Turkey is one of the major players in the global mead market. After China, it is the second supplier of honey in the world. Its production amounts to 115,000 tons per year and accounts for 25% of Chinese production. The top five leading honey producers include – in addition to China and Turkey – Ethiopia, Iran and India.

In Turkey there are about 100,000 beekeepers with about nine million hives. According to the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture, about 500 companies are currently active in beekeeping, with an annual turnover of about €270 million. Turkey is an important supplier of honey to Germany. After the USA, Germany is the second largest importer of Turkish honey in terms of quantity. Germany is the second largest importer of Turkish honey.

However, the beekeeping sector in Turkey is facing an unprecedented crisis. More and more adulterated honey is being produced in the country, forcing Turkish law enforcement authorities to take action. In recent months, several tons of adulterated honey have been seized in numerous police raids.

Ankara: Adulterated honey production center

During a raid in Ankara last September, 8,150 tons of glucose, fructose and sugar, as well as 100,000 labels of various honey brands were seized. However, the actual extent of adulterated honey production in Turkey remains unknown.

Usually adulterated honey is mixed with syrup sugar. If a product contains artificial flavors, coloring, sweeteners, glucose, corn syrup or artificial honeycomb, it may not be sold as honey. When this happens, it is considered adulterated. In the last quarter of 2024, the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture published lists, in which 43 producers of adulterated honey in Turkey are mentioned. Ankara is considered a center of adulterated honey production in the country.

Ziya Sahin, president of the Central Association of Turkish Beekeepers (TAB), believes the Agriculture Ministry is responsible for the situation and is calling for more inspections and higher penalties: “The problem is the lack of regulations. Our beekeepers are angry and ask why we are not taking measures. But we have no power of control. I am not even allowed to ask on the street whether a honey is genuine or not,” Ziya Sahin told DW.

The French have confiscated tons of honey with Viagra

Adulterated honey is not an exclusively Turkish problem, the president of the Turkish Beekeepers’ Association added: “Like in other parts of the world, there is adulterated honey in Turkey. We cannot deny it. But we don’t want Turkey to be known as the paradise of adulterated honey.”

One of the main reasons for the increased honey adulteration in Turkey is probably the ongoing economic crisis. Adulterated honey costs just a fifth of genuine honey. In particular, while adulterated honey costs about 1.60 euros per kilo, the price of genuine honey reaches 8 euros.

According to experts, customs controls in Turkey are not sufficient to detect counterfeit honey. It is therefore not excluded that adulterated honey has been exported to foreign countries. There are indications that the adulterated honey has reached European countries. In January 2024, French authorities seized 13 tonnes of honey enriched with Viagra, also known as “erectile honey”. According to official reports, the honey came from illegal supply chains from Turkey, Tunisia and Thailand.

Figures from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) show how serious the problem is. The European authority had already detected massive irregularities in honey imports into the EU as early as 2023. Almost half (46%) of the samples tested were adulterated. In the case of Turkish honey, 14 out of 15 samples were adulterated.