- Joined
- Sep 27, 2012
- Messages
- 1,247
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Dublin ( South )
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 40 Plus
Hivemaker
Pleaaasseeee leave for a while here! , worth people reading... wont get read elsewhere and it is a " Burning " issue in our world of Beekeeping !
Cheers !
Great Heading Goran in the Honey Topics Forum !
Small talk, Small Beeks, Small Honey prices
Says it all.
It infuriates mew to see the SH1TE they sell as Honey in the multiples and then the subdued price we are presurised therefore to sell our Premium, High Quality Honey at.
There is so much wrong with this it is hard to know where to start.
The whole commercial industry stinks, and is unregulated.
So, take Ireland, go into any of the multiples and see " Irish Honey " for sale, or Honey purporting to be Irish Honey with wonderful Irish Brand names such as " Begorra Begorra, Soft Day Thank God Honey " for ridiculously low prices.... 2, euros and I have seen for less for 340G.
Look at the small print and your lovely "IRISH " Honey is a
Now for 95% of stressed out shoppers they look at that, and to use that wonderful marketing line assume " It does exactly what it says on the Tin ! " as in it is Irish Honey emanating from Irish Bee Hives !
Why not ?? Thats what it says " On the Tin "
Dig deeper and your " Begora Begorra Soft Day Thank God " labelled Irish honey is of course EU and Non EU origin.
So now as a consumer ( if you've got Bionic vision and can find this nugget of information on the label ) your interest is piqued.
You now want to know, well if its not Irish ( substitute " English " ) where does it originate ??.... but NO... you don't even get to find out where in the EU/Non EU are the countries of origin, and worse.... what is the % of EU Honey Vs.Non EU Honey ?
So they sell this SH1TE for cheap prices and we, Artisan Skilled Suppliers who have studied to learn our craft, and produce a fine, locally produced, unadulterated, proven to be healthy product, sell it for pittance relative to its level of quality and the actual Man ( and Woman ! ) hours invested to bring it to the consumer !. ... and worse we put up with it !
What do we do... grumble amongst ourselves...
What should we do... write to the relevant bodies, authorities, media outlets and discuss with anyone who will listen to get the message out there and educate.
There is an excellent article in An Beachaire this month ( our Beekeeping Monthly Journal ) on just this subject I would recomend you read if you can.
Has a slightly different slant to the above and correctly focuses on the Great " Manuka " Heist ! ( my title, not their's ) but makes for fascinating reading.
I suspect we all, me included would actively partake in the " Grumbling " and telling people we know, on a small scale about the truths in this industry, but why do we not do more ?? Why do the Beekeeping governing bodies not do more ?
I for one plan to shift my Butt and start contacting relevant bodies to see if I can get a bit of publicity, if a large amount of Beeks did the same we might get the message across !
Hardly a call to arms to Save the Planet, but would help bring my Blood Pressure down whilst I peruse the supermarket aisles looking at ever cheaper Micro Filtered, Heat Treated Sugar Syrup masquerading as Premium Honey !!!
Pleaaasseeee leave for a while here! , worth people reading... wont get read elsewhere and it is a " Burning " issue in our world of Beekeeping !
Cheers !
Great Heading Goran in the Honey Topics Forum !
Small talk, Small Beeks, Small Honey prices
Says it all.
It infuriates mew to see the SH1TE they sell as Honey in the multiples and then the subdued price we are presurised therefore to sell our Premium, High Quality Honey at.
There is so much wrong with this it is hard to know where to start.
The whole commercial industry stinks, and is unregulated.
So, take Ireland, go into any of the multiples and see " Irish Honey " for sale, or Honey purporting to be Irish Honey with wonderful Irish Brand names such as " Begorra Begorra, Soft Day Thank God Honey " for ridiculously low prices.... 2, euros and I have seen for less for 340G.
Look at the small print and your lovely "IRISH " Honey is a
Blend of EU and Non EU Honey.
Now for 95% of stressed out shoppers they look at that, and to use that wonderful marketing line assume " It does exactly what it says on the Tin ! " as in it is Irish Honey emanating from Irish Bee Hives !
Why not ?? Thats what it says " On the Tin "
Dig deeper and your " Begora Begorra Soft Day Thank God " labelled Irish honey is of course EU and Non EU origin.
So now as a consumer ( if you've got Bionic vision and can find this nugget of information on the label ) your interest is piqued.
You now want to know, well if its not Irish ( substitute " English " ) where does it originate ??.... but NO... you don't even get to find out where in the EU/Non EU are the countries of origin, and worse.... what is the % of EU Honey Vs.Non EU Honey ?
So they sell this SH1TE for cheap prices and we, Artisan Skilled Suppliers who have studied to learn our craft, and produce a fine, locally produced, unadulterated, proven to be healthy product, sell it for pittance relative to its level of quality and the actual Man ( and Woman ! ) hours invested to bring it to the consumer !. ... and worse we put up with it !
What do we do... grumble amongst ourselves...
What should we do... write to the relevant bodies, authorities, media outlets and discuss with anyone who will listen to get the message out there and educate.
There is an excellent article in An Beachaire this month ( our Beekeeping Monthly Journal ) on just this subject I would recomend you read if you can.
Has a slightly different slant to the above and correctly focuses on the Great " Manuka " Heist ! ( my title, not their's ) but makes for fascinating reading.
I suspect we all, me included would actively partake in the " Grumbling " and telling people we know, on a small scale about the truths in this industry, but why do we not do more ?? Why do the Beekeeping governing bodies not do more ?
I for one plan to shift my Butt and start contacting relevant bodies to see if I can get a bit of publicity, if a large amount of Beeks did the same we might get the message across !
Hardly a call to arms to Save the Planet, but would help bring my Blood Pressure down whilst I peruse the supermarket aisles looking at ever cheaper Micro Filtered, Heat Treated Sugar Syrup masquerading as Premium Honey !!!