Dalmatian honey ‘limited edition’

SPLIT, 14 October 2021 – Dalmatian honey has received a national protected designation of origin. Sage, thorn, heather, heather and mandarin honey, flower and deciduous honey, and maklen honey, which are produced in the Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties in Croatia are now protected.

“We all know what Dalmatian honey is. It is quality honey. All Croatian honeys are of good quality, but Dalmatian honey is two steps ahead of other honeys,” says the president of the Association of Dalmatian Beekeepers, Ivan Mravak told HRT.

It has been a five-year procedure to gain the protection status, but beekeepers say that it has paid off. With the protected mark of origin of honey, the market value grows and beekeepers will be able to sell it more easily – although there have been no problems so far, and buyers will know what they are buying.

“Flora found in Dalmatia, a variety of honey plants. Everything that is medicinal in the plant is in the nectar so it is associated with that. The demand for our honey is not good but – very good,” says Dragan Plavčić from the beekeeping association “Pčela”.

At the national level, Zadar, Šibenik, Split and Dubrovnik counties have protected eight types of honey. They never had any problems with selling honey, says Zlatko Elveđi from the association of beekeepers “Dalmatina” – everything they would extract would be sold. Based on the certificate and stamps, they can increase the price of their product, he adds.

“We cannot dictate to anyone at what price honey will be offered on the market, but whoever feels the need to accept the certificate and conditions, surely the price will be a little higher. We have some specificity in that honey. But in order to prove that, we have to certify it,” notes Darko Dominiković from the beekeeping association “Kadulja”.

More expensive, controlled production

“You can see for yourself that lately there is a lot of imported honey, a lot of fakes. There is everything, the least of all real honey. The department that tracks us will take samples and everything else. Every honey has its own specifics and parameters and not every honey is the same,” emphasises Ivan Mravak.

After that, there is a control of laboratory reports, to determine whether the quality of the product is really the one that is determined by the specification. And this is a procedure that will be applied throughout the entire production season, added Ana Marušić Lisac from the Biotechnicon Entrepreneurship Center in Split.

‘Limited edition’

“Since we are talking about a product that is a limited edition, in a limited quantity, it is necessary to be able to tell the story, and in order to be able to tell it well, marketing funds are needed and thank God we have a measure in the Rural Development Program. Measure 3.2 to assist in the marketing, communication and promotion of protected products. “

Demand for traditional high quality products is not waning, both on the domestic and European markets and beekeepers are convinced that Dalmatian honey will soon win them all over.