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Meads from Lublin go out into the world. The apiculture cooperative APIS expands its offer to Portugal

Thanks to the support of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency’s office in Lisbon, the Polish producer of mead starts selling its products in Portugal. As part of the cooperation, the local distributor's offer already includes various types of Polish liquor, including: Traditional Old Polish, Spicy, Raging Bee or honey with an Ecological Certificate.
  • The APIS apiculture cooperative in Lublin is a Polish company associating honey producers and a leader in this industry. The company's offer includes several types of mead and bee mead.
  • The company extends its offer to the Portuguese market. Thanks to the support of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH), a beekeeping cooperative from Lublin started commercial cooperation with a local alcohol distributor.
  • As a result of activities undertaken, inter alia, by APIS, the European Commission has registered meads as a traditional Polish high-quality product, produced according to an old Polish recipe.

Meads from Lublin


Mead is a traditional Polish product with a long history. The continuator of the mead-making tradition in Poland since its inception in 1932 is the APIS Apiculture Cooperative with its seat in Lublin - the largest producer of mead in Poland. From the very beginning, the company focuses on development and expansion. The beverages are distributed in. among others, the USA, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Japan, China, Canada and Australia. Now, thanks to PAIH's support, APIS products can also be found in stores in Portugal.

Portugal is a very demanding and competitive market in the alcoholic beverages segment - it offers a wide range of various domestic beverages. At the same time, this market is very promising: the Portuguese drink the most wine in the world, on an annual basis (over 62 liters per capita in 2019), various types of liqueurs and liqueurs are also very popular. Polish meads may therefore be positively received on this market and begin to be perceived in the minds of the Portuguese as a traditional Polish product. That is why it is so important that Polish producers have reliable, committed business partners on the Portuguese side, developing simultaneously sales and marketing activities popularizing Polish mead in the country - says Dariusz Duda, head of the PAIH office in Lisbon.

Tradition and modernity

APIS meads are appreciated both in Poland and on foreign markets thanks to the consistently cultivated technological tradition, compliance with recipes and the production regime. APIS offer includes several types of beverages. All the types of mead are produced without the addition of artificial colours and preservatives. APIS emphasizes that the quality of products is of paramount importance for the cooperative - hence the continuous improvement of production standards, using a specialized control and research laboratory.

The company introduces new products to its offer - a line of craft meads and a line of fruit meads.

We are glad that the unique character of Polish meads and their exceptional taste have been noticed and appreciated on the demanding Portuguese market. The presence of APIS mead in Portugal is the result of the active support of PAIH’s office in Lisbon under the leadership of Mr. Dariusz Duda, aimed at associating business partners from Poland and Portugal, as well as support and involvement in the coordination process at every stage of the cooperation project. The introduction of APIS mead to the Portuguese market proves that the cooperation of Polish companies with PAIH can be very effective in the area of internationalization of Polish products - says Renata Janik, Manager of the APIS Export Department.

The APIS apiculture cooperative in Lublin is the only producer in Poland that has successfully passed the control of compliance of the production process of the "Trzyniak" type mead with the specification. As a result the, "Traditional Old Polish" received the mark "Traditional Specialty Guaranteed".

The Polish Investment and Trade Agency supports Polish companies in finding trade partners all over the world. The PAIH office in Lisbon invites all companies interested in expanding on to the Portuguese market to contact us.

About the Polish Investment and Trade Agency

The Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) is an advisory institution operating in cooperation with the Polish Development Fund Group (PFR) under the leadership of the Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology. PAIH is the first point of contact for exporters and investors. It operates both in Poland and through a network of offices around the world. It strengthens the recognition of Polish brands on international markets, promotes domestic products and services as well as technological solutions made in Poland. The agency helps entrepreneurs choose the optimal expansion path abroad. It also supports the inflow of direct foreign investments to Poland and the implementation of Polish investments in the country. PAIH cooperates with the public sector and regional partners, offering, among other things: training, audit and promotion of investment properties, cooperation in the organization of business missions and communication support in the implementation of joint projects.