Need to untie the "knot" from within

Two big "knots"

China is the largest consumer market for bird's nest, accounting for 80% of global consumption. It is also the world's largest importer of bird's nest, and imports are increasing.

Bird's nest products of Hai Yen Nha Trang Company. Photo: Tam An

According to the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association, in 2023, China imported 557 tons of bird's nests, an increase of 23.4% compared to 2022. In the first quarter of 2024, China imported 145 tons of bird's nests, equivalent to nearly 30% of the amount of bird's nests imported in the whole year of 2023. This shows that the demand for imported bird's nests in the Chinese market continues to increase and may increase by about 15% this year.

China's demand for imported bird's nests is increasing, but Vietnam's bird's nest exports to this market are still modest. In the first quarter of 2024, Vietnamese bird's nest enterprises only exported 2 tons of bird's nests to China. One of the reasons for the low export of bird's nests to China, according to enterprises, is that most consumers in this country do not know about Vietnamese bird's nests.

Ms. Trinh Thi Hong Van - Deputy General Director of Khanh Hoa State-owned Salanganes Nest Company - commented that Vietnamese bird's nest exported to this country must compete fiercely with similar products from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia - which have been popular for a long time. Although the quality of natural bird's nest from Vietnam is better, the price is compared with that of other countries. If this is not clarified, it will certainly be difficult for our country's bird's nest products to develop in the future.

Mr. Le Thanh Dai - Chairman of the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association - shared that for many years, Chinese people have been used to using imported bird's nests from Malaysia and Indonesia. As for Vietnamese bird's nests, Chinese people almost only know the Khanh Hoa bird's nest brand, but Khanh Hoa bird's nests are island bird's nests so they are very expensive, only the wealthy can use them. Meanwhile, Vietnamese house bird's nests, which are more accessible to ordinary consumers, are not known by many people.

On the other hand, the vast majority of bird nest houses do not have a legal basis, which is significantly affecting the supply of raw bird nests for export processing. Although Decree 13/2020/ND-CP of the Government on detailed guidance on the Law on Animal Husbandry, has dedicated an article on the management of bird nest farming with regulations on bird nest farming areas and facilities. These are the foundations and initial legal bases for the bird nest industry to develop.

However, up to now, most birdhouses still do not have a full legal basis, because birdhouses are constructions for raising animals, not for housing, but there are no processes and procedures for licensing. Therefore, currently, more than 90% of birdhouses do not have a construction permit, and there is no legal basis for recognition. This is a disadvantage for the birdhouse industry, because the built birdhouses are a huge resource for birdhouse farmers to mortgage to borrow capital from banks, invest in the post-harvest stage to increase the value of bird's nests.

Mr. Hong Dinh Khoa - Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Vietnam Quoc Yen Joint Stock Company - informed that when a business exports finished bird's nests, the export dossier must include documents proving the origin of raw bird's nests. However, the vast majority of bird's nest houses in Vietnam were previously built in violation of regulations.

Although Decree 13 has allowed these types of bird's nest houses to exist with the requirement to maintain the current status and not expand, when implemented in localities, many localities are still hesitant to acknowledge the existence of these bird's nest houses, thereby limiting the confirmation of the origin of raw bird's nests.

Perfecting legal basis, promoting and advertising products

The bird's nest industry has only been developing for about 20 years. It has only been in the last 10 years that the bird's nest industry has become a real economic sector. Currently, our country has over 22,000 bird's nest farms. The bird's nest output is about 150 tons, worth over 600 million USD.

Hai Yen Nha Trang Company has exported a batch of high-quality bird's nests to China. Photo: Tam An

However, the lack of uniformity in state management of the bird's nest farming industry is one of the obstacles to bird's nest export because businesses have difficulty confirming the origin of raw materials.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Dai, currently, due to the lack of specific instructions, any locality that is interested in promoting the development of the bird's nest industry, the local government is enthusiastic in certifying bird's nest houses according to Decree 13. Meanwhile, many localities have not yet certified because there are no instructions.

To solve this problem, Mr. Dai said that relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Construction need to sit together to issue guidelines on a unified process so that localities have a basis to apply it to birdhouse management.

Along with perfecting the legal basis, in order for a large number of Chinese consumers to know and be willing to buy Vietnamese bird's nests, in addition to improving the quality of exported bird's nests, it is necessary to promote marketing programs and promote Vietnamese bird's nests in the Chinese market, so that Chinese consumers know that, in addition to the Khanh Hoa bird's nest brand with island bird's nest origin, Vietnam also has other bird's nest brands with home bird's nest origin, which are also of very good quality.

On the side of the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association, there will be a working program with China's CCTV television channel. The two sides will cooperate to promote and bring the image of Vietnamese bird's nest to all regions of China. This program aims to let the majority of Chinese people know about bird's nest from Vietnamese domestic bird's nest origin in terms of quality, nutritional content, notable brands... With such a methodical promotional cooperation, the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association hopes to create trust with Chinese consumers, thereby establishing a position for Vietnamese bird's nest in this market.

On November 16, 2022, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development officially signed a protocol on official export of bird's nest to China. To date, the General Administration of Customs of China has licensed 7 Vietnamese enterprises to officially export bird's nest products to this market.

With previous experience exporting bird's nest to the Chinese market, Ms. Trinh Thi Hong Van said that, in addition to quality issues, traceability, meeting food safety standards..., businesses need to clearly understand market tastes to produce suitable products. Because, whether a business is successful or not, customers decide up to 90%.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/xuat-khau-to-yen-sang-trung-quoc-can-go-nut-that-tu-noi-tai-347631.html