Fake Chinese honey imports prompt Spanish producers to demand EU action

A Spanish beekeeper protests in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Madrid. Credit: Carlos Luján/Getty Images

Spanish honey producers are demanding the EU change its labeling laws to prevent the industry from collapsing with cheap fake honey imports from China.

Cheap products from abroad have exacerbated the multitude local problems for Spanish beekeepers, who say they will be put out of business unless action is taken to protect an industry that provides pollination vital to the rest of the country's agricultural sector.

«Chinese honey doesn't pollinate plants here in Spain,» says José Luis Delgado, a beekeeper from Duron, Guadalajara, a center of honey production thanks to the spread of flowering herbs such as lavender, thyme and rosemary.

COAG, the Spanish Agricultural Union and other beekeepers' associations are demanding changes to EU labeling rules for blended honey sold in supermarkets.

Beekeepers work on hives in Girona, Spain. Photo: Manuel Medir/Getty

There is currently no obligation to state what proportion of honey in a blend comes from which country, meaning that a product may look half Spanish when in fact, as little as 1% of it may contain honey from Spain.

A 2023 study for the European Commission found that half of the honey imported into the EU is being sold fraudulently because it is not pure and contains sugar syrups, with China being the largest the culprit.

Pedro Loscertales, COAG head of the bee sector, said consumers need more accurate information. Meanwhile, according to him, “buying honey directly from beekeepers is the best guarantee of the authenticity and quality of honey.”

Spain is the largest honey producer in Europe with over three million beehives, but Mr. Delgado, a farmer , describes an industry that is on its last legs, reeling from the triple whammy of drought, tick-borne diseases and falling prices.

< p>Most of Spain's 36,000 beekeepers travel by truck transporting their hives across the country to keep up with the seasonal blooms.

“I think half of these traditional growers will fade into the background because their honey is sold in barrels.” , without special labeling, and they cannot compete with imports on price,” Mr. Delgado told The Telegraph.

The average cost of honey imported into the European Union is 2.32 euros (2 pounds sterling) per kilogram, with the typical cost of production in Spain exceeding 3 euros and rising due to inflation.

Prices paid remain virtually unchanged

After several dry years, Spanish honey production has fallen by 30% since 2018, and yet, according to Mr. Delgado, the prices paid by distributors have hardly changed.

G- Mr. Delgado is trying to reverse the industry's trend towards cheap blends, selling his organic honey in half-kilogram jars for 8 euros each.

“Quality is what we have in Spain. The best thing I can leave my son is 100 customers who love our honey, not five tons of annual production.”

The son of a family doctor, honey became Mr. Delgado’s passion by accident when he brother got the hive as a gift.

“I took off the lid and was completely fascinated, just standing there and looking at all the complexity of it. I was so lucky that the bees were happy that day and didn't sting me; otherwise it would be the end of both me and beekeeping.”