Post Covid, the per capita consumption of honey in India has once again declined: Vinit Singh, Brij Honey

Post Covid, the per capita consumption of honey in India has once again declined: Vinit Singh, Brij Honey

The consumption of honey in India has been very low as compared to US and European consumption. During COVID, the per capita consumption of honey in India had gone up to 20 grammes per person per year. The perception was that Indian consumers are now more aware of the health benefits of honey, and so consumption will remain on the higher side. However, consumption went drastically down post-covid.

Post Covid, the per capita consumption of honey in India has once again declined: Vinit Singh, Brij Honey, ET HealthWorld

Shahid Akhter, editor, ETHealthworld, spoke to Vinit Singh, Director, Brij Honey, to know more about the honey market in India and to figure out the challenges faced by the beekeepers.

Indian Honey Market
The Indian honey market has gradually evolved over the last two decades. The consumption of honey and the quality parameters have also greatly transitioned, not just in India but across the world. When we started with exports in 2006–07, the challenges were limited, especially with regard to the quality specifications of honey. We used to get honey tested with specifications running on only one page. However, at present, when we export honey to the US or Europe, our test reports run into 38 pages.

Honey: Consumption and Quality Parameters
The stringent quality norms are not just based on European or US standards. The FSSAI in India has also taken several steps towards maintaining and ensuring quality norms. The Indian FSSAI norms are on par with US and European standards.

Consumption of honey in India
The consumption of honey in India has been very low as compared to US and European consumption. For example, Indian consumption of honey before COVID was 6 grammes per person per year, whereas consumption in Germany and the US stood at 4 kg per person per year and 2.5 kg per person per year, respectively.

During COVID, the per capita consumption of honey in India had gone up to 20 grammes per person per year. The perception was that Indian consumers are now more aware of the health benefits of honey, and so consumption will remain on the higher side. However, consumption went drastically down post-covid. Post-COVID, the demand has again decreased to about 10 grammes per person per year. Hence, we can conclude that the Indian market has been growing at a very sluggish pace.

 

Brij Honey: Journey
Brij Honey came into existence in 2006–2007. Initially, we bought honey from beekeepers and sold it to other exporters in India. We are based in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, a prime mustard belt. Earlier in 2005–06, we decided to set up our own small processing unit for mustard honey processing. We then started exporting mustard honey to Europe. We started with about 10 tonnes per day, and we exported the first consignment to the UK in 2007. Those were the initial five containers of honey we exported.

Gradually, we started selling honey to domestic players in India, such as Dabur, Patanjali, and others. We continued doing so for the next 2 years. In 2010, we again embarked on the export journey. We started with 10 containers in the first year. Further, in 2011–12 and 2012–13, we exported about 26 containers. Since then, there has been no looking back, and we have been growing at almost 10% a year. Last year, we exported around 600 containers to the US and Europe. Further, we established a firm foothold in the export market, and we decided to get into the bottling of honey in 2016.

We started bottling honey with The Art of Living. We started bottling honey for Shri Ravi Shankar. Steadily, we captured the private label market with brands like Reliance and Flipkart. Currently, we are packaging for Baidyanath as well. We are the bulk suppliers to Dabur India, Patanjali, and Lion Honey in South India.

Beekeeping: Challenges
The Government of India has also launched a lot of plans to develop the beekeeping sector in India. Unfortunately, there are many market dynamics that have not allowed beekeeping to develop as per the demands of the industry and the government. Sustaining beekeeping and exports is dependent on international market dynamics.

India exports nearly 80% to the United States. Thus, when the prices are high in the US market, we get better prices. This enables us to give better prices to our beekeepers. However, when prices crash in the US market, we are forced to reduce our prices. The beekeepers are then not able to meet their needs. This causes many beekeepers to go out of business or leave beekeeping as a source of income. Most of the beekeepers’ only source of income is beekeeping. Hence, it is a big blow to the beekeepers too.

Beekeeping: Government initiatives and incentives
The government has been very proactive in the development of the beekeeping sector. The National Bee Board is doing a great deal of work and is giving a strong push to the beekeeping sector on both the state and national fronts. The state governments are also extensively promoting beekeeping through their own channels and KVIC. Through the different schemes, the beekeepers are given a subsidy component between 35% and 50%.