Beginnings of the cooperative movement and establishment of the cooperative

The establishment of the Cooperative coincided with a the most difficult period in the national economy since Poland regained its independence in 1918.

Poverty and backwardness were then rather common phenomena which also extended over beekeeping. Stressing the latter is not without a reason, since the idea and practice of the cooperative movement was born among impoverished British weavers in Rotchdale back in 1842. Driven to desperation by poverty, these people decided to act together in a form that came to be known as a cooperative.

The widespread popularity of the cooperative movement left an imprint on the economies of many European countries.

After 1920 various associations of beekeepers followed the organisational pattern developed in the 19th c. and aimed to undertake various initiatives to facilitate the sales of honey. The first attempts at establishing a cooperative by beekeepers date back to 1925, but these mainly focused on persuading activists from the Voivodship Association of Agricultural Unions and the Chamber of Agriculture in Lublin to take action. On 18 May 1932 the beekeepers gathered and 15 founding fathers established the Association of Beekeepers. Article 3 of the adopted statute defined the aim of the cooperative as follows: "to improve the wellbeing of its members, to raise the standard of apiaries, and to participate in the cultural development." The cultural aspect of co-op operations was deemed particularly important. "The cooperative movement shall morally and financially support cultural and educational initiatives undertaken by the community."

History of the Cooperative

1932-1939

The 1930s saw a rise in the membership of the cooperative who encouraged beekeepers to join the organisation at honey collection points while settling the account for the product purchased. The initial number of 30 members grew to 245 in 1938 and to 357 a year later.

Although the turnover in 1939 was at 450 thousand złoty, the establishment' s operations were still based on simple manual work. Standardisation of honey or uniformity of physical and chemical properties was basically unknown. Honey was sold mainly in Warsaw and in Łódź. The cooperative sold a minor part of its products through its own retail outlets in Lublin (three co-op stores), Warsaw (two such stores), and Łódź (only one retail outlet). This distribution system remain unchanged for many years with the addition of Katowice at a later stage.

One of the aims of the founders of the Cooperative was to develop a honey-based beverage producing facility and the production of meads on an international scale. This policy was successfully executed during the pre-war years, which is evidenced in the awards received at international trade fairs and congresses including Belgrade (1934), San Antonio (1936), and Chicago (1938).

The period of independent business activity came to an end with the outbreak of the Second World War. The chairman, along with some staff members, were enlisted, and the task of protecting the Cooperative's property was vested with the few who remained. Given the circumstances of the war and lack of technical skills, the warehouse stock including honey, sugar and meads all but disappeared.

1939-1944

During the war the composition of the Cooperative's Management Board was radically changed, and on 26 June 1942 the new Board resolved to change the name of the cooperative into Apis - Trading and Processing Cooperative.

The Nazis imposed an irrational quota system under which 5 kg of honey was to be produced from a beehive. This was subsequently reduced to 2 kg of honey which was bartered with the same amount of sugar.

Under the decree of the appointed administrator, the Cooperative liquidated its own stores in Warsaw.

In the years 1941-1942 the Cooperative invested in a new processing facility in the centre of Lublin at Staszica 5. This was the biggest facility of this kind in Central and Eastern Europe.

1944-1949

The front, which in 1944 moved across the Lublin Region, brought about a heavy loss of life and property of the Cooperative, far larger than the warfare of 1939.

Soon after efforts were made to rebuild the production facility and its personnel. In 1945 the cooperative branched out to include the establishment in ul. Floriańska in Cracow.

Parallel attempts were made to return to the original name of the Cooperative, i.e. the Association of Beekeepers. On 25 February 1946, under the court's ruling, the name Apis Trading and Processing cooperative was dropped.

Under the growing pressure of centralisation, in 1950 the Association of Beekeepers in Lublin was deleted from the court register following the merger with two cooperatives: Fruit and Vegetable Lublin-Motycz and Fruit and Vegetable Sales from Lubartów. The former cooperative became the dominant entity. When the government passed a decree to nationalise dairy, savings and credit bank, and horticulture and apiculture cooperatives, their limited economic autonomy was suspended for almost 8 years.

