Coconut honey from Ben Tre

Tall coconut palms leaning against a bright blue sky

Ben Tre and Tra Vinh, Vietnam

Coconut honey from Ben Tre, recorded with the grove, the pressing day and the filter batch.

Coconut growers in Ben Tre and Tra Vinh press sap into coconut honey in small drums. We record each drum's grove, pressing day and filter batch, so a buyer can check the honey is from palm sap and not sugar syrup.

Drums in the cooperative yard

MD-7101

Ben Tre 6

Chau Thanh grove

Pressed
MD-7107

Tra Vinh 3

Cau Ngang grove

Filtered
MD-7114

Ben Tre 9

Giong Trom grove

Shipped
MD-7120

Tra Vinh 5

Cau Ke grove

Pressed

Palm sap, not cane syrup

Cane syrup is easy to mix in before a drum is sealed. Each batch carries three lines that make that harder to hide.

  • Grove record. Each drum names the grove and the palm block the sap came from.
  • Pressing day. The pressing day and the cooking time are written before the drum is sealed.
  • Purity test. No drum ships until a lab has checked the batch for added sugar syrup.

One jar, one grove

Coconut honey is boiled down from the sap of Ben Tre palms. Each filter batch keeps the grove and the pressing day, so the jar on an export shelf still points to the trees it came from.

Glass jars of amber syrup with a wooden honey dipper

Tapped at dawn, sealed with a code

  1. TapSap is collected from the named grove.
  2. PressSap is cooked and the pressing day is written.
  3. FilterThe batch is filtered and coded.
  4. ShipThe drum is sealed with its code and shipped.

Importers want to know

Are grove owners named?

The grove is named. The owner's details stay with the cooperative.

How is cane syrup detected?

A lab test for added cane sugar goes on the batch line, and importers may order a second sample.

Does this replace the export label?

No. It sits behind the label with the grove and the test result.