It was a big boost for the local honey industry as Ghanaian-owned total beverage company Kasapreko unveiled the country’s first honey drink, Royal Honey Bee unto the market last Friday.

The company which is partnering with the Ghana Beekeepers Association is investing about $7 million into the project as the company will solely depend on locally-produced honey from farmers to produce the new drink.

“We have decided to tap into the business of honey bee. After discussions and deliberations, we have partnered with the Ghana Beekeepers Association to produce Ghana’s first honey drink called “Royal Honey Bee”, a carbonated soft drink that is the industry’s first soft drink,” Managing Director of Kasapreko Richard Adjei said the unveiling event at the company’s head office.

“We are investing an amount of $7 million into this project and we have acquired new equipment for this because we believe this has a huge potential to uplift the honey bee industry in this country,” Mr Adjei added.

The Kasapreko boss was of the view that this project will help revamp the ailing bee and honey industry and also create more economic jobs in the country. “We at Kasapreko believe that the Ghanaian economy should be built and run by indigenes in order to create more jobs and empower better livelihoods.”

Despite the introduction of soft drinks business in just two years, Mrs Eunice Bonsu, Director of Water and Carbonated Soft Drinks at Kasapreko indicated that the company’s wide range of soft drinks and water are the fastest growing in the country.

Mr. Patrick Addo Newman of the Ghana Beekeepers Association commended Kasapreko for support the local honey industry and indicated that the association is ready to meet the production demand for the honey indicating they will engage about 2,000 persons at each of their district offices.