$10 Million Investment in Balparmak R&D Center 

Scientists, beekeepers' associations, authorities and public institutions who participated in the 8th International Muğla Beekeeping and Pine Honey Congress, which was held with the participation of Turkey's leading honey brand Balparmak, shared the studies and developments in the bee products sector with the entire world beekeeping sector.

Balparmak R&D Center managers, who made two important scientific presentations at the congress, aim to increase Turkey's honey exports with the new analysis methods they developed. Balparmak, which is preparing to celebrate its 45th anniversary next year, has changed Europe's perspective on Turkish pine honey with its new C4 analysis method developed in four years of work at its R&D center. The new C10 analysis method developed by the brand, which has invested over 4 million dollars in its R&D center to date, based on the fact that pine honey, which is a secretion honey, cannot be examined with the flower honey analysis method, has been published in internationally refereed journals and accepted by laboratories around the world. This method, which is an important tool in the fight against imitation and adulteration in honey, has the potential to increase Turkey's pine honey exports by approximately 30 percent. The new C4 analysis method, developed with investments in R&D and intensive studies, has been included in the TSE standards and has been made official, opening the doors to a new era in our country's pine honey exports.

Balparmak Board Chairman Özen Altıparmak, who predicted that Turkey’s honey exports would increase by approximately 30 percent thanks to this method, said, “95 percent of the world’s pine honey production is produced by the Anatolian Honey Bee living in the red pine forests in Turkey. Pine honey is a type of secretion honey and requires a special analysis method. In international trade, all food products are subject to analysis at customs. In European laboratories, however, ‘flower honey’ analysis was used for pine honey. Due to this method difference applied by Europe, pine honey exports from Turkey were being returned from customs. Thanks to our investment in our R&D and our intensive scientific studies that lasted 4 years, we developed this new C4 analysis method specific to pine honey and paved the way for our country’s pine honey exports.”

Balparmak R&D Center is one of the 4 equivalent laboratories in Europe.

Stating that Turkey has a share of approximately 90 percent in honey exports to Europe, Altıparmak said, “As Balparmak, we have invested over 10 million dollars in our R&D center. We are the first R&D center in Turkey in the field of honey and other bee products and the eighth R&D center accredited by TÜRKAK in the field of food. In fact, there is no other center that is as advanced as this among honey packaging companies in the world. We have a team of 20 people, most of whom have doctorates and masters degrees. This center is also one of the four equivalent laboratories in Europe that rank first.”

The Biggest Problem of the Industry: Fraudulent Honey in the Market

Özen Altıparmak, who stated that they aim to create added value in exports, said, “We are structuring our exports in a way that will grow our own brand instead of contract manufacturing and we aim to increase its share in turnover to 15 percent.” “The biggest problem our sector is experiencing is fraudulent products that we describe as imitation and adulteration in the market and sold as honey. Today, honey-like products are sold for 70-80 liras per kilo. Even the price of natural honey from the beekeeper is much higher than this figure,” said Altıparmak, and continued, “As packaging companies, we are developing our analysis techniques to catch frauds. As Balparmak, we share the information we have with sector stakeholders, our ministries and world laboratories.” 

All Cheats Are Detected in 25 Minutes with the New Device

Özen Altıparmak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Balparmak, which continues its R&D investments for the development of the sector and the protection of consumers, continued his words as follows: ''With a new device that we brought to our laboratory in 2022, we can detect all the fraudulent elements in fraudulent products that are very similar to honey in 25 minutes. analysis Thanks to our advanced R&D investments and expertise, we can analyze a product in 833 different parameters. The new analysis methods we develop are published in peer-reviewed journals and laboratories around the world use these methods. This is a very important development for both our sector and our country. According to Euromonitor data, we are one of the top 10 honey packaging companies in the world. This gives us responsibility for the development of the sector and the protection of consumers.''

There are 4 Million Beehives in Turkey, Real Honey Yield is Around 60-70 Thousand Tons

Noting that there has been a 20 percent decrease in yield in pine honey due to forest fires in recent years, Altıparmak said, “According to Nielsen data and my experience in the sector, there are 4 million beehives with bees in Turkey. I estimate that the real honey yield is around 15-60 thousand tons with an average productivity of 70 kilograms per hive. The average age of beekeepers in Turkey has reached 55. Young people and women should be brought into the sector. We have been working for this since 2015. Under the roof of Balparmak Beekeeping Academy, we provide training that supports the production of higher quality and more efficient bee products. Our Beekeeping Academy will undertake beautiful projects again in 2025. One of the most important steps for the rejuvenation and sustainability of the beekeeping profession is to bring women and young people into the profession. For this reason, we support women and young people’s participation in the sector by making positive discrimination against them.”

“We Believe in Transparency, Our Balparmak Campus is Open to Everyone”

Altıparmak, who said that they had to reject approximately 44 percent of the preliminary samples that came to the Balparmak Campus, which is built on an area of ​​40 thousand square meters in Çekmeköy, Istanbul, as a result of the naturalness tests conducted, said, “We have to look at the entirety of each batch of product that comes in order to reach natural honey. I value transparency. We see our competitors as colleagues. I express at every opportunity that we are ready to share all our knowledge. Because as Balparmak, we cannot fix the sector alone, all stakeholders need to have the same level of knowledge so that we can fight against counterfeiters in the market together. Our Balparmak campus is open to everyone, we are waiting for everyone who wants to see our campus, from consumers to industrialists.”

Source: HORECA TREND and Balparmak