PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS

In order to attain the objectives described in the preceding chapter, five of the six areas in the beekeeping spectrum, outside the political context, require intervention. The following table summarizes them : 

Factors influencing beekeeping productivity and degree of difficulty of possible intervention

Beekeepers:

The level of technical training can be qualified as good to high, the availability average to good. On the other hand, the structures in place at the present moment (cooperatives, associations and clubs) seem to be lacking in the necessary strength to promote large-scale exports of graded and processed honey.

A body such as a joint-venture could reply to the above needs. Another role for an apiarian joint-venture would be to establish information links between all those involved in the business at a provincial level and the appropriate governmental authorities, agricultural bodies, analysis laboratories, the fraud squad, and all the other participants involved in the development of beekeeping (N.G.O. studies and/or aid, etc...) and also city-dwelling consumers.

A project's coherence and strength are directly proportional to the free flow of information between different sectors. Example: create information exchanges with other partners (forestry department, potential pesticide users, etc...).

Flowering:

Criteria for consumers from western countries when buying honey 1995
Source : Transfix

The above graph shows that in place of the present system of honey selection by "water content" an entirely new grading policy is required. It is imperative to differentiate between honey types on a basis of migrations and multiple harvests for specific nectar flows (see relevant chapter for the different types of honey that can be harvested). The "organic" aspect needs to be respected by a schedule of conditions for quality control or a "Charter of soft technology both in the apiary and the honey house" :

• no chemical treatment of wax against the wax moth Galleria melonella
• no chemical repulsives used during honey harvests
• no preventive treatment by antibiotics (only curative)
• harvest of ripe honey (capped frames)
• in the honey house - no contact with galvanized iron, tinplated iron, cement, or any of the various plastics or paint not specifically made for use with foodstuff
• no heating of honey at above 45° C (apart from flash pasteurization)

A grading for honey by flower type and region should be applied using an internal laboratory to analyze the following aspects : physical and chemical (humidity, diastolic activity, HMF levels, etc...), pollinic qualities (floral and geographic origin), organoleptic (taste) and research for residues (plant treatments, pesticides, or industrial waste). These analyses should from time to time be complemented by counter-analyses carried out by European laboratories in order to ensure a balanced relation between work methods and the end result. This would be the only way to ensure that export honey be accompanied by the necessary certificate of origin.

A study of the results of the analyses of the 12 samples brought back from Vietnam, and carried out under extremely generous conditions by Sophia Antipolis at the L.P.P.R.A., shows that, as previously thought, the only real problem remains the water content of practically all the samples. A point which can be easily remedied by giving beekeepers precise information (capping of frames, harvest period, hermetically sealed containers, etc...) and the optimization of dehumidification systems in the collection centres.

Bees:

By selecting stock through line-breeding (following up of lines, honey flows, weighing of harvest, subtraction of the apiary/environmental factor, keeping records over several years, etc...) an increase of 30% to 40% is usually obtained without additional hive equipment. Computer records of stock results in better health control of bee colonies. Two specialized software packages, which have already been tried and tested on a large scale, are available on the market : APILOGIC for line-breeding and SANITAPIC for bee diseases. These programs, specially personalized for the Vietnamese context, should be set up in each of the micro-computers in the offices at each regional centre, which in turn should be connected by modem...

Different types of selection for bee colonies

Source : APISERVICES

Equipment:

As far as the apiaries and hives populated with Apis mellifera go, the technical level is so high that nothing remains to be said. But, the situation regarding honey houses leaves a great deal to be desired. Everything needs to be updated. Prevision needs to be made for several small extraction plants in the targeted provinces + a certain number of transportable plants, on trailers (similar to those which are already in use in Australia and Israel) and three plants for preparing and processing honey, each with a capacity of 1600 tons / 200 days (230 working days, 30 days for stock-taking and maintenance) i.e. approximately 8 tons per day.

Several norms of hygiene need respecting : an entry chamber and bee-proof ventilation, stainless steel equipment, tiled floors and walls (rounded angles), separate sanitary blocks, a forward driven production line, etc... Although honey contains bacteriostatic virtues and is a thousand times more resistant than, for example, milk, an extraction and/or processing plant should come close to conditions in a dairy or cheese plant.

