Carlos Guillermo Aguirre Aguilar, president of the Yucatan Gastronomic Federation, stated that in his recent tour of several European countries to promote local gastronomy, a channel was opened to begin the export of honey to Portugal, directly from producers to buyers to put an end to the “mafia of intermediaries”, which now export to Germany.
In recent weeks, Aguirre toured several European countries to promote local gastronomy, which among other achievements was that at least 10 people who want to study gastronomy in the Portuguese country would receive scholarships.
The restaurant leader reported that another of the achievements obtained in Portugal was opening a window for that country to directly buy honey from local producers, where the embassy of that country in Mexico would be involved and vice versa.
He recalled that for many years the export of honey has occurred through intermediaries, that is, local businessmen buy the sweet from the producer by “cutting off” the prices since they are the ones who regulate the costs per kilogram of honey.
With this system, those who obtain the greatest profits are the exporters, while the producers do not get out of their bad economic situation.
Now, it is about bringing together local producers to form a cooperative managed by themselves, and then through the embassies attracting buyers from Portugal so that the operation can be carried out directly.
Aguirre said he is aware that this project may take a while because it is not easy to bring together local producers, and the good quality of the candy must be certified through laboratory tests, but anything is possible when you have the will and they are organized in an orderly manner, since in the end it is the producers themselves who will benefit from exporting directly.
During his visit to Portugal, Aguirre was told that that country is a good consumer of honey and they said they were interested in purchasing the product from this region because they consider it to be of quality.
The first step has already been taken, then they will be in charge of carrying out a census to find out how many producers there are in the region, and the quantity they produce, to have an idea of the volumes they could export when the time comes.
In a statement, Aguirre Aguilar said that the Yucatan Gastronomic Federation will open honey export channels to Portugal, to promote the growth of beekeeping activity on which many families in the rural area of Yucatan depend.
Within the framework of Bee Day, the restaurant leader called to value the importance of this pollinator for humanity, to take care of it and preserve it, since they are currently threatened by deforestation, burning, and climate change.
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