The scale of the bird's nest market is 30 billion yuan: the nutrition is not as good as the eggs, and more than 20% of the enterprises have abnormal operations
Recently, the well-known network anchor Simba issued a long post in response to the "Sweet Bird's Nest" incident and made a promise of "refunding one for three", but the public's doubts about the bird's nest have not yet subsided.
With the loosening of the bird's nest import policy and the rise of e-commerce, my country, as the world's largest consumer of bird's nest, has a rapid growth in its market.
The “White Paper on China’s Bird’s Nest Industry in 2019” (hereinafter referred to as the “White Paper”) issued by the Bird’s Nest Market Professional Committee of the National Federation of Urban Farmers’ Centers in November shows that the compound annual growth rate of the bird’s nest market in my country has reached more than 30%, and the overall market size will reach 300 in 2019. About 100 million yuan.
The growing market has also attracted more visitors.
Relevant data shows that there are currently more than 6,400 bird's nest-related companies in my country whose name or business scope contains "bird's nest" and whose status is active, surviving, moving in or moving out.
Especially since 2015, the registration volume of my country's bird's nest-related companies (all company status) has increased significantly. The annual registration volume reached its peak in 2018, and nearly 1,400 bird's nest-related companies were added throughout the year.
Many experts interviewed by CBN said that the effect of bird's nest is not as magical as the merchants advertised, especially the judging standard of bird's nest-bird's nest acid, is not necessary for the human body.
In the face of a mixed market, consumers should strengthen market supervision at the national level while strengthening their identification capabilities.
What is sialic acid
In the bird's nest controversy mentioned above, professional counterfeit Wang Hai accused Simba of selling instant bird's nest products as "sweet water".
According to the test report released by Wang Hai, this bird's nest contains 4.8% sucrose, 5% carbohydrate, only 1.4% of sialic acid, and contains no protein and amino acids.
Afterwards, Wang Hai responded again and said: "The presence of sialic acid does not mean that there must be bird's nest."
The biggest factor in the popularity of bird's nest is its iconic ingredient-bird's nest acid (also known as sialic acid).
Commercial publicity shows that the content of sialic acid in bird's nest accounts for 7% to 12%, which is 150 times that of milk and 300 times that of poultry eggs. It has a good effect on the development of the baby's brain and memory.
Among the nourishing and health categories in the "White Paper", bird's nest turnover accounted for nearly 30%, ranking first, surpassing ejiao, health tea, ginseng and other categories.
The main consumer groups, 25-34 years old accounted for 51.95%, and women accounted for 75.5%.
But in fact, the sialic acid that has been promoted by businesses is not so magical.
Zhong Kai, director of Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center, told CBN reporters that sialic acid does promote brain development in infants and young children, but under normal circumstances, infants and young children can be obtained through breast milk and milk powder.
For adults, the liver can synthesize sialic acid by itself, and the synthesis amount is much greater than the amount obtained by eating bird's nest.
“Even if you eat three to five grams of bird’s nest a day, the amount of acid in bird’s nest is actually very small. In addition, bird’s nest itself is protein, and is mainly composed of collagen. The nutritional value is actually much lower than that of eggs and milk. Protein food. Compared with bird's nest, pregnant women or breastfeeding women who want tonic, should eat more lean meat, fish and shrimp, etc." Zhong Kai said.
Zhong Kai also said that most of the instant bird's nests on the market are produced in accordance with canned food standards. There is no clear requirement for the content of bird's nests, so the content is based on the manufacturer's own statement.
And "the detection of sialic acid in instant bird's nest is of little significance, because it is not expensive."
Professor Tian Fengwei from the School of Food Science and Technology of Jiangnan University also told reporters that bird’s nest is only composed of swallow saliva and down feathers, but the special source of the product determines the rarity of bird’s nest products, coupled with traditional knowledge and concepts, and consumers’ pursuit of healthy consumer psychology. These factors have promoted the formation of high prices for bird's nest.
The true nutritional value of bird's nest is similar to ordinary food, but it is not ruled out that it may have some health-promoting functions. This requires scientific research institutions and related enterprises to conduct in-depth research on the functions of bird's nest.
Which bird's nest is easier to fake
At present, consumers can buy dried bird's nest and instant bird's nest on the market. Freshly stewed bird's nest is a separate category from instant bird's nest.
Regarding instant bird's nest and freshly stewed bird's nest, Professor Tian Fengwei told reporters that this is just a marketing term for merchants, and there is no corresponding technical standard. Different manufacturers may have different production processes, but they are all developed for the convenience of consumers.
Generally speaking, dried bird's nest is mainly used as raw material, and it is made after a series of treatments such as soaking, blending, stewing, packaging, and sterilization.
Freshly stewed bird's nest has not been sterilized by high temperature and has a shorter shelf life; while instant bird's nest is sterilized by high temperature and has a longer shelf life.
From a production point of view, some operations are generally carried out in the raw materials and blending links, such as relatively low raw material requirements, adding other ingredients, etc.
