Blossoming prosperity thanks to honey bees
Busy collecting honey to deliver to customers, Dang Thanh Tung (Director of Tung Hang Honey Cooperative) enthusiastically shared with us: “Customers who have used mangrove honey find it hard to complain. Just recently, a supermarket in Hanoi ordered 500 bottles of honey but still couldn't meet demand.” Explaining the “special” and always in-demand nature of mangrove honey, Tung began to tell us about the journey of crystallising the sweet nectar of bees and the life-changing process thanks to beekeeping for many poor coastal residents.
In 1997, Dai Hop Commune was one of the localities funded by Japan to implement the project “Mangrove reforestation to reduce disaster risk”, with a total area of over 650 hectares. After three years, the mangrove forests with various species of trees, such as mangrove apple, acacia, wild almond, barringtonia, and leucospermum,began to bloom beautifully. Some beekeepers from other provinces and cities immediately moved their bee colonies here to collect nectar. Recognising the economic potential of bees and the natural strengths of the locality, some households boldly invested, switching from fishing and aquaculture to beekeeping in the mangrove forests.
The bee species chosen by the locals for breeding is the native Asian bee, although small in size, it produces high-quality honey with a fragrant taste, strong resistance to diseases, good adaptability to the weather and environment here, and does not need to migrate according to flower seasons. During the breeding process, people do not need to spend much effort caring for the bees; they let them grow and develop naturally. With favourable natural conditions and abundant sources of flowers, the bees thrive. It is this bee species that produces the unique honey that creates the reputation of mangrove forest honey.
According to Tung, unlike other beekeeping areas such as longan, litchi, or apple blossoms that only flower for 1-2 months, the mangrove forests bloom for up to nine months a year. Therefore, the natural food source for bees is always abundant. Only during the period between August and September, when the number of flowers in the mangrove forests decreases, do people have to move the bee colonies to neighbouring areas like Bang La Ward (Do Son District), where hundreds of hectares of apple trees are blooming for bees to collect nectar.
Currently, Tung Hang Honey Cooperative has more than 1,000 bee colonies, with an average yield of 12 litres per colony per year. The annual output of the cooperative is continuously increasing, reaching an average of 8-9 thousand litres, sold for 300,000 VND per litre, yielding a profit of 700 million VND per year. The main market for mangrove forest honey is in northern and central provinces and cities such as Hai Phong, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, etc. Many households have become prosperous thanks to beekeeping.
Unlike other types of honey, mangrove forest honey is considered "clean" because mangrove forests are natural environments free from residues of plant protection chemicals and chemical fertilisers, ensuring safety. The honey is of high quality, fragrant, rich in minerals, with a sweet and mild taste.
According to Tung, although the price is not cheap, it corresponds to the quality. "Unlike other types of honey, mangrove forest honey is considered 'clean' because mangrove forests are natural environments, free from residues of plant protection chemicals and chemical fertilisers, ensuring safety. The honey is of high quality, fragrant, rich in minerals, with a sweet and mild taste. This is also why mangrove forest honey from the cooperative is always in high demand; whatever we produce, it sells out," said Tung.
Thanks to its natural advantages, mangrove forest honey is considered a rare speciality. With superior quality and high praise from users, in 2023, the mangrove forest honey product of Tung Hang Honey Cooperative was certified as a 4-star OCOP product, honoured to become the typical product of Kien Thuy District and represent Dai Hop Commune in the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program.
Promoting product quality and brand development
Regularly using natural products to care for the health of her family, Hoang Ngoc Khanh (Ngô Quyền district, Hai Phong City) cannot overlook the product dubbed "a gift from nature".
Khanh shared: "Honey has many benefits such as antioxidant, anti-diabetic effects, and contains beneficial nutrients. Since discovering mangrove forest honey, my family has switched to using this type of honey because of its delicious taste and guaranteed cleanliness, so I feel very reassured."
To develop the honey brand to its current status, one cannot ignore the establishment of cooperatives, which has created a major turning point for beekeeping in the Dai Hop coastal area. Tung recalled that to expand production scale, in 2010, some households joined hands to establish a Beekeeping Cooperative to bring together those with needs and goals for economic development from this profession. However, it was not effective due to difficulties in marketing and lack of awareness, even though the quality was no less than other honey types.
Concerned about finding outlets for the product, Tung began researching. In May 2020, Tung Hang Honey Cooperative was officially established according to the 2012 Cooperative Law, opening up a new direction for beekeeping. With seven members and nearly 30 beekeeping households, the cooperative operates in both production and product marketing. Since the establishment of the cooperative, mangrove forest honey has become widely known. The cooperative has signed product supply contracts with supermarkets, Hai Phong Post Office, Postmart e-commerce platform, Sale 168, etc., to ensure stable outlets for the people.
To overcome the problem of high water content leading to thin honey, the cooperative is applying a system of water separation machines to fractionate honey. Thanks to modern technology, after harvesting, the honey from the cooperative is pressed and separated from water, ensuring that the water content in the honey is below 23%, according to Vietnamese honey standards. This ensures that the honey does not become sour when stored for a long time and maintains better quality.
Since being recognised as an OCOP product, with labels, food safety certifications, and clear origins, the value of the product has increased significantly. Mangrove forest honey is gradually asserting its position and reputation in the market, directly competing with many other famous honey brands. The cooperative continues to promote the application of scientific and technological advances in production to achieve high productivity in beekeeping under mangrove forests. The Hai Phong Agricultural Promotion Center regularly conducts training courses and shares beekeeping experiences so that people can apply and implement new methods while providing access to modern technology to help improve honey quality year by year.
“Thanks to the mangrove forests, many people have a livelihood, not only creating abundant fishing resources, helping to break waves, protect embankments, and villages, but also providing flowers for honey production. The economic value from the forests is immense, so the people and local authorities always have a consciousness to protect the forests, like protecting their assets,” shared Tung.
Despite achieving high efficiency, mangrove forest honey from the cooperative still faces certain difficulties and obstacles. At a working session with the city's National Assembly delegation on the survey of the implementation of policies and laws regarding the OCOP program for the period 2022-2025 on December 28, 2023, the cooperative proposed to the city's National Assembly delegation some issues related to product protection, land fund for building cooperative headquarters, mangrove forest protection mechanisms, support for management and enterprise governance, support for trade promotion, and introduction of products, bringing mangrove forest honey to e-commerce platforms, towards exporting to countries in the region and internationally.
