizora cafe, located on Ly Nam De Street, which not only has the large aquarium, a good filtration system but also the fishes in big sizes with around 40cm in length and bigger, among which are many purebred Japanese Koi fishes.
Next is Dong Tam coffee shop on An Duong Vuong street. The location is quite convenient when being located on National Highway 1 with the section going through Thua Thien Hue. This coffee shop serves cakes, bread, and coffee for those requiring a quick breakfast. Hence, to have a good seat next to the Koi aquarium, you have to go there early_from 7.00 am to 7.30 am. If later, you have no choice except sitting inside or on the second floor; it means that the opportunity to contemplate the fishes must save to the next occasion.
Besides, some other Koi coffee shops in the area of Hue City have also made attraction to the customers such as King's Garden (Tran Nguyen Dan Street), Vuon Tung (Nguyen Binh Khiem Street) ...
The common point of Koi fish coffee shops is that they all sell fish food. Parents with young children will not regret to buy a few packs of fish food for their kids to experience feeding fishes and enjoying the joy of being “hands licking” by the fishes. This service is chosen by many people because the price is not a big problem, just only VND 5,000 VND per package.
This way helps the coffee shop owner to get back the money for buying fish food, and even for buying fish when the cheapest fish food is around several tens of thousands for each kilogram. After selling retail distribution to customers, the owners do not only need to worry about the fish going hungry but also gain the revenue up to 5 to 7 times.
Hence, those who are passionate and even the ones who are not yet in love with Koi fish still want to have a relaxing time in the open space of Koi fish coffee shops. Moreover, through the survey, the prices of drinks in these coffee shops are affordable, not higher than in other coffee shops with beautiful views. In which the roasted black coffee worths from 12 to 15 thousand VND, milk coffee worths from 15 to 20 thousand VND, and juices worth from 20 - 30 thousand VND, etc.
That price is suitable for the choice of young families so that the Koi coffee shops are always out of table, especially on the weekends. Based on that, Koi fish coffee shops always get “a foothold” in “the colorful coffee village” of Hue.
Story and photos: Hong Tam