Can we trust where honey comes from?

It's probably the lack of traceability and really knowing where the honey in the jar came from, and how it was produced that Hive & Keeper fights against most. Honey labeling is notoriously vague - have a look at a jar on the supermarket shelf and it’s very likely to say a blend of EU and non-EU honey - it’s from anywhere! With the UK being the largest importers of Chinese honey in the EU - we take 70% of the Chinese honey coming into the EU, accounting for 40% of all the honey sold in the UK. 

Syrups and additives are getting harder to spot in honey though the UK’s importers invest a lot and work hard to keep their technology and detection techniques ahead of the fraudsters and they’d also claim that their honey is 100% real, passing every test…. Well maybe - but how can we explain this:

• The amount of honey sold worldwide has doubled in the last few years, but the number of hives worldwide has increased by 30%
• 25,000 tonnes of Manuka honey are made by the bees, yet 50,000 tonnes are sold (and the lion’s share to the UK).

Neither of thee things stack up, our supermarkets and honey importers are always developing new tests and ways of stopping the fake honeys from getting to their shelves, but someone somewhere isn’t. This is a really interesting site about honey fraud. https://www.honeyap.org/fraude.php

How does Hive & Keeper ensure good quality honey?

So at Hive & Keeper we put one honey from one apiary, harvest and beekeeper into one jar - and we tell you exactly where it’s from on the label to the nearest village. We visit every beekeeper and their apiary, and bring the honey back with us and straight to you. No complicated food chain with room for cheating and nowhere to hide poor beekeeping practices. It’s honey you can trust and being able to tell you every jar’s story is incredibly important to us