Thai honey promoted on world stage

BANGKOK, August 8 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, is promoting high-quality Thai honey on the world market. The ministry, in collaboration with local honey producers, is organizing the “Thai Honey to World Kitchen Festival” at Bangkok's upscaled Siam Paragon shopping complex from August 6-12, as part of its policy on expanding sales of high-quality Thai honey to overseas markets, with its inauguration ceremony presided over by Minister Attached to the Prime Minister Office and Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Warathep Rattanakorn. The one-week event includes exhibitions displaying various types of honey produced in Thailand and shops selling leading brands of Thai honey products. Thailand has been ranked the world's 32nd largest honey exporting country and the 2nd in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), after Vietnam, with locally-produced honey from 40 provinces nationwide reaching 11,000 tonnes annually thanks to high market demand for the unique taste and scent Thai honey. The minister acknowledged that demand for Thai honey has been on the rise among foreigners, seen by the increasing volume of Thai honey exports annually. In 2012, Thailand exported nearly 9,000 tonnes of honey, totally worth 577 million baht, with Germany, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia being major markets for Thai honey exports. According to the minister, the ongoing “Thai Honey to World Kitchen Festival” is aimed to publicize and promote the high quality and varieties of Thai honey, both domestically and internationally, paving the way for Thai honey to go to the world’s kitchen in the future. (TNA)