The members of the cooperative have strictly abided by the process of honey production to ensure food hygiene and safety.
Hop Tien is a locality with a relatively large forest area, particularly it is located in Thuong Tien Nature Reserve, there are many natural flowers creating the abundant source of food for bees in the forest. Promoting this advantage, Hop Tien people have been raising bees for honey from ancient times to mainly serve the needs of the family. 20 years ago, people officially raised bees to do business. Thanks to beekeeping many households in the commune have become better off since then. Currently, in the whole commune there have been about 30 beekeeping households, with more than 3,000 herds. On average, it reaches about 7,500 liters of honey every year. In particular, 12 households are members of Thuong Tien Cooperative of Agriculture and Service with over 1,500 herds (accounting for about 50% of the total herds and quantity of honey in the commune).
Mr. Bui Thanh Thu, the Vice Chairman of People's Committee of Hop Tien Commune, says that beekeeping for honey brings high income for the people. If the stable consumption market is found, beekeeping will bring super-profitable income. Recently, the commune has actively encouraged the beekeepers to participate in Thuong Tien Cooperative of Agriculture and Service to link production, consume products and build the brand name. Honey is a strong and traditional product of the locality, therefore, the Party committee and the authority of the commune have selected the product of honey from Thuong Tien Cooperative of Agriculture & Service to participate in OCOP Program. After being starred OCOP, it will contribute to improving value of the product, and it is an opportunity for the cooperative to promote, introduce and link the consumption of honey for all beekeepers in the commune.
Currently, the market for honey consumption in the province is mainly for retail, the contracts with large consumers have not been signed yet. Therefore, in the first 4 months of the year, due to the effects of Covid-19 epidemic, it was difficult to consume honey. With a price of 180,000 VND per liter of honey from longan and 130,000 VND per liter of honey from forest, in the first 6 months of this year, the cooperative consumed about 1,200 liters of honey. Currently, the cooperative still has about 300 liters of honey. Facing the difficulties and challenges of Covid-19 epidemic, Thuong Tien Cooperative of Agriculture & Service has made efforts to mobilize capital from the members to invest in machines and organize beekeeping technical training.
The authority and the people in Hop Tien commune have high expectations for honey from Thuong Tien Cooperative of Agriculture & Service Cooperative. The product of OCOP-starred honey will encourage beekeepers to be comfort in producing, scaling up and linking product consumption in many markets. Thereby, it will contribute to raising the value of honey, beekeeping in Hop Tien will sustainably develop.