The beekeepers

Honey production , at best, makes you think of a small cottage industry . Often , it’s just that one beekeeper who collects honey and delivers it at your doorstep . Jagjit Singh Kapoor , though , has turned it into a global business . He started with five honeybee colonies in the 1980 s and today his Kashmir Apiaries has 50,000 of these across the country , “from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari” , as his website says . The company , based in Doraha , Ludhiana , is the largest exporter of honey from India , accounting , may be, for as much as 80 % of the country’s total honey exports . It has a presence in more than 48 countries . “I started with Rs 10,000 given by my father . Itook it as a challenge and never looked back . There were many hurdles but I wasdetermined and my family supported me in my journey ,” says Kapoor . Lastyear , the company recorded a turnover of Rs 280 crore , with a 35 % growth insales . “Starting honey collection was easy but finding abuyer wasn’t ,” says Kapoor . There was no technology and no processavailable to extract honey on a mass scale then . Indian honey was notconsidered hygienic abroad . The impression was that bee farmers were notcareful about what the bees were feeding on . Ideally , they should be feedingon seasonal flora ; which makes honey more sugary and of better quality . Indianhoney also had a lot of moisture . Kapoor set about devising his ownmethods , including designing driers to reduce the moisture content in honey .“And I travelled throughout the country with my wife (Parvinder Kaur ) toidentify flora for feeding the bees to get good quality honey .”Initially , the orders were small . In 1995 , Kapoor forayed intothe export market . It has almost been a continuous surge after that . Today ,his company competes with rivals from China and Argentina , the two major honeyexporters globally . He sells his honey under four brand names , the biggest ofwhich is Little Bee, and 140-odd private labels , and Kashmir Apiaries is saidto be among the world’s top five honey processors . Kapoor has alsoestablished an R&D centre , which comes up with technical advances andprovides skills upgrade and outreach services.Kapoor’sdaughter Ritu, who has been involved with the business since she was 14, wasconferred the ‘Honey Bee Queen ’ title at the 41st ApimondiaInternational Beekeeping Conference at Montpellier , France , in October 2009 .After several rounds of questions and interviews by a panel of judges , sheofficially became the brand ambassador of Apimondia , an internationalfederation of beekeepers , with 63 member countries that meet once in two yearsto promote beekeeping . Ritu, now 24, is modernizing the business .Competition is coming from big brands like Dabur and Himalaya Drug Company .“My team is restructuring the company’s operations and implementingERP,” she says . More recently , the company launched under the Little Beebrand a range of products , including honey tea , ginger honey , fruit drinksand concentrates , jams , pickles , potato chips , potato stix , toppings ,tomato ketchup , syrups , artificial flavourings , spreads , and pizza , pastaand garlic sauces . All of these are said to have honey as an ingredient , whichmake them unique offerings , and conveys the impression of being healthyofferings , given honey’s nutritious qualities . Several otherinnovations are in the offing . The family has just opened a retail outlet inLudhiana to sell honey and honey-based products and the plan is to take itacross the country . Kapoor’s son Shahzada is in charge of a subsidiarycompany that will soon launch a range of honey-based cosmetics and toiletries .The company is working on a project to make ‘green’ candles .These are candles made from bee-wax , a by-product for beekeepers . “Thesecandles do not leave black smoke when lit, like the synthetic wax candles .These are totally environment friendly . Bee-wax candles are used in Europeduring Christmas in churches and they produce a pleasant smell ,” saysShahzada .