Cooperatives were revived in 1957, although their economic autonomy was largely curbed.

1957-1966

The idea to revive the cooperative movement came with the political upheaval of 1956, the return of Władysław Gomółka to power, and the Convention of Representatives of Central Cooperative Organisations. The resolution of the Council of Ministers of 25 March 1957 enabled cooperatives to be re-established. In May 1957 the Cooperative in Lublin became operative under a new name - the District Apiculture Cooperative in Lublin.

The first measures undertaken indicated a new approach to the functioning of cooperatives in Poland.

The newly revived cooperatives were legally bound to adopt the name of District Apiculture Cooperative imposed by the central government. Three such entities were established in Lublin, Cracow, and Poznań. Production facilities and scope of activity were also determined centrally. The Białystok, Lublin, Olsztyn, and Warsaw Voivodships fell under the administration of the Cooperative in Lublin, which in turn was subjected to audits performed by authorities responsible for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. As time went by, the management of cooperatives became largely incapacitated with major decisions passed by central bodies of authority. These decisions concerned investment projects, allocation of financial resources, amount of contribution from the budgetary surplus to the horticulture development fund, volume of sales and import of honey let alone the appointment of key figures in the cooperative management bodies.

After 2-3 years of its operations, the Cooperative saw an opportunity to build its own modern processing plant. Construction began in April 1963 with the fixing of the foundation plaque.

Honey was the main commodity which determined the size of the enterprise and its economic standing. The value of the remaining honey-related products was marginal. A large part of the enterprise's turnover was generated by exporting honey. In the years 1961-1963 export activity accounted for 26-40%; in the years 1964-1966 it totalled 12-18%. This result reflected good reputation and qualifications of the people associated with the Horticultural Cooperatives Authorities (CSO) which coordinated export activities of the Cooperative from its revival. Honey was mainly exported to Germany, Austria, Finland, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland. In terms of the volume of export, the German market ranked first, since the consumption of honey per capita was higher than in the other European countries and averaged 1.5kg/year. A similar consumption index was reported only in Holland and in Sweden while in the other countries, including Poland, it was considerably lower. This tendency seems to hold at the beginning of the 21st century.

1967-1974

The breakthrough in the history of the Cooperative came in 1967 when the Cooperative was moved to the new premises. The years 1967-1974 say the implementation of modern honey products processing technologies, major changes in the methods of penetrating the production base, and technological progress made in beekeeping, organisation of honey collection points through transport, processing, trade, and promotion to sponsoring scientific research and gaining international reputation. With the large-scale administrative reform which swept through the country in 1975, the Cooperative along with all administrative and economic structures of the state went through a shock therapy.

The site of the said investment was located in ul. Diamentowa in the Lublin district of Wrotków, now the seat of APIS Apiculture Cooperative. The area of the plot is 3 hectares of which 1400 m2 is the floor area of the production hall comprising:

• natural honey technological line  
• mead bottling line
• honeycomb production line
• raw material storage room
• finished products storage room
• mead maturing room
• fermentation room
• laboratory

At the turn of the 1990s the Cooperative decided to increase the production of meads by developing a new production facility with a floor area exceeding 3000 m2. Thus, the production capacity increased from 400 thousand to 700 thousand litres p.a.

At the core of the Cooperative's good financial standing lay an effective raw material purchasing system. At that time the honey market was dominated by coops with major distribution centres in Warsaw, Lublin, and Katowice. National retail trade was more dominant than selling via coop's own retail outlets.

In September 1967 a new production department was opened. In fact, the Cooperative returned to its flagship product before 1945, i.e. meads. Following initial failed attempts and comprehensive training of the personnel, production of meads got off the ground two years later. At the end of 1969 Bernardyński and Piastowski meads were produced on a regular basis, and extended maturity period increased their quality considerably.

