Secret of failure of Armenian honey

Quite recently I have noticed a very interesting thing on the media: environment activists have organized an auction of honey and berries

The activists of “Let’s save Teghut” civic movement have brought the honey of Teghut to Yerevan and are selling it without resale profits. This is the first step of developing an alternative business. This festival was indeed a very beautiful step. But it wasn’t only entertaining and fun. It turns out that the environment activists have developed their own model of economic development. They are sure that the nature goods can easily substitute the incomes received from copper and iron, which are the backbone of Armenia’s export.

What is the ground of this optimism? They are mentioning that there are very good prerequisites for the development of beekeeping and it is mostly connected with the unique taste and quality of the Armenian honey. Honey production is not a complication process technologically and it doesn’t require immense investments. And ultimately since honey is an expensive food type it may easily replace copper and iron production with its benefits.

This is a very logical approach at the first sight. It is interesting that our environmentalists instead of rudely fighting against the mines are offering alternative approaches. The replacement of the polluted mining resource with pure honey is a tempting idea. But how substantiated is this? When I am trying to seek an answer to this matter a dozen of other questions arise, which o cannot answer. For instance, how many beekeeping businesses exist in Armenia and what is the volume of bee production annually.

The figures are very controversial. According to the results of the agriculture ministry in Armenia there are approximately 500 thousand bee farms and they produce 3,5-4 tons of honey. But the head of the beekeeping association Telman Nazaryan told us that there are only 200 thousand bee farms in Armenia and their annual production is 1 ton. In a word, the start-up data are not credible for the launch of a serious beekeeping production. How much honey was exported?

Here we can find substantiated data. According to the Customs department of the State Revenue Committee in 2012 only 4,3 tons of honey was imported, worth 32,2 thousand USD (7,5 USD or 3000 AMD per kilo). It means that the Armenian honey is almost not exported and it consumed only internally. And the biggest question is born – why? Doesn’t our honey have indescribable taste and quality? Before answering the question let’s mention that the largest market of honey is the EU.

The latter is followed by the US and Japan. And Armenia exports its scarce honey only to Russia. For the curious ones, we’d like to mention that the biggest providers of honey are China (39%), Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico. Now we are coming to the most interesting part. Do you know how much the EU pays for the Chinese honey? They pay 2,3-2,4 USD per kilo (nearly 1000 AMD).

The average price of the Argentinean honey is 3 USD. In the US the price for a kilo of honey is 3,5 USD. It means that the international price of honey is 2 to 3 times lower than that produced in Armenia. Moreover, we shouldn’t overestimate the quality of the Armenian honey.

The Europeans are very picky about everything, especially when it comes to the food. In a word, sadly enough the Armenian honey is not competitive at this moment. And now there is now way we can replace the export of iron with honey. After all this, we have the next question.

Why is honey so expensive in Armenia? We have all the climatic, labor and equipment for good beekeeping. The answer of this question can be found in the remarks of Telman Nazaryan. He thinks that besides pure honey Armenia should start producing other products made of honey.

Mr. Nazaryan also thinks that due to the absence of advancements the volumes of honey production also are unsatisfactory. Instead of the average of 25-30 kilos we receive 5-10 kilos of honey. It means beekeeping can only be considered as a hobby. But in order to turn it into a serious line of production we need investments, technical support and equipment. We should also add the fact that European markets close their doors on us. Armenia doesn’t have a lab matching the EU standards. And ultimately, even in the best times Armenia had only had 300 thousand bee farms.

And mostly Armenian honey is consumed in Armenia. It means that the volumes of production are not sufficient for export. If there was the relevant demand for honey than the number of honey farms would exceed the Armenian population. Let’s also add that according to specialists modern technologies also affect the honey production – for example mobile phones and WiFi. In order not to disturb the bees we should get rid of smart phones and ipads for a while.

By Babken Tunyan