This article series tells the stories of the 15 finalists selected in the Made in Romania 2023 program. Made in Romania is the flagship program of the Bucharest Stock Exchange dedicated to the development and promotion of the Romanian entrepreneurial environment. The program’s goal is to select and promote Romanian companies that have the greatest growth potential and high chances of becoming impactful players in the local and even regional economy. As of 2024, the Made in Romania program has been rebranded BVB Arena.

"My grandfather had 20 beehives, and we, the children, would eat the honeycombs from his apiary in the summer when he would cut a large piece for all the children in the village. It was a highly awaited and enjoyed dessert,” remembers Victor Mateș, the founder and current manager of Apidava, one of the best-known brands in Romania.

Later, the entrepreneur rediscovered the beauty of beekeeping, thanks to a colleague from the school in Blaj, where he worked as a physics teacher for 20 years. Thus, Victor Mateș started taking care of bees again as a hobby in addition to his job as a teacher.

In 1992, he founded the company Apis Prod, which later became Apidava, with only 2 employees and 50 hives for honey production. The entrepreneur started bottling honey in a garage together with another beekeeper and thus the story of today's Apidava business was born.

"Currently, our family business has a turnover of EUR 7 million, with 50 employees, and we are exporting 50% of our production, not only to Europe but also to countries such as Japan, Israel, Canada, the USA, Australia, countries where Romanian honey is appreciated. We have also consolidated our position in the market as the largest honey processor in Romania and, at the same time, one of the largest exporters of Romanian honey," says Victor Mateș, the founder of Apidava.

Company identity

Over time, the vision of the entrepreneur Victor Mateș – to offer Romanians quality beekeeping products and make Romanian products known abroad - became Apidava’s motto and creed. Through intense work and perseverance but also with caution, he slowly developed his business. When he invested in honey processing machinery, the entrepreneur entered into partnerships with other beekeepers he met at exhibitions or trade fairs to ensure that he would have a flow of raw material capable of ensuring the optimal functioning of the business. This is how Apidava expanded step by step.

"Processing honey is not complicated. The honey only needs to be sorted, analyzed, filtered, and mixed/ blended so that you always get similar batches in terms of properties and quality. Then, it is bottled in jars of different weights but also in envelopes and casseroles, to be served with tea, coffee, or simply as a natural sweet", says the entrepreneur.

In the first decade of the 2000s, the Minimax Discount network, very well known at that time and spread with stores all over the country, suddenly became insolvent and could no longer pay for the goods of over EUR 100,000 euros bought from Apidava. This important sum was never recovered, and for Apidava it was a heavy blow to the company's budget. This turning point cannot be easily forgotten. However, the entrepreneur managed to overcome it without destabilizing the company too much.

"Today, the way of approaching the market is different, and if I were to start the business today, I would put more emphasis on selling online, on thinking of a business that can scale more easily, with a diversified range of products, which includes more bee supplements, because young people are more concerned with consuming not only natural foods but also food supplement products, preferably in small doses for easy consumption. We have focused a lot on the sale of wholesale honey for export because there is a high demand, but in the long term, it adds little value to the company," explains Victor Mateș.

Secrets of success

In recent years, the company's innovation consisted both in expanding the range of products marketed under the Apidava brand, namely, the < Apidava Cosmetic Line> range, a range of cosmetic products with bee ingredients, and in the diversification of the portfolio of honey sweets: candies, jellies, drops and caramels, highly appreciated by consumers.

"During the entrepreneurship process, I had the opportunity to learn from other entrepreneurs in the field through the lens of commercial relationships that have also become interpersonal relationships. Thus, we saw how managers from similar companies outside the country, who were our customers for bulk honey and who had a turnover 3 or 4 times higher than ours, approached the market. The relationship with our partner from Japan, which has a turnover of EUR 100 million from bee products, supplements and cosmetics, has influenced us the most in growing our business. The Japanese are difficult, demanding customers, but through their quality requirements, have pushed us to grow in the last 15 years and to always improve in all stages of production," says the founder of Apidava.

Future plans​

The diversification of the product range means for Apidava different and various reinterpretations of this gift of nature—bee honey. The company's constant plan is to bring it as close as possible to the tastes and preferences of the modern consumer in various forms and combinations, which also preserve all the benefits and give pleasure to the consumer (not only gustatory but also olfactory and visual, to be cool products).

"We try to maintain quality standards for all products offered to consumers, which is also what we believe differentiates us in the market. In addition, we are investing as much as possible and sustainably in educating Romanian consumers regarding the consumption of bee products and campaigning persistently for everyone to understand the extraordinary benefits of honey consumption and replacing sugar with honey," says Victor Mateș.

What does this mean to be a “Made in Romania” brand

Romania is an atypical market for honey consumption because, first of all, it is one of the lowest in Europe. Paradoxically, while Romania is number 2 in Europe in terms of the number of bee families, honey consumption is barely 500 gr/year/capita, while the European average consumption is 1.5-2 kg per year, so 3 times higher. In Romania, honey is not considered a staple food like sugar is, for which honey is a much healthier alternative. In addition, the many other benefits that honey has are not taken into account, and many even consider it a luxury food. It is on the border between food and medicine, which makes it difficult for Apidava to position itself in the market.

"Our main export market is Japan, where we have a serious and lasting collaboration and where we intend to intensify our long-term presence by expanding our customer base. On the domestic market, we are present in all the big supermarket chains, the surest way to reach the mass of consumers, and we are going to accelerate our presence in online trade as well," adds Victor Mateș.

*The Romanian version of this article was published in the Made in Romania 2023 booklet, which gathers the stories of the 15 finalist companies selected last year in the Made in Romania program. A new edition of the program, now branded BVB Arena, started in April 2024. More details about the program are available here.