Mexico at the forefront in exporting honey to Germany

By Olga Borobio. Correspondent Berlin, Mar. 3 (Notimex) .- Mexico is at the forefront of exporting honey to Germany, as it was the country that sold the most in 2014 and 2015, while in 2016 it ranked second with very little difference from Argentina, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden told to Notimex. Honey is an indispensable ingredient on the table of German households, especially for breakfast, confectionery, sweets and many drinks. Its production is the hobby of an interesting number of Germans, who dedicate their free time to their swarms of bees. Experts pay high prices for honey, whose taste depends on the type of flower that the bees get. Mexico sold the European country 17 thousand 429 tons in 2015 and 15 thousand 400 tons in 2014. By 2016 it was the second exporter of honey to Germany with 13 thousand 103.4 tons with a value of 40 million 969 thousand euros (43 million 969 thousand dollars). In 2016, the first was of Argentina with 13 thousand 585 tons of the product for a price of 31 million 642 thousand euros (33 million 416 thousand dollars). Germany imported in 2016 a total of 86 thousand 816.3 tons of honey. Ukraine exported to the European country last year 12 thousand 731 tons, which cost 26 thousand 287 euros (27 thousand 761 dollars), placing it in third place. Although a good part of countries export honey to Germany, the first three places are Mexico, Argentina and Ukraine. The head of the ProMexico Office in Germany, Nicole Félix, said in an interview with Notimex that what makes Mexican honey competitive is that practically the whole year can be harvested and there are no seasons like in Germany for example. (Information of Apimiel GmbH and internet). Apimiel is the company based in Berlin that imports the highest quality Mexican honey as well as the Latin American ones. About 80 percent of the honey sold in Germany is imported and comes from countries like Mexico, Argentina, Ukraine, China and Spain. "This is because German honey producers cannot fulfill the country's domestic demand," Felix said. She said that in Germany there are about 80 beekeepers who live from the production of honey. In addition, there are about 100 thousand beekeepers that produce honey as a hobby or as a part-time job, but all of them cannot meet demand. "The Germans consume about a kilogram of honey per person per year," said the head of ProMexico in the European country. She pointed out that another advantage is that Mexican honey contains less transgenic elements than other countries. Undoubtedly the color and flavor of Mexican honey are additional differentiators. "It is also free of waste, and comes from very natural areas like Yucatan, where there are no big cities and there is less pollution. As far as the export of honey, there is a great tradition of more than 70 years of export of Mexican honey to Germany (called with Apimiel) ". "According to Apimiel GmbH, all Mexican honey is sold well, you can not say that other type is sold better," she said. The German quality and price comparison company of the different brands, Waren Test, reported that some of the honeys sold in the European country have residues of antibiotics and other substances. The only honey that qualified as meeting the strict requirements of purity is of German producers. Compared to other brands it turned out to be the most expensive. The brands that sell honey in the standard supermarkets usually diffuse the origin of the honey. This can only be read in the small letters of the tick and they usually report that honey is from European Union. The honey can be of any side, although the companies try to make it look like German. They do not identify the countries from which it comes. The other honeys do not meet the German requirements of purity, but they do with the requirements of the European Union. The trademarks of supermarkets and discount stores face a certain competition from the Reformhaus, which are the naturist stores where fair trade products are sold. These are products that are more expensive than brand names, but their origin is identified in the label and profits go directly to the small cooperatives of peasants and farmers who are producers. These cooperatives are subject to testing and monitoring by the Fair Trade label. They are small producers in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In Germany, where many people prefer to make a contribution to small producers, they buy from Reformhaus. In addition, they are sure that the product is subject to continuous quality testing by the Fair Trade seal. That stamp has great credibility in the country.