2023-06-19 22:08:02
The price for a jar of honey is likely to increase, since the context is currently difficult for producers, according to the president of the Apiculteurs et Apicultrices du Québec, Raphaël Vacher.
“In general, beekeepers in Quebec currently [produisent] at a loss,” said Raphaël Vacher.
According to a 2021 study by the Center for Studies on the Costs of Production in Agriculture, beekeepers paid an average of $15.44 for a kilogram of honey, while the selling price, for the same quantity, was $13.66. $.
“When we have a study as serious as the CECPA, I think that the food chains will understand that we have no choice but to increase our prices”, indicated the president.
The price for renting hives, for blueberry producers for example, has gone from $175 per hive to $225.
“We now have to make corrections to increase our prices and be at least at 0 in the end,” said Raphaël Vacher.
The pandemic, inflation and rising input costs are hurting a lot.
“For a year now, we have beekeepers who are putting the key. They go bankrupt. The pandemic, after that, the whole inflationary aspect, the interest rates, the minimum wage going up. The sugar that has doubled in three years. In the fall we have no choice but to feed our bees sugar to get through the winter,” he explained.
At Miel des Ruisseaux, the increase is inevitable and has already begun.
“We had one of 10% last year, 15% this year, said Patrick Fortier, owner of Miel des Ruisseaux.
Importing honey from abroad is not reassuring.
“Producers from other countries, who flood the market, are the ones who manage the price in Quebec. We cannot sell our honey for $20 per jar if our competitor sells it for $15 or $16,” said Mr. Fortier.
It is thanks to its diversity of the offer that the company manages to pull out of the game.
“On our side, we have Mead, reminded Patrick Fortier. Some beekeepers use honey by-products, such as wax.”
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