Terengganu's Pelekat Aims to Export Kelulut Honey to Middle East Next Year

KUALA TERENGGANU, Feb 20 (Bernama) -- The Terengganu Kelulut Beekeepers Association (Pelekat) aims to export kelulut (stringless bee) honey to Middle Eastern countries, as well as China, Singapore and Brunei, beginning next year. Its patron, Mohd Zulkifli Abu Bakar, who is also City Mayor, said this was due to the rising demand for kelulut honey from those countries. However, he said kelulut beekeepers in Terengganu, a state in Malaysia's east coast, were only capable of producing 500kg of honey with sales of RM200,000 (about US$44,000) monthly or 6,000kg with sales of RM2.4 million (about US$538,000) annually. "Right now, we have 120 members, but we want to increase the number to 1,500 so that we can increase our honey production for export," he said this to reporters after attending the association's first annual general meeting, which was also attended by its chairman Dr Nor Riah Mahmood, here Saturday. The association was established two months ago with the objective to enable kelulut beekepers in the state move forward together in a bid to achieve the target next year, besides standardising the price of kelulut honey and other kelulut honey-based products. -- BERNAMA