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Worst U.S. Honey Crop Ever!
2009 was a terrible year to be in the honey business. Bee Culture’s
unofficial poll last fall came up with a crop estimate of 119 million
pounds, produced by 2,223,000 colonies. The USDA on Friday released
their figures.
Though higher than ours at 144,108,000 million pounds of honey, it is
still the worst honey crop on record. Ever. USDA figures showed a
colony count of 2,462,000…a couple hundred thousand higher than our
guesstimate.
Honey
stocks left over from 2008 plus imports during 2009 totaled 248,571,251
pounds, and when you subtract the honey that beekeepers exported –
28,924,255 pounds, the final figure gives a nice picture of how much
honey was used in the U.S. overall during 2009. That total figure is
363,754,996 pounds. If you divide that total figure by the average U.S.
population for 2009, you get per capita consumption, which is, for 2009
- .903 pounds, or right about 14.5 ounces. Did you eat your pound of
honey last year?
.
Last year it was .960 pounds, or 15.4 ounces per person. The figure
most honey experts use is a pound a person every year, so though a tad
off, these figures are still in the ball park.
The
imported figure is daunting not unlike a lot of other foods we consume.
The U.S. imported 211,418,300 pounds…or almost 60% of the honey we ate
last year. That percentage has been creeping up slowly for several
years and no end is in sight. Less U.S. production coupled with the
fact that U.S. honey costs more than almost all imported honey makes
that easy to understand.
The
average price of honey increased 2 percent over last year’s prices,
from $1.421 to $1.445 per pound. Retail prices, however, were even
higher, rising from $2.247 to $2.784 per pound, or just over 50 cents a
pound. That’s a hike by any standard.
The
last caveat for this report is that the USDA does not contact, nor
count, beekeeping operations that have 5 or fewer colonies. There are a
lot of these in this country and their production does add up, but for
the most part, the honey produced by these beekeepers does not enter
the stream of commerce, but rather is consumed at home, shared with
neighbors and family, or sold to friends or coworkers.
This article from catch the buzz Bee Culture Magazine
Global Honey Market to Expand, BIG TIME
By Alan Harman
The global honey market is forecast to exceed 1.9 million tons by 2015.
A new report by California-based
Global Industry Analyst Inc. (GIA) says the market is being primarily
driven by increasing awareness levels and health consciousness among
the consumers, leading to increasing demand for healthy and natural
food products.
In line with the trend, several honey
producers are launching new products and varieties at regular
intervals. The increasing trend of organic and healthy spreads is
expected to continue giving rise to new variants and flavors in the
global honey market.
“Increasing preference among
consumers for honey-based products, is leading to a boost in the
variety and assortment of honey based food products, baby products,
yogurts and drinks,” the report, which GIA is selling for $3,950, says.
“Moreover, honey contains antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and
proteins, making itself an appealing ingredient as compared to
artificial sweeteners.”
Europe and the Asia Pacific,
including Japan, dominates the global honey market, the report says but
warns the global honey sector is not devoid of any challenges.
Honeybee losses represent one of the
major challenges encountered by honey sector worldwide. Honeybees are
also susceptible to threats such as environmental stress, pests and
diseases, among others. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) leading to death
and disappearance of honeybees, is another key challenge faced by the
global honey sector.
Lately, the U.S. honey sector is
facing a steep decline in production volumes triggered by declining
number of bee colonies, and increased costs, leading to rising honey
prices.
Apart from disease and pests,
including colony collapse disorder, the report says calamities such as
drought and wildfire also affected the bee production and costs in the
recent past. Various macroeconomic factors such as U.S. dollar
depreciation and weak economic conditions also led to the price rise in
the honey market.
The report says key players
dominating the Global Honey Market include Bee Maid, Billy Bee Honey,
Capilano Honey, Comvita Ltd., Dabur India Ltd,, Dutch Gold Honey Inc.,
Golden Acres Honey, Hebei Wuqiao Mtl. Co. Ltd., Odem International
Inc., Rowse Honey Ltd, Shriro Pvt. Ltd., Sioux Honey Association and
Yanbian Baolixiang Beekeeping Co. Ltd.
The report titled Honey: A Global
Strategic Business Report, provides a comprehensive review of industry
overview, product overview, product introductions/innovations, profiles
of major players, and recent industry activity.
The study analyzes market data and
analytics in terms of volume sales for regions including the U.S.,
Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
For more details about this comprehensive market research report, visit -
http://www.strategyr.com/Honey_Market_Report.asp
This article from catch the buzz
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