YANGON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- For Thida Win, CEO of Plan Bee, a social enterprise in Myanmar's Shan State, promising opportunities for honey sales within China's healthcare and food sectors are materialising. Years of persistent learning and hard work have helped her gain keener market insights, ramp up R&D and build customer partnerships.
China's large population underpins its huge market potential, with honey imports totalling tens of millions of yuan in recent years. "Even if we capture just a 10 to 15 percent market share, that would be a good outcome for us," she told Xinhua.
She runs a social enterprise supporting vulnerable groups, many of whom have become beekeepers after receiving specialised training to produce high-quality honey.
Amid Myanmar's conflict and economic hardships, she said the goal is critical to sustaining livelihoods for partner rural households. To break into the Chinese market, she prioritises deepening her grasp of market realities through hands-on work.
Chinese consumers use honey in diverse ways, for daily consumption, as festival gifts, and as an industrial raw material, she noted. Valuable experience gained from events including international training programs hosted by Chinese commercial institutions and food expos in Shanghai, a major consumption hub, has helped her accumulate market knowledge step by step.
Displayed in her Yangon office are sunflower and three-step-flower honey products, plus elegantly packaged gift-box sets of Shan State-sourced honey and beeswax candles. She plans to bring these items to the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November.
"China already has nearly every type of flower. That makes competition fierce, yet it also creates opportunities for our unique offerings," she said.
Beyond market differentiation, she is scaling up R&D to sharpen competitiveness. "We are currently working with over 100 beekeepers and around 3,000 beehives. We plan to expand our beehive count in the coming years. To that end, we have launched a queen-bee insemination project this year to cultivate robust bee colonies and boost production yields," she said.
"Major expos such as the CIIE give us access to solid trade channels. Returning buyers also attend these events, and CIIE serves as an important annual platform to connect us with prospective customers and purchasers," she added.
Her customer base has grown to include airport shops and other retail outlets, winning positive feedback from buyers. She first attended CIIE in 2023 to learn about the Chinese market, returned in 2025 to exhibit products, and is now seeking distributors to accelerate overseas business growth and close her offshore market business loop.
Her ambition is to enter Shanghai, a global hub for high-end consumption. Consumers in this commercial and financial center are willing to pay a premium for high-quality goods, she said. ■