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.
x1'000Mt
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Autres
ESPAGNE
Belgique
U.K.
24%
29% 28%
26%
21%
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
European imports of Chinese Honey - Custom data -
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 Received offer Jan 2015 (CIF Montréal): very competitive honey, named and labelled as “Spanish - Spanish Forest honey CAD 3.24/lb Honey” and processed in various ways (described as - Filtrated “Spanish” Poliflora Honey CAD 1.93/lb “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. x1'000 Lb 600
CAD/Lb 3,00
500
2,50
400
2,00
300
1,50
Volume
200
1,00
Average price
100
0,50
0
0,00 2012
2013
2014
2015 (JANAVR)
"Spanish" imports in Canada (Price & Volume - Custom data)
“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 !
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.
Export prices compared to average export price USA
USD/Lb
Price per Kg (US$)
3,25 2,75
Average 2014 export price Germany France
2,25 1,75
Canada
- UN Comtreade db -
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 X X X X X
Central America
Pollen
Echium Labiatae X Cruciferae Hedysarum X Helianthus-T Astragalus Myrtacea Genista-T X Compositae Vicia-T X Bursera Trifolium-T X X Anacardiaceae Acacia X Actinidia-T Leucaena-T X X X Cactaceae Sesamum X Cistaceae Fagopyrum X Combretaceae Dzidzilche X X Elaeagnaceae Rhamnaceae X Ericaceae Rubus-T X Euphorbiaceae Pyrus/Prunus-T X X Castanea Umbelliferae X Quercus ilex-T Intertek Analyses PI1505080105 of May 8, 2015 (specialized laboratory in Honey analyses)
CHINA X
South Europe X X
Central America
X X
X X X X
X X
X X X X
X
X
X X X X
Though Canadian legislation does not forbid honey filtration, it regulates its labelling by naming all blended origins.
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 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Pollenic analyses