In 1974 the company staked their resources on the production of miodovit beverages, a mixture of natural honey and fruit syrup made from black or red currants, cherries or strawberries in the proportion of 50/50. With the addition of vitamin C, miodovit beverages gained additional appeal to customers.

About 50% of the total volume of meads sold was exported to East and West Germany and Czechoslovakia.

In Poland meads and miodovit beverages were distributed to foodstuffs retailers and cooperatives, members of Samopomoc Chłopska and Społem. The majority of products were sold in Warsaw, Łódź, Katowice and Lublin. Retail outlets owned by the cooperatives sold relatively few products.

The Cooperative was also active in the area of developing apiculture, most notably in educating and training beekeepers. APIS also cooperated with the Department of Apiculture in the Puławy-based Institute of Horticulture in determining physical and chemical properties of the honey purchased in order to develop the first national norm for natural honey (which was subsequently revised). Thanks to this cooperation scheme a new technology for the decrystallising of honey without the application of a heating chamber was developed.

The Management of the Cooperative always stressed the importance of field organisational work of beekeeping associations providing financial support to those who could not finance their statutory activity themselves. The Cooperative also subsidised the open-air museum in Swarzędz, which in time became an important ethnographic centre on the European scale.

In order to promote apiculture in public, the old tradition of honey harvest was revived. The ceremony was held for the first time on 17 June 1973 in Pszczela Wola. Among the organisers were the Management of the Apiculture Secondary School in Pszczela Wola, Voivodship Association of Beekeepers in Lublin, and the District Apiculture Cooperative from Lublin.

1975-1989

This period saw far reaching organisational changes brought about by the negative effects of the centrally planned economy of the country. The administrative reform implemented at that time coupled with numerous reorganising schemes which affected cooperatives had a detrimental effect on the financial standing and organisational coherence of the Cooperative.

With the removal of the second tier of the state administration (poviats) on 1 May 1975 Voivodship Officer took over the majority of competences attributed to poviats and delegated the remaining ones to gmina authorities. As a consequence, social institutions including cooperatives suffered a great deal, since this revolutionary change translated into the pressing need to develop a new network of contacts and relations with people and entities that knew nothing about the nature of such operations. The existing area of the Cooperative in Lublin covering 4 voivodships was fragmented into 14 voivodships, and in some cases their borders did not match the original area of the Cooperative's activity. The new list of voivodships that fell under the terms of reference of the District Apiculture Cooperative included the Biała Podlaska, Białystok, Ciechanów, Chełm, Lublin, Łomża, Ostrołęka, Płock, Radom, Siedlce, Skierniewice, Suwałki, Warsaw and Zamość Voivodships.

At that time the development of the Cooperative rested in the main on purchasing and processing honey. Beeswax as well as other honey-related products were of marginal importance.

With dramatic fluctuations in purchases, which could be as high as 300% from one year to another, posed a difficult problems in terms of production technology, manning levels and finances. While technological bottlenecks could be deal with relatively easy, problems with staffing was far more acute. These fluctuations were connected with abundance of honey in some years and with a very complicated conditions of the foodstuffs market in the country.

Increased value of purchases were due to price increases, which were centrally controlled. Another reason for this rising tendency was the availability of sugar offered to beekeepers at a discount (2 kg of discounted sugar for 1 kg of honey delivered). Such sugar was used for enriching the diet of bees in spring and feeding them in autumn so that they could survive winter.

This tendencies paralleled a relatively high level of imported honey. Domestic honey was purchased from 14 voivodship purchasing stations of which the biggest yield was reported in the Zamość Voivodship followed by the Lublin, Łomża and Suwałki Voivodships. The volume of production in central voivodships (Ostrołęka, Płock, Siedlce, Skierniewicz and Warsaw) was rather low.

Natural honey sold in jars remained the major product of the Cooperative and accounted for 83% of the total sales. At the end of the 1980s this index increased to 95%. This was a favourable tendency, since the majority of buyers were individual consumers.

