The Group of Beekeeping of the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) stated on Tuesday that it is essential to regulate market relations and the control system in this sector, and that beekeepers must work on developing value-added products and strengthening competitiveness. As highlighted by Group member Ivan Bračić at a press conference, state intervention is necessary to regulate the market.
– It is the state that must indicate which direction it wants to go and what kind of market it wants to have, and people will quickly adapt, said Bračić, noting that the issue of the gray market should not be addressed with a ‘heavy hand’ but with warnings.
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In addition to the gray economy, which burdens the beekeeping sector and accounts for about 80 percent, Bračić also pointed out the lack of a control system as one of the problems. He believes that we do not have a good quality control system and that this is one of the key reasons for the disorder in the market.
It is important, as he emphasized, that our laboratories that control quality do so uniformly and that quality is monitored from small beekeepers, importers, retail chains, to beekeeping companies. According to the data he presented, the total value of the ‘beekeeping pie’ is 500 million kuna, with beekeeping companies achieving a realization of 20 percent or 100 million kuna, while 80 percent, as he points out, has ‘slipped under the radar’.
