"Liquid gold": Romania exports half its honey production

Romania’s honey production is double the level of ten years ago, but most of it reaches the shelves of stores in Western Europe, so that Germans, Britons, Italians and Americans bought Romanian honey worth over 25m euros last year.

Half of domestic honey production of 23,000 tonnes goes abroad because Romanians have not made a habit out of buying honey or cannot afford it. A quarter of Romanian honey is delivered to Germany, Europe’s biggest honey consumer.

In Romania, one kilo of honey costs between 20 lei (4.7 euros) and 35 lei (8.3 euros), and in Germany Romanian firms get 5 euros/kilo for honey sold in 300 litre barrels.

Honey currently makes a 50m-euro market that grew on the back of exports. Over the past ten years, honey production has advanced from 12,000 tonnes to 24,000 tonnes, according to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development estimates.

Silviu Ganea, the manager of Fileomera, the biggest honey processor domestically, which produces 5,000 tonnes of honey annually, says he exports the entire production because Romanians are not used to honey or do not have enough money too buy too much.