ABOUT US - Who We Are and What We Do

HIPA is an Association that was created in 2004 to provide a service to Honey Packers and Importers. The organisation had its inaugural meeting at the last Apimondia Congress in Ljubljana in 2003, and now has 26 members in 17 countries in all five continents. In many of those countries members share more than 50% of the market.

We are a truly international organisation determined to promote honey in all the markets of the world and ensure it is of the best possible quality that satisfies customer needs. We are therefore focussed on ensuring members have the best possible access to the latest marketing information, legislative proposals and the technical developments to help the growth of your company.

Peter Martin, our Chairman, has a prominent international reputation for his work in the International Honey Commission, Apimondia, the Codex Alimentarius, the European Federation of Honey Packers and Distributors and for the many consultancies he has undertaken in honey producing countries including Mexico, Brazil, Uganda, Albania and Cuba.

HIPA is determined to ensure that the honey produced by beekeepers is pure, unadulterated, free of antibiotic and other residues and compliant with the legal requirements of the country of import.

HIPA has already

• Developed a charity arm to obtain funding for beekeeper training in the countries of production, based on the importance of beekeeping for rural development, ameliorating loss of biodiversity and ensuring good crop pollination.
• Helped newly exporting countries to develop their export markets.

In the future it will

• Lobby governments to encourage infrastructure support for beekeeping, ensure national legislation complies with the Codex Alimentarius worldwide standard and enable the export industry to comply with requirements in the countries of import.
• Seek, where necessary, legislative approval for the use of veterinary medicinal products where these are necessary for successful beekeeping.
• Develop techniques and strategies to prevent the unfair and unethical marketing of adulterated or mislabelled product.