China wants to import more Romanian honey says agriculture ministry

Newsroom 27/04/2012 | 10:00

Representatives of China Sundries & Flowers IMP & EXP Corp, one of the main honey importers in China according to the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture (MADR), are meeting with Romanian honey producers this week, the ministry has announced.

Hui Xing Hui, manager of China Sundries & Flowers IMP & EXP Corp said her company has been buying Romanian honey for three years and plans to increase the quantity over the next years. The Chinese company has also expressed interest in importing other Romanian products, especially wine, according to MADR.

“Romania’s challenge is to increase its production capacity in order to take advantage of the demand for Romanian organic products – which we anticipate will grow – although right now Romania is a net exporter of raw materials and unprocessed products,” said agriculture minister Stelian Fuia.

He added that in Romania beekeeping is the industry with the highest interest in conversion from conventional to organic production.

In 2010 Romania’s production of organic honey amounted to about 3,650 tons.

For 2011 the agriculture ministry expects the organic honey production to have grown by at least 5 percent as both the number of certified producers and the number of bees has gone up. If in 2010 there were 867 producers of organic honey, their number has grown to 927 last year.

Simona Bazavan