KOCHI: In a market where the number of brands selling mediocre honey (those mixed with sugar syrup) is on the rise, marketing pure honey may seem like a challenge. However, purity is what sells a product like honey. Keeping that in mind, the Kudumbashree tribal development project has decided to market the honey collected by tribals in Kuttampuzha -- a key tribal hamlet -- as a brand.
As part of branding, the product will come in a better package and be made available through outlets across the state. They intend to name the product ‘Kuttampuzha Honey’. “It is now available in the Kudumbashree Bazar in Kolenchery. Two types of honey are being sold through the outlet. One is collected directly from the forest and other natural sources and the other from bee boxes. Preliminary branding will be completed by March,” said Ponni Kannan, district programme manager (tribal), Kudumbashree.
According to her, the major difference will be in packaging. “Quality will be key while processing. The training in bottling the product is under way for the tribals,” she added.The pricing will depend on the type of honey. The one collected from natural sources will be costlier than the other honey. “A final decision on pricing and labelling will be taken soon. The branding will be a big boost to the members of the tribal community, as they will get a better and wider market for their product,” she said.
The harvest from bee boxes was completed last December, said Ponni. “The next harvest will take place in the coming months. As for the bee boxes, more than 40 families in Kuttampuzha have been provided with five bee boxes each. Nearly 500kg of honey can be extracted collectively from these boxes annually,” she said.