Apiculture New Zealand new strategy

[Jessej]

Its been almost a year since I downed my hive tool and walked away from a business that took 30 years to grow.
It was a messy exit, to say the least, but I saved my soul.
So now I stand on the outside and look in…. Here in the UK the country imports over 80% of what it eats, including honey… and the honey that is here is a mish mash of overpriced co-op and Holland and Barrett blends that people are reluctant to buy. Egmont honey are here in full force with an array of varying quality manuka’s, but try and find a nice pot of clover…. Not a lot spot. I see potential, particularly with the new free trade deals being rolled out.
New Zealand beekeepers are second to none for producing a quality product… the result of years of having those RMP’s shoved down our throats.
So, let the rich boys concentrate on research…. The bees are like women, they dont and wont change their modus operandii….
Sell, sell, sell, concentrate on marketing, research the markets, research freight and get the product to a market that will prove to be insatiable.

 

[Gino de Graaf]

Comvita is not the barometer of the industry nor a great ambassador.
Remember the propolis importation? Killing our local prices.
They run a queen street store. but make losses. I wonder if they could sell low quality honey in bulk to their Australian business and then pack and sell there?? Just a thought.

Yes, very fishy that beekeepers are getting lower returns yet export prices are high.
Profit taking.
The export prices, they just revenue numbers. Say comvita sells 80m of export honey...but in reality it's a poor performing business. It's not a very good measurement. Just a number.
Thats what happens across all industry types. Ra Ra, selling lots but really losing .

 

[John B]

I see the GIA is also included in this report.
The government industry agreement is based on blackmail. Basically if we don't sign up to it then the next time there is an incursion we will have to pay for it and have no say on how it is run. If we join the GIA we will have to pay for half of it and have some say.
Or we could all band together, tell the government get its bio security together and tell them if they want our money for their bio security breaches then they are dreaming.
I am ambivalent about some of the proposals and actually support some of them but there is no way I will support the whole package especially with GIA included. I have several times tried to have an open debate on the subject and have always been shut down.
New Zealand has always been a country noted for its lack of corruption and blackmail is one of the worst forms of corruption.

 

[tristan]

Here in the UK the country imports over 80% of what it eats, including honey… and the honey that is here is a mish mash of overpriced co-op and Holland and Barrett blends that people are reluctant to buy. Egmont honey are here in full force with an array of varying quality manuka’s, but try and find a nice pot of clover…. Not a lot spot. I see potential, particularly with the new free trade deals being rolled out.

i mentioned something along those lines to the big uk importer rep, maybe they will take the hint.

Yes, very fishy that beekeepers are getting lower returns yet export prices are high.

giving away their income to under cut the opposition until they have no profit left.