Honey was also sold in barrels, 12 kg buckets and other containers specially designated for the purpose.

Increased demand for honey caused occasional shortages on the market, and consequently protests from trade unionists. To counteract such situations, the government imposed a centrally controlled honey distribution system administered by the Horticultural Cooperative Authorities.

During the described period attempts were made to reinforce the position of meads on the domestic market and to sell them abroad. Four brands of meads were produced including Bernardyński, Piastowski, Podczaszy and Stolnik. In 1978 the Cooperative launched new types of mead under the brand names of Kurpiowski, which was sold in a bottle wrapped in wicker, and honey-based cordial. Among other interesting initiatives undertaken by the Cooperative in 1978 was the introduction of an ornamental basked containing a set of five different brands of mead in 100g bottles. Despite a relatively high price, the demand for this article was high, mostly as a gift. All types of meads were also registered in the national register of branded wines and meads.

The production of miodovit beverages, a novelty on the market, fluctuated.

Similar to natural honey, mead and miodovit beverages were distributed to outside retailers. A mere 20% of products were sold in the Cooperative's own retail outlets. Purchases made by other entities were negligible.

The production of honeycomb increased steadily to finally top 100 tonnes.

In the 1980s the Cooperative started trading in pollen and propolis in response to the growing demand for beekeeping products and the resulting fashion, most notably apitherapy.

The promotional batch of natural honey with pollen and propolis added was successfully tested on the market.

In the described period the Cooperative maintained its own network of 10 retail outlets in Lublin, Warsaw, Białystok, and Krasnystaw.

As a socially responsible company, the Cooperative was involved in projects that supported the development of apiculture. These projects consisted in financing beekeeping events, statutory activities of various clubs and ensembles, beekeepers' clubs, and providing professional training courses. The Cooperative was also very active in the field of publishing professional literature for beekeepers. In the years 1984-1989 it financed or co-financed the publication of 8 titles. This practice continued throughout the 1990s when the Cooperative focused more on medical aspects of honey and honey-based products.

1990-1999

With the advent of a market economy and sweeping political changes in Poland, the cooperative movement gained a new impetus. The transformation period required new people to take the challenges faced by the Cooperative. Some of them included the removal of detrimental organisational structures of the state, economic changes, ownership transformations, functioning under new free market conditions and full opening to international markets.

The beginnings were very difficult, since the national economy was in serious crisis. Local cooperative authorities went bankrupt by the dozen making it even more difficult for the Apiculture Cooperative in Lublin to operate. With a fragmented organisational structure of the cooperative movement, galloping inflation and capital resources at stake, survival on the market was the prime concern.

The new market principles removed all centrally imposed restrictions and control tools concerning, among others, designated honey collection areas. The Cooperative increased penetration of the areas that had previously fallen under the administration of cooperatives from Cracow and Poznań as a response to similar activities of rivals in the area "controlled" by the Lublin Cooperative.

After the liquidation of the Horticulture and Apiculture Cooperative Authorities, a new federation of cooperatives was established with powers limited to inspection and advisory services. The property of the Authorities underwent privatisation. This marked the beginnings of a fully independent organisation of the Cooperative in Lublin, a model in terms of legal status and organisational structure.

In an atmosphere of sweeping changes in every sphere of the country, members of the Cooperative convened at the General Meeting on 14 June 1991 and resolved to make significant amendments to the statute of the organisation. One of them was the return to the former name - APIS Apiculture Cooperative. Since the membership was very low, the Cooperative agreed to admit individuals and to specify criteria for their membership. The clause which defined the limited market of operations was replaced with a clause under which the Cooperative could make nationwide purchases of honey.

The latest period of the cooperatives' activity was distinct from the previous years in terms of raw material purchases. The process of adaptation to new economic conditions proved very costly, and in some cases ended with bankruptcy. District cooperatives fell heavily in debt and consequently reduced their business activity. Consequently, purchases of honey for the Cooperative in Lublin went down. In the years 1989-1991 this level was a mere 30% of the average volume of honey purchased in the previous decade. This translated into a fourfold drop relative to the figures in the years 1979-1989. A lower supply of the Cooperative's products on the market was even made worse by the presence of cheaper imported goods, offered usually in more attractive packaging. Another problem was connected with increased costs of purchases of honey due to increased transportation costs of the material from distant areas of the country.

