Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 29
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Azerbaijan Association of Beekeepers intends to export honey to more countries in the near future, Badraddin Hasratov, chairman of the association, told Trend Sept. 29.
He said that at present, Azerbaijan is a country, which imports honey, but this doesn’t prevent the association from expanding its export potential and carry out deliveries abroad.
“At present, 4,500-5,000 tons of honey are consumed in Azerbaijan every year,” Hasratov said. “During one year of the association’s existence we increased production of honey from 2,300 to 3,000 tons. We import the remaining volumes. However, this doesn’t mean that we don’t export honey. We have a contract with Japan for the supply of 100 tons of honey. At the first stage, we already delivered six tons of honey, and in addition, we sent 400 kilograms of honey to Qatar for testing. This honey will be distributed in Qatar’s retail chains.”
The chairman of the association noted that the work is currently underway to search for new export markets.
“I personally studied the markets of Dubai and Germany,” Hasratov said. “We already have plans for further export development. Now we are going to work in these areas.”
At the same time, increasing production of honey and eliminating import dependence in this sphere is an important task, he added.
“In the first year of the association’s existence, we increased the number of honeybee colonies in Azerbaijan from 230,000 to 300,000,” Hasratov said. “In order to completely free ourselves from import dependence, we need to bring the number of honeybee colonies to at least 500,000. In addition, we need to achieve not only quantitative but also qualitative growth. It is necessary to apply innovations in this sphere, increase the average yield per honeybee colony.”