The price for honey produced in Germany has increased by more than five per cent, surveys have shown.
Beekeepers in the Central European country, which is one of the main providers of the product among European Union member states, have emphasised they must pay more for electricity, jars and various equipment in the current cost of living crisis.
Now the Bienen Journal, a German magazine, reports that the price for a 500-gramme jar of honey produced in the country is currently 5.2 per cent more expensive than in 2022.
The magazine, which refers to polls among apiarists all over Germany, said German beekeepers even upped their prices by 6.7 per cent from 2021 to 2022. In previous years, the price of German honey rose by around three per cent.
One jar of half a kilogramme of German honey currently costs EUR 6.50 (GBP 5.62) on average, surveys have shown. The mean per-capita consumption of honey in the country jumped by 15 per cent to 935 grammes from 2021 to 2022.
However, the price of honey strongly varies in Germany. While apiarists consider themselves being forced to charge more than in previous years, supermarkets sell honey for just a fraction.
A jar containing 500 grammes of honey originating from different EU and non-EU countries currently costs just EUR 3.19 (GBP 2.76) at Aldi. The discounter’s organic product is available for EUR 3.99 (GBP 3.45).
Rival Rewe charges EUR 8.79 (GBP 7.60) for a 500-gramme jar of German honey and EUR 6,49 for its EU/non-EU equivalent.
Michael Maier, who manages 20 honeybee colonies in his spare time in Lenggries near Munich, Bavaria, recently told the Münchner Merkur newspaper: “Sugar prices have gone through the roof, they have nearly doubled.”
Many beekeepers opt for sugar water when it comes to providing their colonies with additional nutrition.
There are more than 149,000 beekeepers in Germany. More than nine in 10 of them are non-professionals who do not depend on selling honey and beeswax products to make a living.
The Union of Professional Beekeepers in Germany, which represents around 4,500 apiarists, said their members’ turnover decreased by up to 40 per cent in 2023 due to inflation.
