Related Articles
RICHARD DRASIMAKU
ARUA: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025
The Arua East-West Bee Products enterprises has scoped a coveted best exhibitor’s award during the 14th annual honey week.
Vicky Eyokia, the proprietor of the enterprise noted that the national recognition is positive gesture from top bras in the honey industry and confidence builder for the public in the products of the Arua East-West Bee Products Enterprise.
The judges comprising high ranking officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) ministry of Trade and the National Agricultural Research Organisation considered product branding, packaging and display.
This was during the 2025 Honey week where over 50 entrepreneurs and players in the apiary sector exhibited their products at Akamwesi Mall in Kampala under the auspices of the Uganda National Apiculture Development Organization (TUNADO).
Arua East-West Bee Enterprise is a fast rising cottage industry that was born out of the Arua market women Association, honey processing enterprise.
Eyokia said some of the eye-catching products displayed were crystalized honey, processed honey, raw honey, bee wax, propolis, honey wine and nature friendly products such as Shea butter oil and jelly, simsim, groundnuts, pumpkin and pumpkin seeds.
Among the dignitaries awestruck by the products was Joshua Mutambi, the commissioner for marketing and processing from the ministry of Trade and Commerce.
He lauded the Arua East-West Bee Products Enterprises for the innovative packaging and branding, advising the proprietor to continue with the job well-done.
Spurred by the new developments, Eyokia said her focus is now fixed on expanding the production and storage capacity of the processing plant to meet the growing demand for quality honey and related products.
One of the major challenges of the honey industry in West Nile sub-region has been adulteration of products by vendors adding water and sugar as they try to increase quantity in search of quick cash.
Arua East-West Bee Products Enterprise operating under the slogan “eat honey daily to boost your immunity,” is one of the few processors fixing that anomaly by churning out high quality honey that is expertly processed to meet international standards.
So far the products have been sold to Turkey, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Kenya and South Sudan.
The processing plant has four apiary farmers in Terego district, three in Adumi in Arua City, one in Vurra, one farmer in Maracha and two farmers in Yumbe district.
The farms are also used as honey collection points in the respective areas where farmers with smaller numbers of hives bring their harvest for sale.
Since the beginning of the year, the facility has churned out about two tons of honey.
A liter of processed honey is sold at sh20,000, meaning the honey supplied so far this year is about sh40m.
Meanwhile 500 kilos of comb honey has also been packaged and sold at prices ranging from sh10,000 to sh15,000 depending on availability.
Eyokia has opened a shop in Kawempe, a Kampala suburb where the products are mainly sold.
She plans to acquire a 1000 liter storage tank to address the storage challenge so that the company can buy bigger quantity of honey from farmers and increase output.
She has acquired two machines for collecting bee venom, a medicinal product with high market value.
The machines have not been deployed but their arrival means that soon the Arua East-West bee products enterprise could be opening another important product line soon.
In the meantime, Eyokia is preparing for another marketing foray in Nairobi expected to take place in November 2025 where small and medium entrepreneurs would gather from across the East African Community i.e. Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
