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Honey, I shrunk the market

Tripat Kaur

A few years ago, honey was mainly bought from Khadi Gram Udyog outlets or honey-vendors on the streets. It was generally used for medicinal purposes in the treatment of cough and cold. Today, it is easily available in any department store as it ha s become an integral part of the metropolitan diet.

However, this hasn't changed the fate of small-scale entrepreneurs in the business. ``Actually, the initial investment required in this business is very low and that's the main reason for so many small-scale entrepreneurs in the fray. However, despite being in the business, few are aware of the product's export opportunities in India. Most of the time, they don't have any other option but to sell the product to a big buyer like Dabur or Kashmir Exports,'' said Jailo, a migr ant from Bihar who made his fortune from bee-keeping in Doraha, Punjab, a place dominated by apicurists . His initial investment was only

Rs 1,700, and today he has an annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.

India accounts for a minuscule one per cent of the world's honey production. The world's honey production and honey exports were 11.2 lakh tonnes and 2.6 lakh tonnes respectively in 1997, while in India, the production was a mere 12,000 tonnes for the same period.

Marketing is the main problem faced by this industry. ``With no market network available, we were forced to sell our product for as little as Rs 30 to Rs 45 per kg to big players, while, it was priced from Rs 100 to Rs 150 per kg in the marke t. Small manufacturers like us did not have any storage facilities. Hence, we were forced to sell to big buyers like Dabur or Kashmir Exports at a low price. We have now started marketing under our own brand,'' says Manoj Goel of Aggarwal Agro Products.

Aggarwal Agro Products was set up with an investment of Rs 4 lakh and they have facilities for producing, processing as well as packaging the product. They have started marketing their product under the `Honeywell' brand name in Punjab, Uttar Prades h, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

The entry of giants such as Dabur changed the face of the honey market. Aggressive advertising coupled with customer faith in Dabur products helped the company capture about 80 per cent of the retail marketshare.

Moreover, there are indications that the market for honey and other bee-keeping products is likely to grow. In fact, Dabur has taken the initiative to enlarge the market. Recently, the company has also started producing equipment required for bee -keeping. ``We want to enhance the honey market in India and it is for this reason that we have started this scheme to train interested entrepreneurs in bee-keeping. We take a group to our Apiculture Centre in Nepal and then provide the trai ning as well the equipment and give the buy-back guarantee to them. Earlier, honey was mainly used for medicinal purposes, but thanks to our marketing efforts, it is now seen as a food product,'' says the spokesperson for Dabur Bee products.

There are many types of honey available in the market such as sunflower honey, eucalyptus honey, mustard honey, lichi honey, malta honey and forest honey. ``The main difference lies in the taste. Apart from that, forest or herbal honey is low in food value while the other types of honey are high in the food value. Till last year, sunflower honey was the most popular, but this year, it is herbal or multi-flower honey that is in demand,'' says Arbind Rattan of Sood Honey and Agro Industries, which directly exports honey to countries such as the US, United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Czechoslovakia and Belgium.

``Harassment from forest rangers is another problem. There are no defined areas where we can cultivate bees. What happens abroad is that they allocate areas to apiculturists where they can go and cultivate bees. But that is not the case here and we are harassed by forest rangers. Besides, in India, honey still comes under a confectionery item and is not considered an agro-product. Hence, octroi duty is very high,'' says V. Kapoor of Kapoor Apiary. He is also the treasurer of the Northern I ndia Bee-keeper's Association.

``Actually, it is a problem of not being aware. People don't know much about bee-keeping. Farmers think that we will harm their crop by keeping our boxes on their land, but actually, due to pollination, their crop flourishes. These issues hav e to be addressed. In Punjab, farmers are slowly gaining awareness thanks to the efforts of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), but in other places the conditions are dismal,'' says Arvind Rattan.

The market for honey and related products is likely to increase and one hopes that the Indian bee-keepers are able to claim a share of the world market.