EPOPA – THE MARKET DEMAND FOR ORGANIC BEE PRODUCTS IN EUROPE AND HOW EPOPA PROMOTES THE EXPORT OF AFRICAN ORGANIC PRODUCTS
Haike Rieks, EPOPA, The Netherlands

EPOPA
Export Promotion of Organic Products from Africa

Implemented by:

• Agro Eco
• Grolink

Funded by:

• Sida

EPOPA

• Aim: To improve livelihood of rural communities through organic trade.
• EPOPA support to exporters/cooperatives:
  
  • Management assistance
  • Staff training / Organic agriculture advise
  • Development of ICS
  • Tree and crop seedling nurseries
  • Product quality management and improvement
  • Product development
  • Organic certification procedures and issues
  • Sharing in certification costs
  • Certification to additional standards
  • Seed money for farmers

Marketing organic Products

• Short chain development
• Sufficient volume and consistent quality
• Internal control system
• Organic certification resulting in organic premium
• Business plan
• Marketing plan/strategy
• Market studies and surveys
• Exposure of products and exporter
• Project presentation and brochures
• Participation on organic trade shows

EU market access

Honey imports into the EU need to:

• come from a country approved to export honey to the EU
• follow The honey Standards (Council Directive 2001/110/EC)
• follow the EU hygiene package laid down in Regulation 853/2004/EC for animal products

Quality Honey

• Sensorial testing (aroma, taste, appearance and mouth feel)
• Colour
• Composition analysis (HMF, Moisture, Sugar components)
• Viscosity
• Microscopic analyses of pollen to give a floral origin and its geographic origin
• Residue testing
• Repellents used during harvesting
• Parameters linked to fermentation

European Honey Consumption

EU Consumption 2003

Honey market

• 85% used as table honey
• Preference goes to:
  • Light coloured honey
  • Liquid honey
  • Smooth tasting honey

Honey types

• Creamed honey (Belgium, Luxembourg)
• Light coloured honey plus small demand for dark honey (Denmark)
• Monofloral honey (France)
• Liquid monofloral honey (Germany)
• Lower quality honey (industrial sector)

HONEY

Organic food market share

• Germany: 2.6% of their market share is organic
• UK: 1.2% of their market share is organic
• Netherlands: 1.4% of the market share is organic
• Organic demand is increasing in EU.
• Estimated total market for organic honey in Europe is 6,500 tonnes per year.

Eu imported honey

• Value of honey imported in EU (millions euro)

Imports from outside EU

• Volume of imports of honey from outside the EU (thousands of tonnes)

Germany

• 96,000 tonnes (2003) Largest consumption market for honey, imports 93,500 tonnes
• Variety of honey: light-dark, liquid-solid, botanical and geographic origin
• Organic honey market 2,500 tonne
• Organic brand leader Allos 80%
• Small market for Demeter certification
• 354 tonnes Fair Trade honey sold in 2003
• GEPA leading brand name of Fair Trade honey

United Kingdom

• 27,800 tonnes (2003) consumption imports 21,867 tonnes
• 928 tonnes marketed as organic (2004)
• Industry leader is Rowse
• 102 tonnes Fair Trade honey sold in 2003
• Brand names: Swallows, ASDA, Rowse, Traidcraft, Equal Exchange, Tropical Forest

Fair Trade honey

• 14% of the retail honey is Fair Trade
• Total Fair Trade honey sales in 2004 is 1236 tonnes
• Main countries selling Fair Trade honey (past three years):
  
  

  - Germany (decrease, 378 to 335 tonnes)
  - Great Britain (high increase, 100 to 207 tonnes)
  - Switzerland (same, 385 to 396 tonnes)
  - Italy (increase, 38 to 102 tonnes)
  - France (increase, 0 to 52 tonnes)

Prices

Prices various on quality and origins (prices from December 2005)

Price fluctuations

Organic honey prices

• Organic honey prices are the world market prices plus 15 to 20% premium.
• Impact on the farmer to be an certified organic producer?
  
  Price of 1.000 UGX/kg premium 200 UGX
  
  60 tonne = 12.000.000 UGX = 6.666 US$

In short

• Compare local and/or regional market with world market prices
• Sufficient produce the whole year
• Consistent quality
• High quality demands
  

Website links

• http://www.epopa.info
  
  
• http:// www.agroeco.nl

  Download Haike Rieks' PowerPoint presentation here (348kb .pps file)