Although Azerbaijan is the country’s largest honey producer, they have serious difficulty competing with counterfeit honey.
According to the Chief of the Agricultural Jihad of East Azerbaijan, this region is the first in Iran in terms of the number of bees and is known as the second region with the highest honey production in the country.
According to Akbar Fathi, there are one million 391 thousand 679 beehives in 14 thousand bee breeding centers. Although 85 percent of this figure is modern, 15 percent still try to grow honey in ancient ways.
Last year, only 15,025 tons of honey were harvested in East Azerbaijan, but other regions of Azerbaijan are also leading the art of honey and beekeeping in Iran.
Akbar Fathi said that last year’s honey production increased by 15 percent compared to a year ago, but said that those working in this field faced many problems in the fight against counterfeit honey products on the market.
Given the difficult economic situation in Iran in recent years, counterfeit products have surpassed quality products in many food products.
