HANOI: Vietnam's bird's nest exports to China are increasing, but this product faces stiff price competition and is suffering from a lack of clear regulations on the management of swiftlet farming houses.
China's demand for bird nests is increasing, but Vietnam's exports to this market are still modest.
According to the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association, China imported 557 tonnes of bird's nests in 2023, an increase of 23.4 per cent compared to 2022.
In the first quarter of 2024, China imported 145 tonnes, equal to nearly 30 per cent of the bird's nest imports for the whole year of 2023. This shows that the demand for bird's nests in China continues to increase.
Meanwhile, the imports from Vietnam to China in the first quarter of 2024, were only about two tonnes. This volume was low because few Chinese consumers know about Vietnamese products, according to enterprises.
Deputy General Director of the State-owned Khanh Hoa Bird's Nest Co. Ltd. Trinh Thi Hong Van said that Vietnamese bird's nests face stiff competition from products from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, which have long been popular.
Although the quality of Vietnam's natural bird's nest is better, it must compete with rivals in terms of price. If the price disparity is not fixed, it will be difficult for Vietnam's bird's nest products to develop in the future.
Chairman of the Vietnma Bird's Nest Association Le Thanh Dai said that for many years, Chinese people have been used to bird's nests imported from Malaysia and Indonesia.
For Vietnamese bird's nests, Chinese people almost know only the Khanh Hoa brand, but those nests are harvested on an island, so they are very expensive.
Meanwhile, the bird's nests harvested from houses raising swiftlets are more reasonably priced for ordinary consumers, but that is not widely known among Chinese consumers.
On the other hand, the majority of old bird houses were built with an initial purpose of simply housing, not raising, swiftlets.
The Government's Decree 13/2020/NĐ-CP on detailed guidance on the Law on Animal Husbandry, has allowed the kind of bird raising houses to exist, but they are not permitted to expand production scale for fear of noise pollution.
Many localities are still hesitant to grant operating licences to these houses, thereby limiting verification on origin of raw bird's nests. It is significantly affecting the supply of nests for export processing.
Chairman and General Director of Vietnam Quoc Yen JSC Hong Dinh Khoa said that when a business exports finished bird's nests, the export dossier of this product must include documents proving the origin of raw bird's nests.
To solve those problems, 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 review implementation of the existing regulations and process relating to management of the bird raising houses.
In addition, it is necessary to increase trade promotion programmes for Vietnamese bird's nests in the Chinese market, helping people know that there are other Vietnamese bird's nest brands beside Khanh Hoa. Improving the quality of exported bird's nests is also needed.
The association has had a working programme with China's CCTV television channel to promote Vietnamese bird's nest brands to all regions of China, including information about quality, nutrition and notable brands.
With experience in exporting bird's nests to China, Van said that, besides issues of quality, traceability and food safety standards, enterprises need to know the tastes of the market to produce suitable products.
China is the largest bird's nest market, accounting for 80 per cent of the world's consumption. It is also the world's largest bird's nest importer and those import volumes are increasing.
On Nov 16, 2022, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development officially signed a protocol on official export of bird's nests to China.
So far, the General Department of Customs of China has licensed seven Vietnamese enterprises to officially export bird's nest products to this market.
Vietnam has over 22,000 bird raising houses with the output of about 150 tonnes, worth over US$600 million. — Vietnam News/ANN
