Signs of hope for stressed honey industry

photo: 123 RF

The honey industry has faced pressure from rising input costs and falling demand, but Beekeeping New Zealand says the sector is starting to show signs of recovery.

On Tuesday, Comvita, a major honey company Management reshuffle announced Due to declining sales in the Chinese market, the two parties are negotiating layoffs and production cuts.

New Zealand Beekeeping Association chief executive Karin Kos said like all primary industries, honey producers were struggling.

“Costs have gone up – fuel, treatment, compliance costs – but at the same time we are also seeing the impact of slower growth in some of our key markets where higher cost of living is hitting consumers and holding back sales growth.”

Koss said it was not just China but also the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom that saw sales decline.

“We’ve seen that during the pandemic, exports were around $550 million, but now they’re around $410 million, so we’ve seen a decline in the market and revenue during this time.

“If I look at the beekeeper business, there has been consolidation, no doubt, with the number of beekeepers with 500 hives or more falling 34% between 2022 and today – so there has been a contraction.”

photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

Kos said companies are still working through a backlog of honey from previous harvests, and she estimated there could be 30,000 to 50,000 tons of honey sitting in warehouses across the country.

But she said the number of hives has dropped. Five years ago there were 1 million, today there are only 526,000. So the production of the next colony starting in September should be lower.

“Given the lower number of hives I think production would be expected to be lower as well, but it all depends on the weather and most hives seem to have made it through the winter without a problem so it sounds like things are looking pretty good.”

Koss said industry sentiment was subdued because of the difficult past few years, but she said there were some signs of recovery.

“The US market has been a standout and we are starting to see sales growth and a bit of recovery in the US market, which is really pleasing.

“Between July and March this year, single flower honey exports to the US increased by 34%, and another positive factor is the free trade agreements signed with the EU and the UK that eliminated tariffs for honey exporters.”