Marketing:

1) Within Vietnam:

Flavour of honey, by order of preference

Criteria for choice, by order of importance

The domestic honey market is at present estimated to be between 400 and 500 tons. It should be noted that honey consumption is higher in the north than the south : cooler climate and greater use of therapies such as apitherapy. Generally speaking, buyers from the south are more concerned with quality. For the domestic market, a great deal of honey is moved from the south to the north. For the export market, the situation is reversed.

Given that for the domestic market, honey consumption is only 7g / inhabitant / year (200 times less than in Germany), it is imperative to create an awareness of beekeeping and beekeeping products among the media in order to reach potential clients ( an interesting factor : 1 minute of National Television time only costs $400 for joint-ventures or $140 for entirely Vietnamese companies). Added to this, advertising campaigns, through participation in agricultural shows and honey tasting stalls, should not be neglected. Added to this, the distribution of mini-pots of honey to school canteens should be organised (a big impact on the education of future consumers). Another possible activity : the promotion of new products developed by the B.R.D.C. such as, pollen + calcium, honey + ginseng, etc... A particular effort needs to be made regarding presentation. At the present moment, labels show a variety of weights, and omit both fabrication and expiry dates. In regards to packaging, a lot of 650 ml bottles are in circulation on the domestic market despite the fact that consumers have a marked preference for glass jars as they can be re-used.

Due to the ever-growing numbers of tourists in Vietnam : 1,018,000 in 1994 among which 15% of expatriate Vietnamese (known as "Viet Kieu"), there are new sales openings waiting to be exploited in hotels, restaurants, tourist offices, specialized shops, airports and air companies. And despite the small volume generated at present, tourism nevertheless remains a means of opening up further markets .

2) Overseas:

To create increased profits on honey, the main idea remains, as several zealous merchants in Singapore have already proved, to sell pre-packaged honey ready for sale (including personalized labels for clients) on overseas markets (cutting out the middle man). Therefore, the three other areas which need exploiting are :

• the E.U. (and especially Germany, France and England)
• the other big importers and "good payers" : the USA, Japan and for smaller quantities Switzerland
• The countries within A.S.E.A.N.

World honey prices have been stagnant for several years and have even dropped for some types of honey. The market for eucalyptus honey is dominated by Australia, that of white clover by Canada, and that of acacia by China and Hungary. There only remains one strategy to put into action : to avoid at all cost producing a mixed honey (which will automatically be affected by the fluctuations in market prices) and to present honey of specific floral origins, mono or multi-floral with a guarantee of purity, quality, non contamination and, why not, of exoticism. Among other possibilities, this could give rise to a :

Source : APISERVICES

to offer to specialized merchants or buyers for supermarket chains, health-food shops, specialty grocers and for some countries bakers and chemist's shops. In order to define and quantify the possible transactions and prices within these new openings, a market-study will have to be undertaken. The market for "organically" produced honey is growing daily. Therefore, it must be stressed that the existing openings are for products with a regional label based on the floral and geographical origins of the honey and a more restrictive schedule of conditions than the Codex Alimentarius FAO / WHO.

One of the major difficulties inherent in this project remains the judicious management of the flow of processed honey. Indeed, it is imperative to offer freshly processed honey for the export market to ensure that the jars remain liquid for the length of their shelf-life. But this problem only concerns a certain percentage of Vietnamese honey.

3) Services:

Apart from the training of beekeepers and beekeeping instructors or further training for some researchers a training course for the joint-venture's future executives should be run on three lines : management, accountancy, and updating beekeeping knowledge. This last point could be dealt with by the E.A.T. (Ecole Apicole Tropicale situated in Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France), after an obligatory year in the field. The E.A.T. offers a University diploma from Paris VI University, after a six-month course consisting of a variety of units (systematic, palynology, diseases, analysis, genetics, computer-studies, breeding, etc...),. The training can be arranged either in English or in French.

A project of this size calls for an annual follow-up by a specialized and independent body (such as APISERVICES) after the initial installation and a series of in-depth evaluations every two years.

INVESTMENTS

The main investment plan is set out in the next chapter (n°22, Financial Analysis). The following table only describes, in detail, the equipment to be supplied by the Thomas Enterprise, these items are included in table n°10, lines 15 and 18 of the financial analysis.

