Employees of a honey company in the northern province of Vĩnh Phúc. — VNA/VNS Photo

Facing fierce challenges in the international markets, Vietnamese honey has been looking at the domestic market for its potential, according to industry insiders and experts.

As the US Department of Commerce (DOC) is expected to deliver a final verdict on the fate of Vietnamese honey in an anti-dumping review in June next year, Vietnamese honey exporters have voiced concerns over how an unfavourable decision will affect their ability to enter the US market.

The US previously imposed extremely high anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese honey, ranging from 410.93 to 413.99 per cent. Since April 2022, the duties have been scaled down to 58.74 - 61.27 per cent.

A representative from a HCM City-based company with export contracts to the US said the DOC has decided two Vietnamese companies must adhere to a new tax regime with rates as high as 100-150 per cent after the last review.

He said that with tariffs that are more than four times the price of honey, Vietnamese exporters will effectively be banned from the US market.

Meanwhile, according to a Vietnamese trade office in the EU, Vietnamese honey exported to the EU markets must comply with the bloc’s origin rules since February this year. The EU has also prohibited using sweeteners, including sugar and set up measures to combat counterfeit honey and trade frauds.

Lữ Nguyên Xuân Vũ, director-general of Xuân Nguyễn Group JSC. Co said his company’s honey exports to the US have dropped by nearly 40 per cent since last year. He has been looking for an alternative, with China being the obvious choice, however he said it has not been easy to compete with Chinese domestic honey makers in terms of pricing.

Vũ said it’s time that companies turn their attention to the domestic market.

“There is something ironic about the domestic market. While Vietnamese honey enjoys great reception in the international markets for both its quality and production, most Vietnamese families do not have access to high-quality honey at a reasonable price,” he said.

Seizing the untapped market, Vũ’s company has set up more than 16,000 depots across the country, selling around two million honey-related products in the domestic market every month since last year.

A pivot to the domestic market may also provide a much-needed boost to beekeepers, who have been saying honey prices offered by exporters have decreased significantly to under VNĐ20,000 litre (less than US$1), making it difficult for them to break even.

Nguyễn Văn Tân, a beekeeper in Long Khánh City in the southern province of Đồng Nai said he once kept hundreds of hives for his businesses but financial burdens and losses have forced him to give them all up.

Companies said the situation has now been reversed, with the finest honey is often reserved for the domestic market with companies trying out new ideas in packaging, sales channels and product developments.

Trần Thị Hồng Nhung, founder of a honey company, said her company’s output was around the 60 tonnes mark annually. The best-quality 15 per cent of the company’s output was sold in the domestic market while other types of honey, usually at lower prices, were sold to exporters. — VNS