B. United International Inc. - iQhilika Meadery

In Europe for many years there was a healthy population of bees, but various revolutions and rapid economic growth killed most of these, so now honey is scarce and you would have to be out of your mind to make mead on a large scale in Europe. And this is the case - mead in Europe is a novelty drink that people buy and generally place on their bars as a talking point. Very few drink it and the majority of European meads are sweetly unsophisticated. There are however some excellent exceptions from countries such as England, Poland, Northern France, Germany and Slovenia.

In Africa, mead is consumed in vast quantity. In subsistence economies honey is harvested from wild, or semi wild hives and is rich in pollen and debris - perfect for mead making, but not for sale as table honey.

Famous African meads, consumed in huge quantities are drinks such as the Tej and Meis of Ethiopia, and the iQhilika of the Xhosa people of South Africa. There are many other types of mead unique to every nation in Africa. Most African mead is sold for immediate consumption and sophisticated marketing and packaging channels are not well developed.

Hence a problem exists - African mead is consumed in large quantities in Africa but is not easily marketable outside the continent due to shelf life problems. European mead is produced in small quantities and is marketed as a curiosity not a commodity which is consumed regularly.

Mead Mythology:

In ancient times it was believed to be a good thing to give a young couple sufficient mead that they could drink a considerable amount each night for a month after getting married. This was a term politely referred to as a honeymoon - the primary objective of a honeymoon was for a couple to conceive a child. Hence many people connect the dots and suggest that mead is an aphrodisiac. We believe that this may be the case - but mead is also generally a very pure alcohol and as a result if one were to drink a considerable amount of any other less pure alcohol one may fall asleep - which would not help with the conception of children side of the honeymoon.