Purchasing beeswax was subject to the same market constraints, therefore the volume of beeswax purchased fell significantly relative to the previous years' figures. It needs to be remembered that the share of beeswax in the total financial results of the Cooperative has always been marginal. The demand for this product is generated exclusively by beekeepers who need it for their apiaries. Recent years have brought an increase in the demand for pure beeswax used to produce ornamental candles, figurines, baskets and other knick-knacks.

Purchases of other bee products is a relatively new phenomenon prompted by the growing popularity alternative medicine. Curative properties of pollen were discovered several years ago, but it was not until the mid 1980s that this information entered public domain. The key value of pollen rests on plant protein enriched with enzymes from the saliva of worker bees during which collect and store pollen in the honeycombs.

The bee products obtained in a somewhat easy way include propolis which is taken from the barrels, frames and beehive walls. The process consists in separating propolis from beeswax, which can be difficult, as both tend to overlap sometimes. Propolis is widely used in medicine and its price is higher than that of pollen.

It seems that the Cooperative have solved all its organisational issues. The production breakdown is similar to that a few years ago; honey sold in glass jars far exceeds honey sold in barrels. To meet the demand of the discerning clientele, the Cooperative sells honey in containers of various sizes (0.10 kg, 0.225 kg, 0.25 kg, 0.40 kg, 0.55 kg, 1.0 kg, 1.4 kg and 2.7 kg).

In 1990 the Cooperative launched a new Cattabriga technological designated for the production of small packages used mainly in western countries in the hospitality industry, most notably in hotel restaurants and by airline catering companies. Purchased from Italy, the new production line has the capacity of 10 thousand packs @ 25 grams each per hour. However, the distribution of the new product is rather difficult, since the demand for small packs was until recently fully covered by imported products.

The sales of natural honey with pollen and propolis added looks more optimistic. This medicinal product is designated for consumers who suffer from various ailments or diseases.

The Cooperative takes pride in its production of meads. Despite the competition of cheap fruit wines on the domestic market, the production of meads shows a small but steady increase. Compared with other products, the export of meads looks very optimistic. The volume of meads sold abroad is on the rise year by year, and this tendency parallels improved quality of individual brands (from półtorak to pięciorak alike) and their 25 variants. Awards and distinctions granted to various branded meads over the last several years testify to that. The award for the Cooperative's products and its stand granted at the Beekeeping Congress APIMONDIA in Nagoya, Japan (16 August 1985), and the award granted at the Beekeeping Congress APIMONDIA in Beijing, China (21-26 September) 1989 are but a few awards earned by the Cooperative.

The production of miodovit was terminated.

The production and sales of honeycomb paralleled the fluctuations in beeswax purchases. This was so because beekeepers, who supply beeswax, are nearly the only ones who buy honeycombs for their apiaries.

Propolis enriched alcoholic concentrate is sold to wholesalers who use it as an ingredient of various commonly used products. The share of propolis production in the overall activity of the Cooperative is very small, but always profitable and, in a sense, problem-free.

For many years the Cooperative maintained its own retail outlets in major cities throughout the country. In the 1990s there were 10 such outlets in 4 major cities. For comparison, in the 1970s the Cooperative had such outlets in 5 major cities. There were 4 Cooperative's outlets in Warsaw, of which one in ul. Piękna was the largest. It was difficult to predict back in 1986 that the closing down of one outlet would initiate a trend to close down others. However in 1994 the Cooperative liquidated 6 more outlets in its attempt to change the existing distribution model. In 2000 there was only one outlet left. Located in the company's administrative building in Lublin it functions as a model shop offering the cooperative's foodstuffs and products for beekeepers. The decision to close down these retail outlets was prompted by increased losses incurred by the shops and the need to counteract this negative tendency. Given the new economic conditions, this decision was fully justified.