This time Simba is selling instant bird's nest. This type of bird's nest has been favored by the audience due to its convenience in recent years.
The "White Paper" shows that in 2019, Tmall's instant bird's nest sales were about 1.4 billion yuan, accounting for about half of the bird's nest category.
In November of the same year, the proportion of instant bird's nest sales surpassed that of dried bird's nest for the first time and continued to rise since then.
From 2017 to 2019, the compound annual growth rate of instant bird's nest exceeded 100%.
In terms of fresh stewed bird's nest, the sales of Tmall fresh stewed bird's nest in 2019 is about 700 million yuan, accounting for half of the sales of traditional instant bird's nest.
Since October of that year, the proportion of fresh stew has surpassed that of instant bird's nest.
A Ms. Ding who has been in the bird's nest industry for 7 years told reporters that the bird's nest industry is an industry with mixed good and bad. Some peers do adulterate in order to seek high profits, and it is even more difficult to identify consumers for the first time.
For example, in order to make the dried bird's nest look more beautiful, some businesses apply glue, bleach or stick the base to pursue the appearance.
The ready-to-eat bird's nest is produced by the factory assembly line, and some manufacturers will mix things to increase the solid content.
"If you eat it yourself, it is recommended to buy a big brand of dried bird's nest soaked and boiled at home. Of course, the premise is not to buy fake or low-quality products."
In recent years, the number of bird's nest-related companies in my country has continued to grow. The annual registration volume reached its peak in 2018, with nearly 1,400 newly added throughout the year. As of November 25 this year, my country has added more than 700 bird's nest-related companies.
According to the professional version of Tianyancha, 35% of the 6400 bird's nest-related companies in my country are individual industrial and commercial households; in addition, more than 60% of bird's nest-related companies have a registered capital of less than 1 million yuan.
It is worth noting that 21% of the bird's nest-related companies have experienced business abnormalities, and more than 100 companies have received administrative penalties or committed serious violations of the law.
These more than 100 companies are mostly located in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, and were mainly established between 2012 and 2017, with the wholesale and retail industries accounting for nearly 73%.
For the continuously growing bird's nest market, my country has not yet issued national mandatory standards and industry standards, only the industry has issued some reference standards.
For example, in March 2018, the Chinese Pharmaceutical Culture Research Association announced the establishment of a bird's nest expert committee and issued the "Chinese Pharmaceutical Culture Research Association Instant Bird's Nest Group Standards" (hereinafter referred to as "standards").
The standard specifies the technical requirements, test methods, inspection rules, labels, signs, packaging, transportation, storage and shelf life requirements of instant bird’s nest.
In late November this year, the official website of the Bird's Nest Market Professional Committee announced that it plans to establish the National Federation of Urban Agricultural Trade Centers Bird's Nest Standardization Technical Committee, and stated that "The Bird's Nest Standardization Committee will be the only national standardization technical organization for bird's nest industry in my country. Standards related to the industry chain."
Improve the registration of imported bird's nest products
The main producing areas of bird's nest are in Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries.
In the early bird's nest market in my country, a considerable part of the products entered the country through informal channels, which poses great safety risks.
Ms. Chen, who sells Thai bird’s nest, told reporters that generally, the bird’s nest is first collected in foreign factories or auctions, and then processed by the supplier. Finally, it is shipped from the warehouse. It has been tested by the Thai Food and Drug Administration and has FDA standards. It is the rest assured bird's nest.
As for the Indonesian bird's nest and Malaysia bird's nest with larger output, my country has established the CIAQ traceability label.
In April and September 2012, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine signed the "Inspection, Quarantine and Sanitary Conditions Protocol" with the competent authorities of Indonesia and Malaysia.
The Chinese bird's nest traceability management service platform was also launched on December 25, 2013 on the day when Malaysian bird's nest was approved for export to China.
Among the products purchased by consumers, every bird's nest imported through formal channels will be affixed with a CIAQ traceability label provided to the enterprise by the domestic inspection and quarantine department, representing a formal and qualified identity.
Currently, the registration of imported bird's nest products is still advancing.
In order to optimize and improve the current registration management system for overseas production enterprises of imported food, at the end of last year, the General Administration of Customs issued the "Regulations for the Registration Management of Overseas Production Enterprises of Imported Food (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)", and changes to the draft for soliciting comments on the basis of the original management regulations The implementation will have a greater impact on the registration of imported bird’s nest manufacturers.
Tian Fengwei suggested that bird's nest products should be selected from regular manufacturers, focusing on the label's description of the product, the ingredients and ingredients contained, and whether there is a production license mark, etc.
If you are in doubt about the instant bird's nest and freshly stewed bird's nest on the market, you can choose dried bird's nest to make and consume at home.
However, ordinary consumers usually do not have the ability to carry out the necessary identification, and they still need reasonable and effective supervision by the supervisory authority.
(Author: gold leaf)