Iran produces high quality honey. The flavor and color of Iran’s honey change from region to region, depending on the flora, climate, and nature of its terrain.
Forsat-e Emrooz daily had an interview with the head of Iran’s Beekeepers Union, Effat Raisi, about the opportunities of investment in packaging and processing of honey.
“Unfortunately Iran does not enjoy a decent packaging industry for its agricultural products,” Raisi said. “We have fared badly when it comes to honey packaging. We have failed to provide our customers with appealing packaging which is partly to blame for low consumption of organic agricultural produce inside the country. This has also hit big time our performance on the global scene. Iran-produced honey does not have a say in international markets.”
Production should be order-oriented and based on customers’ need. Today, only 5,000 tons of the 70,000 tons of yearly production of Iran’s honey are sent overseas, which means there is a long way to go in honey exports.
“Iraq, Turkey and the littoral states of the Persian Gulf are importers of Iran’s honey which is usually shipped in bulk or poor packaging,” she said.
Some food industries have succeeded in attracting investment in packaging from private sector in recent years such as chocolate and pastry industries. Chocolates with numerous attractive, fancy packaging are much in evidence these days. If honey could grab the same spotlight, investors would really rake in foreign currency since it is an organic produce.
“You need a 1,500 square meters of land to set up a pasteurization and packaging factory with a capacity of 500 tons a year,” she said.
To reduce the costs of supplying the raw materials, it is advisable to buy a land plot close to beekeepers’ hubs. Also, around 15 billion rials ($454,545 at market exchange rate) need to be spent on equipment and industrial machines in order to launch a complex with 20 employees.
Investment in this field is not limited to honey; around 10 honey secretions have the potential for investment, including royal jelly, bee pollen and bee venom. Investment in this sector is really value for money, she concluded.
