To all involved in this thread.
 
As a beekeeper, and relatively small scale packer, well away from the
US/Canada/China controversy, I must say one or two things about this
issue.
 
Firstly, due to quality and character differences, I cannot see how
Chinese honey could possibly be mis-represented as Canadian to anyone
who knows their honey at all. I handle both origins frequently, and to
suggest that there could be any confusion between Canadian or USA honey
and the Chinese product would, I believe, be quite offensive to all
North American producers. Even if the Canadian honey had been cut with a
relatively small (say 20%) of Chinese product it would be starkly
obvious to all concerned. EVERY sample of Chinese honey I have ever had
has had, to a greater or lesser extent, had a very distinctive smell and
taste. It is as if it was slighly perfumed, yet it is unpleasant, even
rank at times. All standard quality North American honeys I have handled
have been of far superior quality to the Chinese, and subtle untainted
flavours are normal.
 
IF this event occurred, which COULD be true, it could ONLY have been
done with the conivance of the US customer. No packer I know of could
possibly fail to notice the difference, so it can only have been a ruse
on behalf of all parties to circumvent US regulations. In which case
don't blame the Canadians alone, as possibly the Chinese and certainly
the Americans would also have been part of the problem.
 
I currently have some Chinese Acacia in stock for one particular client
in SE England. We normally use European and stock it all the time, but
this client wanted Chinese. It is supposed to be the best honey
available out of China. It is so inferior to the European equivalent as
to be difficult to identify as the same floral source, and as soon as it
is heated the smell which it gives off is most unpleasant (to me). The
reason this client wanted it is its price, about 60% that of European.
In the US you call this plant Black Locust, and for a mild honey lover
it is one of the finest you can get, but not so the Chinese product.
 
Once you go down in quality to the standard ELA, then this perfumed
characteristic becomes even stronger. Apart from at a consumer level,
who often knows little better, this honey could not possibly pass
through a packers system unnoticed in the belief it was Canadian.
 
In my opinion Chinese honey is damaging to our consumer markets. They
(the public) may not know what they are buying, but for sure they know
if they enjoy what they are eating or not. If they do not enjoy it
greatly they eat it more slowly (if at all), and they usually do not buy
more until what they already have has been used up. Education towards
decent quality honey is near impossible given the lack of cash most
producers are suffering from, and the temptation to pack the very cheap
Chinese product will always be present so long as retailers (primarily
supermarkets) have price point as their No.1 amongst the criteria by
which they select the standard lines they sell. An intractible problem
which is almost impossible to resolve, and will probably not be until
the Chinese become more prosperous and begin to use up much of their
production on their domestic market.
 
Finally to end on a sad note. I have just been offered Canadian white
honey at #UK 1100 per tonne, delivered home. Allowing for EU import
duty, shipping, etc., this must mean a hopelessly low price to the
producer. Whilst I must remain competitive and therefore must buy at, or
below if possible, current market levels I would much prefer to see
Canadian and US product trading at 30 or 40% above these levels, which
would be a far more accurate relection of its place in the quality
heirarchy. Then there is a reasonable living in it for us all, and we
avoid the boom and bust situation which has afflicted much of the honey
producing trade in recent years.
 
 
Kind regards to all
 
Murray
 
ps, I am doing a little digging on this honey analog issue, and hope to
have some information soon. Early indications are that it is a bit of a
non-issue as it will be relatively easy to detect, and punishments
potentially severe. Andy's assertion that it is no different an issue
from the temptation to cut with commercially available syrups is pretty
accurate it seems, and there will probably be no great price advantage
in any case to encourage it. Feeding syrups to boost crop, in Britain at
least, is more of a problem than this stuff is likely to be.
--
Murray McGregor
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