Honey-queen 2016 – ambassador of Hungarian honey

If you perform a quick list of your recently consumed meals, then honey might appear on the list. 

Honey consumption was evident in the past, unfortunately, we have forgotten about this simple but great source of nutrients. In line with this fact, in some local and national beekeeping associations, it is a common habit to select a Honey-Queen to introduce the various useful effects of beekeeping and to promote honey consumption.

Greta Rozmann, a young professional was elected as the Hungarian Honey-Queen in 2016.

“Coming from a beekeeping family, I understood the beneficial effects of honey already in my childhood. As Hungarian beekeepers face several challenges recently, it is indispensable to popularize the consumption of local, safe and healthy honey, promoting also the short supply chains. In line with this, in my BSc thesis, I analyzed the current situation of the Hungarian honey market, as well as the characteristics of the consumers' habits. Currently, as an MSc student, I strongly believe that effective marketing communication strategies are essential also in the honey-market.

Finally, in August 2016 the day came when I could really do something for the Hungarian beekeeper society and I could put my experiences into practice: I was elected as the ambassador of Hungarian honey, to represent the society of Hungarian beekeepers for a whole year.

Activity of the Honey-Queen

My mission was to promote the traditional products and to encourage the consumers preferring the good quality local honey. It is important to raise awareness about the positive effects of frequent honey consumption and to show the many ways we can use it in a healthy and balanced diet. In addition to the traditional products, it is also important to introduce those not widely known novel innovative products that are not in public awareness yet.

As a Honey-Queen, I utilized both the classic (TV and radio appearances, newspapers, etc.) and the social media channels to spread the word about this important topic. Beyond far-reaching communication, personal presence was also a key point of my activities during this year. After my election, I participated in several events (honey festivals and fairs, gastronomic events, etc.) in more than 20 cities in Hungary and in neighboring countries. During my mandate, I presented many times about possible marketing strategies and the unfortunately unexploited opportunities in this field.

Initiative of “Honey breakfast”

Honey breakfast program originally started in Slovenia some years ago. In 2014, Hungary also joined this initiative.

In Hungary, the honey breakfast program is organized and sponsored by the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and the National Hungarian Beekeeping Association. The main goal of this initiative is also to introduce the versatile importance of bees in environmental protection and in the diversity of the biological environment, as well as to promote the healthy nutrition and the local products. Last, but not least these events have an exceptional importance in the education of health consciousness in early childhood because the relationship between breakfast skipping and lower school performance is a well-known problem.

In Hungarian context, this year the honey breakfast related programs were organized in Kiskunhalas, where the events were followed by 16 national and 3 local media companies. Within this program, more than ninety thousand children in 486 institutions got a breakfast from local products. Besides the visits to several schools, I contributed to this program also by preparing a campaign video.

Looking back this year, as the Hungarian Honey-Queen, I tried to close every single day with an action to promote local honey by personal or online activities. Supported by social media, my activity reached tens of thousands.

Honey consumption had a positive impact in past years and I think that should be restored. "I hope that I could contribute to this, but there is still a lot to do.”

Picture credit: Greta Rozmann