Bird's nest products are diverse and difficult to control.

Quantification process of refined bird's nest products (3-star OCOP) at Hoang Nam bird's nest facility before packaging.

This shows that the economic potential of this profession is growing; at the same time, raw bird's nest products are increasingly diverse... posing challenges in quality control, especially when there is no unified standard system and effective monitoring process.

A current reality is that “every household raises swiftlets”, the swiftlet breeders harvest a large amount of raw bird’s nest products every month, contributing to the diversity and richness of bird’s nest materials. This is also a question that consumers are worried about the quality of the product and how the quality of bird’s nest is monitored.

Mr. Nguyen Van Xuyen, An Hoa Hamlet, An Phu Tan Commune, Cau Ke District said: now raw bird's nest products are sold too much, in gold shops to electronics stores in Ward 3 Market, Tra Vinh City, they are all sold. Previously, the price was more than 3.5 million VND/100 grams; now it is only about 2.8 million VND/100 grams; when families buy for the elderly to improve their health, they are quite worried about the quality of bird's nest, because they spend a lot of money.

Recorded in Don Xuan commune, Duyen Hai district; this is one of the localities with a large number of bird nest houses. Regarding bird nest products recognized as meeting OCOP standards, there are 03 3-star OCOP products (recognized in 2024) and 01 bird nest product certified as a typical rural industrial product at the district level; in 2025 alone, Don Xuan commune has 03 more products registered for 3-star OCOP standards: Hoang Nam yogurt bird nest (Cay Cong hamlet); Son Phuong refined bird nest, Son Phuong stewed bird nest (Cho hamlet).

Comrade Ha Huu Nhan, officer in charge of Agriculture - Environment of Don Xuan commune, said: from 2013 to now, the houses for raising bird's nests have developed very quickly; currently the whole commune has 31 bird's nest houses/29 households raising bird's nests; concentrated in Cay Da, Cay Cong, Lo Soi A, Lo Soi B hamlets and Cho hamlet. The situation of raising bird's nests has been gradually managed and closely monitored by the professional sector (Veterinary) regarding disease management, especially H5N1 flu; bird's nest products in the area are also quite diverse...

According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Tra Vinh, currently in the province there are 19 bird's nest products recognized as achieving 3-star OCOP, of which, there are 09 pure bird's nest products and the rest are mixed bird's nest (bird's nest with rock sugar, bird's nest with cordyceps, bird's nest with saffron, bird's nest with red apple - chia seeds...).

Mr. Huynh Hoang Huy, Cay Cong Hamlet, Don Xuan Commune shared: his family has 02 houses raising bird's nests, since 2023, they have built products in a safe direction associated with OCOP. Thereby, 03 3-star OCOP products have been recognized (Hoang Nam bird's nest with pandan leaves; Hoang Nam bird's nest with cordyceps; Hoang Nam refined bird's nest). When the quality of bird's nest products is recognized as OCOP, it will certify to consumers about the quality assurance, origin... At that time, consumers will receive the product with more peace of mind, because this is a high-value product.

According to Mr. Huynh Hoang Huy, because there are currently no clear regulations on classification, hygiene and quality assessment of bird's nests; consumers often choose Khanh Hoa bird's nest brand, because this is a quite famous and certified product; however, for Tra Vinh bird's nest products, they are still not inferior to bird's nest products from other places.

Because there are currently many small-scale bird nest farms that are not registered, making traceability and inspection difficult. Therefore, some of the main issues that can be mentioned are food safety risks, in which raw bird nests that have not been processed are likely to contain impurities, mold, or bacteria if not properly preserved. Registering bird nest product certification is a criterion that contributes to building quality standards and mandatory processing procedures for raw bird nests.

Swiftlet houses of people in Cay Da hamlet, Don Xuan commune, Tra Cu district.

From the current reality, it shows that the movement of raising swiftlets in Tra Vinh is developing strongly; localities and specialized sectors need to encourage the planned and permitted swiftlet farming areas to develop and establish cooperatives for easy control, technical support and consumption linkage. Strengthen inspection, grant codes for farming households and manage swiftlet houses through software/digital data to create conditions for bringing Tra Vinh's bird's nest products towards transparency, quality, hygiene and safety and contribute to further entering the bird's nest export market...

Article and photos: HUU HUE

Source: https://www.baotravinh.vn/kinh-te/san-pham-yen-da-dang-va-kho-kiem-soat-45784.html