On August 7, within the framework of the seminar to update information on demand, tastes and disseminate regulations on domestic and foreign markets, the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) organized a tour of a number of typical agricultural production and business models in Vinh Phuc province and Hanoi.

Strictly manage honey production process to ensure export requirements

In Vinh Phuc, the delegation visited and evaluated Tam Dao Bee Joint Stock Company (Honeco). This is one of the leading companies in producing and processing high-quality honey in Vietnam. Honeco has more than 50 affiliated bee farms across the country, providing thousands of tons of honey from many different flower sources every year. In addition, the Company's modern processing plant system has a capacity of more than 500 tons/month, including many bottling systems with different capacities.

Ms. Le Thi Nga, General Director of the Company, shared that Vietnam has many favorable conditions to develop beekeeping for honey. The quality of our honey is not inferior to any country in the world. However, a sad reality is that in the past, in the domestic market, businesses have not found a common voice, leading to the situation of "each person doing their own thing", fierce competition has pushed the selling price of honey products down.

This not only causes disadvantages for producers but also makes it difficult for businesses to sell their products to foreign markets because countries are increasingly strengthening trade defense and anti-dumping measures, especially when tariff barriers are removed through free trade agreements.

Therefore, to be able to stand firm, Honeco has invested in a system of production lines and modern processing technology, creating many high-quality product lines made from honey combined with herbs and fruits such as: Tacumin, Cordyceps, Royal Jelly, Passion Fruit Honey, Kumquat Honey, Ginger, Lemongrass... to meet the increasingly high demands and tastes of the markets.

In response to Honeco’s concerns and recommendations, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, Deputy Head of Market Development Department (Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development) on behalf of the delegates recommended: Vietnam has participated in many free trade agreements, this is a great opportunity for agricultural products in general, and honey in particular, to enter high-end markets. However, high-value markets also mean fierce competition and strict requirements.

Therefore, in addition to searching for and expanding new markets, Honeco needs to continue to strictly manage the entire production process, especially strengthening training and orientation for farms to link technical processes of livestock farming, quality control, product preservation, information related to legal regulations on food safety... to ensure that the products produced meet the requirements and criteria for export quality.

Organic vegetables are "worth the money"

In Hanoi, the delegation visited the safe vegetable production model of Bai Thuong Organic Agriculture Cooperative (Thanh Xuan Commune, Soc Son) and Trung Ha Rice Paper Craft Village Cooperative (Tien Thinh Commune, Me Linh). Mr. Hoang Van Hung, Director of Bai Thuong Organic Agriculture Cooperative, shared that the Cooperative currently has 8 members and has developed links with 4 groups producing organic vegetables and fruits (20 households) on an area of ​​over 3 hectares. On average, the Cooperative sells 300 - 400 kg of vegetables and fruits to the market every day, increasing to nearly 1 ton during the main season (mainly to AEON supermarkets).

To ensure uniformity in product quality and meet the requirements of purchasing units, the cooperative has developed a detailed production plan for members and associated groups in the spirit of complying with a common production process. The cooperative's management and control board regularly informs and propagates regulations on food safety, organic farming, and closely inspects and monitors the entire process from input to output of the product.

Thanks to the smooth coordination and methodical operation, although the cooperative's products have an average selling price of 24,000 - 25,000 VND/kg, much higher than that of normal production households in the region (7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg), they are always in a state of "out of stock".

However, in the context of increasingly severe climate change, shortage of young labor force in agriculture, limited capital, etc., developing and maintaining organic and sustainable organic production will not be easy for cooperatives and farmers without the cooperation of the whole society.

After exchanging, discussing, and listening to the concerns of the cooperatives, the representative of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development noted that the opportunities for safe, environmentally friendly products are huge. Therefore, first of all, cooperatives need to ensure product transparency by further specifying the constraints and requirements between the parties participating in the production, supply, preliminary processing, and product processing chain so that the traceability of origin is most detailed.

In addition, increase the number of professionally trained staff to supervise production activities and manage cold storage; improve facilities, especially the preliminary processing, sterilization and isolation systems; improve product packaging to increase attractiveness to consumers; and more specifically, handle products that are about to expire or are about to expire...