Minting pots of money in honey

Estimates suggest that the per capita per year consumption of honey in India is 8.40 gm, against a whopping 600 gm in Japan, or 200 gm in Germany.

Capitalising on this significant opportunity that exists are startups that lure health-conscious consumers on the lookout for pure and high-quality products.  

“Our honeys are raw, fresh from the honeycomb and are unprocessed. Thus, they retain all the nutrients, antioxidants and enzymes,” says Ramya Sundaram from Honey and Spice, whose designation reads as ‘Queen Bee’.

Entrepreneurs Vijaya Pastala, founder and CEO of Under The Mango Tree and Sudarshan Rao, who runs a venture called Honey R Us, state that they are directly engaged with farmers across the country to source the purest honey and bring it to the market.

Growing health-consciousness is fuelling their ventures, “as honey is seen as a nutritious replacement for sugar,,” says Pastala.  Rao believes that honey is a versatile product that is increasingly finding favour not just for its medicinal and cosmetic purposes, but also as food. “And the different varieties such as wild acacia, jamun, etc. boast a diverse mix of health benefits and differ in colour, taste, texture and aroma. We are witnessing taste-buds gradually open up to these flavours,” says Rao.

Going ahead

Started online in 2014, Honey and Spice is expanding its portfolio by looking at introducing honey-based products such as foot scrub, bee wax candles, body butter, lip balm and more. “We are witnessing demand grow ten-fold each month,” says Sundaram, adding that the venture may also introduce exotic variants such as cliff honey and dammer bee honey shortly.  

Honey R Us meanwhile plans to launch honey from drumsticks and borage honey; while for Under The Mango Tree, it would be variants like curry leaves, orange blossom, etc. Beyond introducing unique flavours, the startups are charting out other expansion strategies. “Right now we are online. But we soon plan to start an outlet in Bangalore where people can come, experience, taste our honeys and become more aware.”

The six-year old Under The Mango Tree, which apart from being online has a presence across 400 plus retail outlets and gourmet stores, wants to scale up its offline presence.

“We want to reach as many retail shelves as possible and are going to enter general trade as well,” says Pastala.

A competitive market

In a domestic market that craves for discounts and sales, ‘price’ is a key determinant of business. Raw honeys are priced about Rs 100 higher than products from brands like Dabur, Patanjali and Apis Himalaya.

Honey entrepreneurs agree that the market is extremely price-sensitive and that they have had to invest a lot in generating awareness. “We have gone door-to-door, set up our stalls at farmer markets and have held tasting sessions to gradually enhance our outreach,” says Rao.