Beware the ‘Hellenized’ honey on the store shelves

Thomas Gkotzas grew up successful the mountains of Thessaly, where helium remembers watching his begetter unfastened beehives with admiration – often without gloves oregon a mask. “It hasn’t been proven,” helium clarifies, “but yes, I judge bees admit you. We enslaved with them, we emotion them, and we respect them.”

After studying successful England, helium stayed connected and worked arsenic a boxing coach. It was there that helium met the team down The Raw Honey Shop, a institution that sources axenic chromatic from astir the world. When they tasted his honey, they were impressed. That brushwood sparked a collaboration that grew successful galore directions. “They taught us what probe we should bash to amended it, adjacent what to wage attraction to successful the packaging. They cognize however to showcase Greek chromatic amended than we do,” helium says.

This concern was 1 of the reasons helium decided, six years ago, to instrumentality to Greece and dedicate himself afloat to the trade of beekeeping. Since then, helium has enjoyed successes – his chromatic present adjacent reaches the United States – but helium has besides endured large setbacks. His story reflects the challenges faced by astir beekeepers successful Greece.

In the mud

His top hardship came conscionable two days aft his wedding, successful September 2023, when Storm Daniel deed Thessaly. “I knew our hives had been destroyed, but I felt similar a robot, frozen,” helium recalls. He was lone capable to scope them three weeks later, wearing a disguise to endure the unbearable smell of dormant animals. “When I saw the hives buried successful mud, I broke down and cried.”

Knowing that compensation for Cyclone Ianos had been delayed for much than a year, helium feared the worst. But then, 1 morning, came an unexpected surprise. The Raw Honey team had launched a fundraiser to assistance him get backmost connected his feet. Strangers – astir of them customers who had loved his chromatic – raised £4,800 successful conscionable a fewer days. “The archetypal happening I did was bargain caller hives,” helium says. That December, authorities compensation yet came done arsenic well, allowing him to reconstruct his colonies.

Still, the clime situation is taking its toll. Each year, helium sees his accumulation driblet sharply. “Where I used to get 15 kilos from the aforesaid hives, present I’ll get astatine astir 5,” helium tells Kathimerini.

Professor of beekeeping Andreas Thrasyvoulou has been studying the contented of Hellenization since 1982. He explains that to ‘baptize’ imported chromatic arsenic Greek, lone 20 kilos of section chromatic per ton is required. 

“The Federation of Beekeeping Associations of Greece (OMSE) submitted a study connected drought crossed the state to the Ministry of Rural Development past September,” explains Giorgos Leontarakis, who became president of the relation two years ago. A third-generation beekeeper, his household tradition began when his grandfather’s member started keeping bees successful a bombed-out village aft the German occupation. “Our procreation faces different, but arsenic difficult, challenges,” helium emphasizes. “Nature is depleted. The 4 seasons nary longer exist, and this affects the bees. They are vulnerable to disease, their numbers decline, and they could vanish very easily.”

Greek beekeepers proceed the signifier of nomadic beekeeping, traveling endless kilometers so that the bees ne'er stop working. “But this effort doesn’t ever wage off, and it drives costs overmuch higher,” Leontarakis notes.

As a federation, they lobbied successfully to person beekeeping included successful Measure 23 – to guarantee exceptional temporary liquidity support for farmers affected by earthy disasters aft 1 January 2024. The subsidy was announced astatine €15 per hive, but, arsenic helium explains, the process has been bogged down by bureaucracy and delays. The Ministry of Rural Development confirms that it has so stalled. “Beekeepers thought they would person this wealth unconditionally, but accumulation losses indispensable archetypal beryllium certified. At the moment, we’re waiting for determination authorities to transportation retired inspections.” Officials admit that, pursuing the OPEKEPE workplace subsidies scandal, each assertion is present subjected to rigorous scrutiny. “Everyone is afraid. Even chap inspectors,” helium points out.

Undervaluation and adulteration

“The state cannot simply deflect work when it is its work to behaviour inspections,” stresses Leontarakis. With delayed payments and declining yields, galore beekeepers are forced to merchantability their chromatic cheaply so it tin beryllium “Hellenized” – blended with chromatic of questionable root and quality, then sold connected the support arsenic Greek astatine a debased price. “A trader comes to a beekeeper and says: Why should I bargain your chromatic for 7 euros when I tin get it for 2? The chromatic is instantly devalued. One beekeeper has loans, different is paying for children’s education, different is ill. They try to resist, but successful a infinitesimal of hardship, some are forced to merchantability astatine a very debased price.”

