WHAT ROWSE HONEY LTD NEEDS FROM POTENTIAL TRADERS
Peter Marshall, Rowse Honey Ltd, UK

Introduction
Rowse Honey Ltd, part of the Wellness Foods Group, is a major UK packer of honey, purchasing supplies worldwide (although not from Africa since supplies from Tanzania, the only origin so far explored, dried up about 4 years ago), and packing into retail glass and plastic jars and into various larger containers for Foodservice and industrial customers. We are suppliers to all of the major UK supermarket chains, either under the Rowse name (the brand leader) or under the retailers` own names. Our turnover is about $75 million, but this includes our other products, which are maple syrup and sweet sauces.

We classify our raw honeys into two groups, Blending honeys and Speciality honeys.  Speciality honeys are those which are restricted to a specific floral origin (Acacia, orange blossom, etc), or to a specific geographical origin (Greek, Mexican etc), or to a specific 'type', such as organic.  We supply about 30 different speciality honeys. Blending honeys are those that can be used in creating a blend or “blossom” honey, and can be of any origin provided the colour and flavour profiles, and the price, are within acceptable parameters.

There are therefore two potential opportunities for African suppliers, which are blend and speciality honeys.  A speciality honey would command a higher price than a blending honey. This is NOT because the inherent quality of the honey somehow differs, but because a) the market will bear a higher rate for genuine Specialities, and b) supply of a Speciality is inevitably more restricted as there will be only a limited crop, and of course, there is no substitute once that crop has been harvested and sold.

If a Speciality honey were to be offered, we would need to seek advice from the supplier as to the reason it was so special, so that we can describe it on the label.  For example, it might be predominantly from the blossom of a specific plant (e.g. coffee, banana,) or it might be generally from the banks of a particular river, or from a particular mountain region etc. We could advise on the sort of things that would be relevant, but the supplier would need to be ready with something interesting to tell us.

Please note that if 'organic' honey were to be offered to us, it would need to be properly certified as such by a recognised authority.

First Hurdles
Before approaching Rowse Honey with an offer, there are two fundamental hurdles which should first be addressed.

1. The honey must originate from a source approved by the EU authorities.  For Africa, the only current sources are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa.  It is perfectly possible for another country to be added to the list (as Uganda itself was fairly recently), but that would be a matter for the country concerned to negotiate with the EU authorities.  Honey from an unlisted origin will be refused entry to the UK at the port.
2. A supplier must have a reasonable annual volume for sale.  The absolute minimum would be a 20 tonne container load, but realistically we would seek 100 tonnes per year.  Below this, it is difficult to justify the costs of evaluation and difficult to make a sensible offer to our retailer customers, some of whom have over 400 major outlets throughout the UK.

Other Requirements
I have identified eight further points to consider when putting a supply offer together.

1. EU and UK legislation compliance
   There are two quality aspects which need considering.  The first is that the honey must comply with all prevailing EU and UK legislation regarding HMF, moisture levels etc.  Particularly important here is that illegal residues must not be present. Another Presentation will go into detail here, but it is unlikely that African honey will suffer from any problems in this respect. However, it is important that beekeepers do not start to resort to spraying undesirable substances into the hive as a “cheap” way of increasing yields. No matter how many certificates or samples we receive from the supplier to show us the quality of a delivery of honey, we always test the bulk ourselves on arrival, and if anything untoward is found, we would have to reject the honey.
   
   
2. Flavour and colour profile liked by consumers
   The second aspect of quality is that the honey must match the flavour and colour profile which our customers expect. The smoky flavour of much African honey is not very popular in England, and while a distinctive-tasting or dark colour honey could possibly have potential as a Speciality honey (there is no guarantee), a blending honey which is not fairly bland in flavour or is darker than 50mm colour is unlikely to be of much interest.
   
   
3. Traceability
   By UK law, every drum of honey we buy must be traceable right back to the individual beekeeper(s) who supplied it. This is usually done by means of an indelible coding on the drum, but it does of course mean that everybody in the supply chain, from the beekeeper upwards (or certainly the exporter), will need to keep careful records of where each drum went and at what date. If this seems a daunting task, I can only say that nowhere else in the world, even where there are many thousands of beekeepers, has found this to be a problem.
   
   
4. Professionalism
   Please be easy to contact. Email is best. We need to be able to contact you easily in the event of any query. Please despatch honey when you say you will. If there are any problems, tell us in advance. There is nothing more annoying than expecting the imminent arrival of a delivery only to find it is still somewhere else.  It would make planning and maintaining supplies to our customers very difficult. Packaging
   The packaging should be suitable for food use and suitable to withstand the journey from Africa to England. The best method of achieving this is to pack into 300 kilo steel drums, without inner bags, certified for food use. These do not have to be new drums, but if they are not, it is important to make sure that they are filled clean and did not previously contain a non-food item or anything that could contaminate the honey or impair its flavour.


5. Terms
   Ideally, we would prefer a price to be quoted delivered duty paid to our premises at Wallingford, England, but this may be difficult for a new supplier, so a price c&f UK port would do, in other words inclusive of all costs up to arrival in the UK.  Rowse Honey would then pay the import duty (usually 17.3% of the c&f value, incidentally, although there are exceptions), Customs clearance, and the cost of transport from the port to our factory.  What is not of interest is a price ex works at origin or FOB (meaning as at the port of departure in Africa). This is because Rowse Honey has no expertise in international freight and we do not wish to be involved in arranging ocean shipping from Africa. We do not have the manpower to tackle this properly. A price can be quoted in UK Sterling, US Dollars or Euros - it does not matter.


6. Auditing and monitoring
   We may wish to visit your plant at a mutually convenient time and carry out an audit to ensure that specifications are being followed.
   
   
7. Price
   Subject to the above comments about Specialities commanding a higher rate, the price would have to be competitive against substitute honeys in the world market.  This would need to be negotiated at the time, as of course prices are fluctuating all the time.  As at today, Argentina honey prices (Argentina being a major source for Rowse Honey) are around US$2,400 delivered, US$1,980 c&f UK port.

Summary
Rowse Honey is very keen to expand its purchases from Africa, but it must do so within the realities of a very competitive commercial world.  I hope these points have assisted to identify what needs to be done, but perhaps the key message is that volumes need to be available. Without a guarantee of supply continuity in reasonable volumes, we cannot even make a start.

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