The Agricultural Products and Local Honey Exhibition brought together local and international produce to the public with honey coming from Greece, Yemen, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, and Jordan, among others.
Honey enthusiasts have a huge selection ranging from natural honey, acacia honey, white honey, medicinal honey, and honeycomb among others. Different packages can also be seen from plastic to glass, but two exhibitors stand out among the rest wherein the honey is packed in a wooden honeypot, and the honey is placed in a beehive-like package.
The Peninsula talked to 13 exhibitors of honey namely Bi Capri, Al Ashab-Almtamyza, Al Ali Honey Bees, Apiaries Honey Bee, Deena Bnin Mart, Al Ruwais, Rohan, Ibn Mushayqih Dates and Honey, Al Attiya Farms, Raydam, Al Jintin Land, Sabeb Honey, and Atyab For Haney Trading and Health Food Co.
The honey prices range from as low as QR30 and can go as high as QR700 based on weight.
Different brands of honey are displayed at Agricultural Products and Local Honey Exhibition. Pic: Joelyn Baluyut/The Peninsula
Bi Capri exhibitor said its honey products came from the mountainous terrain of Crete, Greece. Its Meligyris Cretan honey produces eight varieties including woodland honey, oak and chestnut; Greek mountain lavender; Greek pine thyme honey; Greek mountain honey wild thyme; Greek wildwood honey organic wild thyme; Greek honey, Cretan mountain tea malotira; Greek wildwood honey, health; and Greek honey mountain malotira.
Most of the exhibitors’ honey came mostly from Oman and Yemen. Among the common products are Sidr honey, Zuhoor honey, Sumur honey or the Black honey which are mostly used for medicinal purposes. Mohammad Ali Abrubahim, owner of the Al Ashab-Almtamyza told The Peninsula that the black and white honey may help lower one’s blood pressure and can also soothe a sore throat and cough.
Exhibitor Zakaria Mohammad from Al Ali Honey Bees said that their honey is unique as it comes from the mountains of Oman. “We have Sidr, Acacia and pure honey for QR300 per kilo. We have been exhibiting for three years now and we’re getting a lot of customers, but we are expecting that the number will be doubled or tripled come Thursday and the weekend,” he explained.
Meanwhile, for Hazel Serrano, a fourth time exhibitor from Deema Bnin Mart, they are offering an exceptional honey experience wherein they call their product as “VIP Honey.” “Our honey is distinctive from the packaging to the honey itself which comes from the mountains of Dhofar in Oman. If there is a VIP person, there is also a VIP honey made.” Its prices range from QR200 to QR700 depending on kilo.
Ibn Mushayqih Dates and Honey owner Jabed who’s been participating in the exhibit for four years in a row has seen a huge change from pre-pandemic to pandemic situations. He also has a local shop located in Souq Waqif itself. “In 2019, our sales reached QR75,000; for two days now, our sales is only QR3,000 but we are expecting that we can reach at least QR35,000 until the end of the exhibit.”
Some exhibitors also combined the honey and agriculture products into one stall like the Al Attiya Farms booth. Issam from the shop said they are selling local honey from Doha, “this is all natural, with no sugar. We have as well beans, capsicum, zucchini, cucumber to name a few of the vegetables being offered. We’re having good sales for at least QR500 a day knowing this is our first time to be participating here.”
Meanwhile, one agricultural product exhibitor is offering a natural sugarcane juice for QR5. It is extracted from the pressed sugarcane directly from their machine which offers the public a special drink experience while visiting and shopping around the stalls.
The public can also enjoy gelato ice cream, waffles, crepes, sundaes, shakes, coffee and cakes from Gelato Divino located at the middle of the exhibition. A dedicated sitting area is also placed in the vicinity. On to the right side of the exhibit upon entering is a small Greenhouse where the public can also enter. They can see a variety of vegetables and fruits inside.
Joren Villa, a Filipino expatriate who recently visited the exhibit told The Peninsula that it is “exceptional.” “The exhibit is strategically located in Souq Waqif where anyone can easily visit by using the Metro, a wide variety of honey, vegetables and fruits can likewise be seen and purchased. The event is a thumbs up and will definitely go back on the weekend where I can have more time to visit the stalls and experience the Greenhouse.”
70 exhibitors participated in this year’s edition where 40 came from the agricultural sector, while 30 from the honey industry - 15 each from local and international distributors. It is open from 9am to 9pm on Saturday to Wednesday, while 9am to 10pm on Thursday and Friday.
