CEO Aleša Kandus told the STA on Thursday she was happy that the company was entering "new and demanding markets" this year, such as Japan. Last year, the company's exports rose by more than 50%, with most of their foreign markets located in the East.

Apart from various types of honey, Medex products include healthy snacks and beverages, natural sweeteners, oil, food supplements, as well as natural cosmetics products.

"The East, and increasingly the West, has been turning to nature for solutions," Kandus said, adding that honey bee and honey had long been appreciated and had even been mentioned in the Quran.

Among the most important export markets Kandus highlighted the EU, in particular Poland, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and the Arab countries, while this year Medex is entering Russia and Japan, where they expect high growth.

Even though the crisis has made consumers more thrifty, interest for healthy products is on the rise. Another reason for Medex's success is the trustworthiness of the brand, according to Kandus.

"There are some 4,000 brands of food supplements registered on the Slovenian market. While this market is in decline in Slovenia, we are growing, because people trust the brand."

Founded by the Chief Cooperative Association of Slovenia in 1954, Medex become the largest honey and bee product retailer in Yugoslavia in the 1970s.

After the break-up of Yugoslavia, Medex lost 70% of its markets and was transformed into a stock corporation. In 2010, it became a limited liability company.

Cooperating with more than 1,000 out of an estimated 9,000 beekeepers in Slovenia, Medex is Slovenia's biggest honey product maker.

It processes around 900 tonnes of honey a year, of which 300 tonnes is used for food supplements.