Honey extraction and processing plant - 1995 - $US

Transportable honey extraction plant (trailer + tractor not included) - 1995 - $US

Source : Ets Thomas - France

WARNING IN THE RISKS

Probable difficulties when setting up the joint-venture:

• complicated hierarchical system involved in decisions : State, Party, provincial, towns, popular committees, etc...
• different political choices concerning the implantation sites for workshops / plants
• frequent ministerial fusions or splits, and even of entire provinces, so there is a risk of not finding the same people in charge in a given place
• lack of any real overall management plan at a ministerial level to distinguish distinctly the separation between Vinapi and the joint-venture, hence the risk of a blurring in the accounts or a private misappropriation of funds
• legislation under constant change
• no input of Vietnamese capital
• length of time necessary to set up a joint-venture : 18 months minimum
• reduction of personnel badly accepted and people in charge chosen in regard to their "relations" rather than their competence

Probable difficulties after the creation of the joint-venture:

• competition from some of the Popular Committees' beekeeping companies (example : Ho Chi Minh-City or Dac La)
• flagrant tendency for copying by craftsman and Asian industrialists accompanied by huge deficiencies in the legal system in regards to the protection of patents
• serious risk from unknown climatic factors in the first three years
• too great a lack of stability of crops, farmers tend to rip out crops at the first sign of a drop in the market, sometimes destroying thousands of hectares of perennial plantations with a high nectar and /or pollen potential
• distances for transport
• bad management of training programs
• individualism of beekeepers
• lack of connections between various partners : agriculture + forestry
• too great an economic dependence on the rate of the domestic sugar market by intensive beekeepers (with Apis mellifera ligustica) for feeding ($0.52./kg).
• economical overheating of Vietnam and /or China, with, especially for China, a shaking up of world honey prices.
• bad management of stocks of liquid honey before processing, danger of fermentation.

Drawn up in Coulaures, 15 January 1996

Gilles RATIA, Head of APISERVICES, International Bee Consultant

PS : Any remarks on this present report leading towards a better understanding and management of the future of beekeeping in Vietnamese will be welcome. Contact:

Contact : M. RATIA Gilles Address : "Le Terrier", 24420 Coulaures, FRANCE Téléphone : +33 (0)5.53.05.91.13 Mobile phone : +33 (0)6.07.68.49.39 Fax : +33 (0)5.53.05.44.57 E-mail => WEB : www.apiservices.com

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS

A.A.A. Asian Apicultural Association
A.D.B. Asian Development Bank
A.F.T.A. Asian Free Trade Association
A.G.I.M. Association de Garantie des Investissements Multilatéraux
A.I.D. Association Internationale pour le Développement
A.M.M. Autorisation de Mise sur le Marché
A.S.E.A.N. Association of South-East Asian Nations
B.C.R.A. Banques du Commerce Rural par Actions
B.I.R.D. Banque Internationale pour la Reconstruction et le Développement
B.R.D.C. Bee Research and Development Centre
C.A.F.V. Comité d'Affaires des Français au Viêt-Nam
C.F.D. Caisse Française de Développement
D.C. Developing countries
E.A.T. École d'Apiculture Tropicale - France
E.C.I.P. European Community Investment Partner Program
E.P.Z. Exporting Processing Zone
E.D.F. European Development Funds
E.N.T... Ear, nose and throat
E.U European Union
G.N.P.. Gross national product
H.M.F. Hydroxyméthyfurfural
I.M.F. International Monetary Fund
I.N.R.A. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - France
I.N.T.A. Institut National des Technologies Agro-pastorales - Vietnam
J.V. Joint-venture
L.P.P.R.A. Laboratoire de Pathologies des Petits Ruminants et des Abeilles, France
M.A.F.I. Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries
P.E.T. Polyethylene
P.I.M. Planning Investment Ministry
S.C.C.I.. State Committee for Cooperation and Investment
S.F.I. Société Financière Internationale
S.P.C. State Planning Committee
U.C.C.I.F.E. Union des Chambres de Commerce et de l'Industrie Françaises à l'Etranger
U.N.I.D.O. United Nations Industrial Development
U.N.O. United Nations Organization
W.B. World Bank
W.H.O. World Health Organization

Dictionary of Beekeeping Terms

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