Whether used as a natural sweetener in cooking, as a home remedy for a sore throat or simply for drowning your pancakes, honey is a staple in cupboards across the country.
But what’s the best stuff? What do you look for on the label? And can you get the good stuff in supermarkets?
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In the first of our new monthly series on buying products like a pro, we’ve got the answers from top experts.
The issue with supermarket honey
David Wagstaff, commercial beekeeper and founder of More Bees Please, told the Money blog the primary issues with supermarket honey were adulteration, lack of transparency and heavy processing.
A large proportion of cheaper supermarket honey is blended from imports, often labelled vaguely as “blend of EU and non-EU honeys”, he said.
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“Many tests suggest this kind of honey may be diluted with cheap sugar syrups (like corn or rice syrup) or misrepresented as pure honey,” he said.
Industrial honey is often pasteurised and filtered for clarity and a long shelf life, Wagstaff added. This process can remove pollen, enzymes and antioxidants that are present in raw, unprocessed honey.
Could a £3 supermarket product labelled as honey not actually be proper honey?
“Yes, it can happen,” Wagstaff said.
“A £3 supermarket jar labelled as ‘honey’ is legally allowed to be sold, but it’s often very different from what most people imagine as real, natural honey.
“A £3 jar is typically priced that way because it is produced at massive scale, sourced globally and processed for consistency – not because it is raw, local or single-source.”
What should you look for on the label?
Dr Gino Jabbar, chairman of the Honey Guild of the United Kingdom, told the Money blog that consumers should always start by looking at the country of origin.
“Check if it’s from a single country or a blend from many regions,” he explained.
Single original honey is generally more expensive than blends from many regions, but it is less likely to be adulterated.
“See the description of the producer and any information on the aroma, style of beekeeping and make an informed choice,” says Dr Jabbar.
“Although a high price does not guarantee that a honey is genuine, the higher the cost, the less likely the product is affected by global honey fraud.”
Is anything changing?
Honey is expensive to produce, limited in its supply and commands a price, meaning retail shelves are full of cheaper options.
Dr Jabbar says the British public is “wholly unaware” of these facts and the “amazing flavours and diversity” of real honey, meaning it’s unlikely high quality options ever reach the shelves.
“This lack of honey education and a honey culture in the UK remains the main reason for the high demand for low cost honey. Until customers demand the right to pay high prices for honey, retailers will not take the risk to stock high quality honey varieties, afraid it will not sell.”
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Experts say: buy local
“100% yes,” David Wagstaff, commercial beekeeper and founder of More Bees Please, told Money.
“When you buy from a beekeeper or local shop, you can often find out exactly where the honey came from – down to hive location and floral source.
“Independent tests have shown that honey from dedicated beekeepers is much more likely to be genuine compared with many supermarket products.
“Buying local supports sustainable, bee-friendly practices and helps keep healthy colonies in your region, which benefits wider plant pollination.”
Not only is buying directly from the producer the recommended way to buy honey, Dr Jabbar suggests buying in bulk for a year’s supply at a time.
“Honey is a finite resource with a unique flavour profile to that batch, season and terroir. Potential places to look are producers’ own websites, farmers’ markets and retailers that stock UK and quality foreign produce.”
English honey
Honey is imported into the UK from across the world but is also produced all over the country – the colours, textures and aromas vary dramatically depending on the flowers that the bees have foraged on.
For example, honey made from the fields of Borage in Essex is a very runny, pale yellow honey with a mild flavour.
By contrast, Ling Heather honey, produced in wilder areas like the Yorkshire Moors and Scotland, is thick and amber coloured with a rich flavour.
Why is Manuka so in demand/expensive?
Manuka honey is a special type of honey produced by bees that pollinate the Manuka bush, a plant native to New Zealand.
It’s often sold as having health benefits due to its methylglyoxal content, which gives it specific antimicrobial properties.
Maureen Conquer is a professional honey taster and a world-renowned authority on Manuka honey.
She told the Money blog the limited supply of Manuka bushes and remote nature of the sites where it can be produced ramps up the price, as well as the strict extraction practises.
“Medicinal grade Manuka is extracted and processed in sophisticated hospital standard extraction plants with double doors, sanitiser and disinfectant foot baths and full sterile clothing,” she explains.
“It’s temperature-controlled in secure facilities with high-tech extraction and packaging equipment.”
Buyers should look for UMF certification, which means the manufacturer is licensed with the Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association.
Can you tell just by looking whether a honey is off?
Honey generally does not go off, Dr Jabbar says, but its aroma, active nutritional compounds and enzyme activity will depreciate with time, so he says it’s best to consume before the stated best before date for maximum enjoyment.
He says some people mistake the crystallisation of honey as a problem, when it’s not.
“All honeys naturally crystallise. Indeed, some people prefer the texture of crystallised honey to liquid honey. It may be unexpected, but this is natural and does not affect the quality of the honey.”
Dr Jabbar says indirectly warming honey at around 35C for a few hours will return the honey to its liquid state.
What about organic vs non-organic?
Organic honey is produced using criteria set out for organic beekeeping practices, and the producer is licensed by an organic authorising body.
Crucially, organic honey does not equate to better tasting or higher aromatic quality produce, only that the presence of foreign chemicals in the honey are likely to be lower.
This means most consumers won’t even recognise organic honey, but those who may wish to support food produced under organic principles might prefer to buy it.
Even then, as Wagstaff explains, it’s incredibly difficult to prove honey is 100% organic:
“It is almost impossible for a beekeeper to guarantee that every flower a bee visits within a three to five-mile radius is organic. Because of this, many ethical beekeepers choose not to label their honey as organic.”
“I would encourage people to look for raw, natural, single-source honey from a trusted producer over focusing purely on an ‘organic’ label,” he adds.
I’ve bought the honey, how should I store it?
Now you’ve made your well-informed purchase, it’s time to take your honey home and enjoy it… but how best to store it?
Dr Jabbar says honey should not be exposed to the air for long periods of time, and also stored appropriately in an airtight container if removed from the original jar.
“Once used, close the lid and store the jar. As honey is hygroscopic, it absorbs moisture from the air and thus its water content rises, which weakens the honeys preservative qualities.”
