WITH THE objective of supporting and promoting the production of honey in the region, the Centro de Apoio Técnico à Indústria do Mel (CATIM), a technical support centre for the honey industry, based in Cachopo, has announced it will be inaugurating a beekeeping centre in Tavira next month.
The association aims to open a centre that will unite both producers and consumers, by selling honey to the general public, while, at the same time, motivate and assist beekeepers with their production activities. Arménio Pereira, president of CATIM, comments: “The honey on sale will be exclusively supplied by certificated associates, who guarantee production quality, namely with regard to bottling, packaging and labelling.”
The association aims to encourage other honey producers to follow the example set by its members and to bring them together in order to assure a steady rate of production. This measure is being taken to support small producers who often come up against many obstacles when they try to place their products for sale in larger supermarkets, beginning with the labelling of jars, which often does not correspond to market requirements.
Despite planning the inauguration of the Tavira branch, CATIM will maintain its unit in Cachopo, where it hopes to open a melaria (honey factory) at the beginning of 2007. The objective is for beekeepers to share an area where there will be quality facilities to extract the honey and place it in jars, as well as special conditions for storage. The construction of the Melaria Central was approved by Tavira Câmara two weeks ago.
Soon, CATIM will be launching a book about the honey industry and will also be constructing a specialist beekeeping website, expected to be the biggest national site devoted to this area.
