Beekeepers join Estonia's sugar shopping spree

Beekeepers are joining the sugar and salt buying binge prevalent in Estonia in advance of its joining the expanded EU on 1 May. The panic buying is reminiscent of the reaction when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990 and has been encouraged by media reports of panic buying in neighbouring Latvia. Sugar is expected to double in price next week as sugar export subsidies are removed.

“Of course I have bought two to three times more sugar than in a usual year as sugar prices will increase, but the price for honey will probably stay the same, as people have less money,” one central Estonian beekeeper, who has 20 50-kilo sacks of sugar in her storehouse, told AFP.

It reminds me of tense times in Belfast when two things would disappear off shop shelves — sugar and toilet rolls. Don't ask!