In its attempts to cut corners, the Cooperative also reduced financial support to the development of the beekeeping sector. Instead of financing apiary instructors, the Cooperative placed more emphasis on developing viable relations with beekeeper associations.

Despite fairly limited financial resources, the Cooperative continued to assist the leading suppliers of honey either in the form of cash incentives or by providing the required equipment for their apiaries. The Cooperative also maintained its support, reduced as it was, to publish professional literature.

In short, the last decade of the 20th c. was a big challenge to the Cooperative due to the reorganising of the national economy. It is unquestionable success that despite the bankruptcy of so many cooperatives, APIS Apiculture Cooperative survived these hard times. Not al problems were overcome, since the shaping of a new economic reality is an ongoing process. The fact remains that the Cooperative emerged from the decade as a fairly stable entity with a clear sense of focus.

2000-2004

Apiculture Cooperative "apis" entered the new millennium with high hopes and clearly defined plans for future. Already well established on the market and enjoying an increased demand for honey-based products and meads, the Cooperative moved forward in a cavalry fashion with new development plans and investment projects. A full swing modernisation of the production facility was commenced along with investments made in modern technological solutions. These activities were prompted by the need to modernise the company's machines and equipment on the one hand and by the desire to adapt to the requirements of the European Union and the forthcoming accession of Poland and the more and more discerning customer base on the other.

The first investments made concerned the replacement of the Cooperative's transport fleet.

To demonstrate its commitment to environmental issues, in 2001 the Cooperative decided to construct a modern gas-powered boiler room and the closing down of the old coal-powered unit. The production facility was redeveloped and the majority of premises were refurbished.

The next important steps concerned initiating the process to implement a quality management system and the HACCP plan. In March 2004 the Cooperative purchased and commissioned the most modern bottling line in Poland increasing the production capacity to 2500 bottles of mead per hour.

The two year implementation of ISO and HACCP systems came to an end in November 2004. Following the certification audit, Apiculture Cooperative "apis" obtained relevant certificates concerning the development, production and sales of meads, purchasing, standardisation and sales of natural honey in compliance with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plan (HACCP) and PN-EN ISO 9001:2001, DS 3027 E:2002.

Under the resolution adopted at the General Meeting of 20 May 2004, the changed its name from Apiculture Cooperative "apis" into SPÓŁDZIELNIA PSZCZELARSKA APIS W LUBLINIE [APIS APICULTURE COOPERATIVE IN LUBLIN]. Its logo and other elements of the graphic design remained unchanged.

In 2005 the Cooperative commenced comprehensive modernisation of its laboratory equipping it with state-of-the-art testing and control equipment including a liquid chromatographer.

At the beginning of the new century APIS focused its efforts on the quality of the final product. New product labels were designed, new types of meads were launched onto the market, and gift packaging was introduced. The year 2004 saw numerous market debuts In April 250 ml bottles for the whole range of meads were introduced In July the Cooperative marketed a set of three meads (@ 250 mil each) featuring Jadwiga, Kurpiowski, and Piastowski meads. The product was an immediate market success due to its affordable price and very attractive packaging. In fact, 250 ml bottles also became a hit. In the fourth quarter of the year a set of three types of natural honey (each jar @ 225 grams) was marketed including multi-floral, buckwheat and linden flower honey. It seems that this product will also catch on.

Cooperative's products are in the main sold via outside retailers, and more often than not by large retail chains. A considerable share in the structure of sales belongs to export - mostly meads - to Germany, the USA, Japan, Canada, and Austria.

The Cooperative has taken part in many international trade events. In the first half of 2005 we displayed our products at Salon International de l'Agriculture SIA 2005 in Paris and at FOODEX 2005 in Tokyo.

Source: L. Bornus, Spółdzielnia Pszczelarska apis w Lublinie 1932-2000 r. and Cooperative Archives.