0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

x1'000Mt

European imports of Chinese Honey - Custom data -

Autres ESPAGNE

Belgique U.K.

21% 24%

26%

28%

29%

FRAUD SUSPICION ON

SPANISH HONEY IMPORTED INTO CANADA

Imports of Chinese Honey in Europe have never ceased

increasing since its come back in 2004, representing 21% of

total imports in 2010 to near to 30% of total imports in 2014

with some 36 million lbs. Among major importing countries we

may find UK, Belgium (port entry point) as well as Spain.

Advantage of Chinese honey is of course economical since one

of the cheapest in the world. Price taking it over quality, it is

not rare to find it adulterated (added sugar of various sources).

Numerous laboratories presently allow to identify such

practices though those become of the highest technologies and

therefore more and more difficult to detect.

Canada (a honey producing country of 60 to 80 million lbs) has

through its Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) put into place some

surveying tools concerning Chinese Honey in order to confirm its authenticity and quality through numerous

compulsory analyses. Though it may complicate its import, those have been drastically increased up to 1 million lbs in

2014. It is therefore not surprising anymore to find Sino-Canadian blends labelled as “Canadian No.1” sold on the

shelves at very competitive prices compared to domestic products.

Since, Canadian market has been the target of a new kind of

very competitive honey, named and labelled as “Spanish

Honey” and processed in various ways (described as

“filtrated” or not). Spain with a decreasing production

harvests some 65 million lbs of different kinds of honey, famous for its mono-floral characteristics, which are of

premium value, especially for export. This economical reality rise questions as to the difference in price with the

mentioned offered and imported “Spanish” honey.

“Spanish” honey imports have

suddenly increased from 175K Lbs in

2014 to 565K Lbs for the 4 first months of 2015, representing

11% of total imports

with a 40% drop in price !

Received offer Jan 2015 (CIF Montréal):

- Spanish Forest honey CAD 3.24/lb

- Filtrated “Spanish” Poliflora Honey CAD 1.93/lb

0,00

0,50

1,00

1,50

2,00

2,50

3,00

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2012 2013 2014 2015 (JAN-AVR)

CAD/Lb x1'000 Lb

"Spanish" imports in Canada (Price & Volume - Custom data)

Volume

Average price

To reach such level of price, blends between domestic and imported honey are being made. Furthermore in order to avoid any detection, some operators have decided to use an “ultra” filtrated product to mask its origin. In fact, the recognition of the origin is mainly possible through the pollenic content of the honey (each pollen being characteristic of the visited plant by bees, it allows to confirm its botanical origin and therefore to recognize the zone where those plants grow). Filtration allows removing most of the pollens, therefore not allowing the geographical origin.

Below are the analyses made on a product labelled as « Wildflower Honey – Product of Spain » Cross references between contained pollen and its geographical origin.

Pollen CHNA South

Europe Central America

Pollen CHINA

South Europe

Central America

Echium X Labiatae X X

Cruciferae X X Hedysarum X

Helianthus-T X X Astragalus X

Myrtacea X Genista-T X

Compositae X X Vicia-T X X

Bursera X Trifolium-T X

Anacardiaceae X X Acacia X X

Actinidia-T X Leucaena-T X

Cactaceae X X X Sesamum X X

Cistaceae X Fagopyrum X

Combretaceae X Dzidzilche X

Elaeagnaceae X X Rhamnaceae X X

Ericaceae X Rubus-T X

Euphorbiaceae X Pyrus/Prunus-T X

Castanea X X Umbelliferae X X

Quercus ilex-T X

Intertek Analyses PI1505080105 of May 8, 2015 (specialized laboratory in Honey analyses)

Though Canadian legislation

does not forbid honey filtration,

it regulates its labelling by

naming all blended origins.

France Germany

USA

Canada 1,75

2,25

2,75

3,25

USD/Lb

Export prices compared to average export price

Price per Kg (US$)

Average 2014 export price

- UN Comtreade db -

Presently, more and more ultra-filtered honey from China is entering Europe and some companies are using it to be mixed with honey of European origin and declare it as European when selling it fraudulently in Europe or exported to countries like Canada and USA. According to Intertek, one of the most reputable laboratories in the world, Ultrafiltered Honey is the result of the filtration of honey using membranes with pore sizes < 1 μm . This filtration may be employed to remove yeast cells (size 1-2 μm) or microorganisms from honey. However, this procedure also removes higher molecular weight compounds from honey, such as honey enzymes. Therefore, this procedure does not comply with the legal EU regulations. Honey processed in this way results in a sweetener product which cannot be labelled with the description “honey” or “filtered honey” anymore.

Those practices have for effect to increase domestic honey prices and to provoke unfair competition. Industrials having used of those practices may offer higher prices to local beekeepers since their final product will be “diluted” with cheaper honey of non stipulated origin. Domestic competition therefore suffers not being able to purchase local honey at same high prices.

On Export markets, very competitive prices

for those fraudulent products provoke

unfair competition on supermarkets

shelves putting in danger domestic packers and even domestic beekeepers which may not fight on same

ground. Furthermore consumer are being cheated thinking buying a

authentic pure product without having the

possibility to know that it is a blended

product and not a 100% pure Spanish honey.

Sales price to the consumer

........................................ CAD 1.94 to 2.71/Lb

Margin 25% .................... CAD 1.07 – 1.50/Kg

Distribution 5% ............... CAD 0.21 – 0.30/Kg

Import ............................. CAD 0.17/Kg

Packing ........................... CAD 0.70/Kg

Production cost ............... CAD ????

Exchange ratee CAD/EUR 1.40

Bulk price at exporter’s < CAD 0.90 – 1.50/Lb

Annexe A – Spanish offer

Annexe 2 – Pollenic analyses