RIYADH: Dozens of farmers and beekeepers participated in the Taif Roses, Coffee, and Honey Festival, organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, and displayed their products to visitors.
The festival, which was concluded on Thursday in Riyadh, welcomed farmers from across the Kingdom presenting their products to customers, most of whom are families. It is one of the biggest festivals the ministry has organized, with more than 90 farmers and producers participating.
The minister, Abdul Rahman Al-Fadhli, visited the festival on the opening day and spoke to many of the farmers and beekeepers.
Nora Al-Shawi, owner of Al-Shawi Apiaries, had sidr, acacia, tamarix, capparis, citrus and flower honey on show, as well as other products.
She said: “We offer many transformative products from bees, such as body scrubs, burn creams, creamy tincture and Moroccan Amlou, a delicious spread made with honey and argan oil.
“The hardest thing for us beekeepers is convincing the customer of our credibility and the lack of a permit from the Food and Drug Authority on our products. There is also the intense competition from imported honey in markets and stores, and its cheapness compared to local honey.”
Al-Shawi, who has been working in the sector for five years, explained that women are bigger customers and focus on transformative and cosmetic products in general, such as body scrubs, hair scrubs, tints and lip scrubs. Men tend to focus on “less sweet” honey, especially acacia and sidr honey.
She said the festival provided her with moral and material support, as well as marketing by social media celebrities.
Munifa Ali, who brought her two daughters to the festival, was impressed by the acacia honey.
“I had a great time in the coffee section, I enjoyed the taste of Khawlani coffee, and I almost bought a coffee tree from one of the booths,” she said.
Her daughter Maryam was keen to take as many photos as possible with her phone camera.
Ali participated in a quick competition about honey and bees with her two daughters.
“When we passed by one of the Taif flower vendors, he spread pink roses over our heads,” Ali said.
