Honey sector in Moldova is flourishing

CBI is providing active support to honey processors in Moldova to encourage the development of the sector. The Moldovan honey sector is having an excellent year so far. The country had a good harvest, with good quantities of polyfloral honey from wildflowers. There were record volumes of linden honey and good quantities of acacia and sage honey. Also, the sector made a strong commitment to closer national cooperation as well as collective marketing for honey of Moldova.

For the first time, the main honey processors organised themselves in an exporter association: the Honey Exporters Association of Moldova. The association represented the sector in important sector events such as ApiMondia in Canada and Anuga in Germany. With support from CBI, the International Finance Corporation (IFC)  and USAID, representatives of the association had meetings with the main honey packers in Europe, with the European Federation of Honey Packers and Distributors and several laboratories for honey analysis.

Good reputation

Main takeaways: Moldova has a very good reputation with respect to the quality of its honey and honey packers are open to increasing their honey sourcing from Moldova.  With all this positive buzz, Mr Vasile Dolgheiru, chairman of the association, is positive regarding the development of honey export from Moldova to the EU in the coming years.

Export Capacity building by CBI

To support the development of the honey sector in Moldova, CBI coaches a group of four honey processors, offering them individual export coaching, commercial and technical training, market visits and support in trade show participation. This is part of the ‘Export Capacity Building Project in the Agro-Food Sector in Moldova’ which CBI is implementing in collaboration with IFC from 2018 until 2021. In this project, 20 SMEs from the Moldovan Agro-Food sector, among which Fresh Fruits, Processed Fruits and Honey, are coached to become ready for exporting to the EU. The participating companies are trained on topics like market requirements, marketing, business culture, and certification. All companies have finalized their Export Marketing Plans and are now preparing to enter the European market. This will be mainly done through participation in trade fairs.

The four Moldovan honey companies in the project (Apinatur, Casa Albinei, Regina Naturii and Vasdial & Co) will exhibit in the Moldova pavilion at SIAL Paris in 2020 with a collective pavilion showcasing the best honey companies from the country.

For more information: https://www.cbi.eu/projects/agrofood-moldava