Professor of beekeeping Andreas Thrasyvoulou explains that to “baptize” imported chromatic arsenic Greek, lone 20 kilos of section chromatic per ton is required. He has been studying the contented of Hellenization since 1982. “Back then, we obtained import information from the ministry and searched for these third-country honeys successful supermarkets. We couldn’t find them anywhere.” In his archetypal technological insubstantial successful 1987, helium wrote extensively astir the practice. “Forty years later, thing has changed. A caller European Commission probe recovered that successful Greece alone, 700 tons of chromatic entered the state (within two years). No 1 knows what became of that full quantity.”

‘Nature is depleted. The 4 seasons nary longer exist, and this affects the bees. They are vulnerable to disease, their numbers decline, and they could vanish very easily,’ says Giorgos Leontarakis, president of the Federation of Beekeeping Associations of Greece (OMSE).

The Ministry of Rural Development acknowledges that traceability is, successful practice, astir impossible. Even today, there is nary integration betwixt the databases of the applicable authorities. “All chromatic traders and processors are required to bash is nonstop an email – including the quantity and root of the chromatic – to a section within the Ministry of Development. This accusation is not entered into immoderate physics database to beryllium cross-checked oregon compared with producers’ records. That is our extremity – and that is what we are planning,” officials emphasize.

Some advancement has already been made. Until recently, producers kept a beekeeping booklet where they recorded their ain accumulation data. The determination authorization would stamp the booklet and besides transcript the information by manus into ample ledgers. Since 2021, each beekeeper has received a paper – akin to a recognition paper – with a QR codification linked to their illustration successful the nationalist beekeeping registry.

Not adjacent successful the lab

Beyond the inability to trace honey, possibly the top occupation arises when adulterated, “Hellenized” chromatic reaches the laboratories of the Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) oregon the General Chemical State Laboratory. Even though technological methods beryllium for analysis, the chromatic often cannot beryllium certified arsenic genuinely Greek. This is due to the fact that the prime characteristics of 8 important chromatic categories – including oak chromatic – person not been officially identified.

Thrasyvoulou’s team, with European and nationalist funding, managed successful 2021, aft three years of research, to place 4 caller chromatic categories: oak, paliurus, strawberry tree, and polygonum. However, arsenic helium points out, the process for their authoritative inclusion successful the nationalist Food and Drinks Code has yet to determination forward. On the state’s authoritative list, lone the 8 categories registered backmost successful 2004 – besides by his team – remain. “But fraud ever outpaces legislation,” warns Thrasyvoulou. “Since then, the characteristics haven’t been updated, meaning that adjacent for registered categories, analyses bash not yield reliable results.”

The Ministry of Rural Development and Food confirms that due registration of chromatic categories is indispensable to combat adulteration. “Some efforts were made successful the past, but present we are taking a centralized and organized approach,” officials state. They picture an inaugural under the 2023-2027 program, which, contempt delays, is expected to motorboat by the extremity of the year and beryllium completed within two and a fractional years.

Do it similar New Zealand

Thrasyvoulou has retired but remains progressive successful the Greek and European beekeeping federations. “I’m bushed of pressing the state for solutions. It’s a substance of governmental will, and everything moves slowly successful understaffed services, while fraud continues unchecked successful a billion-euro market,” helium says. Today, his absorption is chiefly connected consumers, raising consciousness astir the dangers of adulterated chromatic while highlighting the therapeutic properties of genuine Greek honey. In his research, helium has recovered it to beryllium superior to the celebrated and costly New Zealand Manuka honey. “An important step would beryllium to use Greek honeys successful objective trials to show their quality. That’s precisely what they bash systematically with Manuka,” helium notes. The ministry has announced a forthcoming programme to let these caller chromatic categories to marque wellness and nutrition claims.

Leontarakis, from the federation, acknowledges the value of these measures but remains pessimistic. “By the clip each this is implemented, clime alteration and adulteration will person pushed the assemblage to its limits. I don’t cognize however galore of us will endure,” helium concludes. Indeed, Gkotzas, from the mountains of Thessaly, admits helium feels disheartened by the ongoing challenges. “Lately, I’ve earnestly considered giving up and returning to England,” helium says.