Honey price in Moldova hit its lowest level in 20 years
Honey producers in the Republic of Moldova are facing a serious challenge. Due to low export prices, a large quantity of honey is remaining unsold in the country. Additionally, honey consumption among citizens has significantly decreased, making it difficult to sell even on the domestic market.
Expert Veaceslav Ioniţă, speaking on the show "Zi de zi" on Radio Moldova, estimated that Moldovan beekeepers need to sell three times more honey to earn the income they achieved in 2010.
He stated, "If in 2022 we sold our honey at $3.90 per kilogram, this year the export price has dropped to $2.34. The last time we recorded such a low price was 20 years ago."
To support Moldovan beekeepers, Ioniţă recommends increasing the daily consumption of honey among the population and raising awareness of its health benefits.
Doina Pantaz, an entrepreneur who has managed over 100 bee colonies since 2018, said that beekeeping is as unsafe as agriculture. She commented, "I have not sold honey wholesale in the last two years. May honey is sold well because it is liquid, but most people avoid crystallized honey."
According to Pantaz, the price of sunflower honey is now comparable to that of sugar. To boost sales of crystallized honey, she found a solution: "We purchased a homogenizer and transform sunflower honey, which is not sold in its natural state, into cream honey. We add frozen and ground fruits, which gives it flavors like strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry, as well as interesting colors."
We remind you that honey production reached 5.6 thousand tons in 2024. Half of the domestic production is exported to Italy and Romania, while smaller quantities are sent to Germany, France, Serbia, and 25 other countries.
