A Sticky Situation: The Reasons Behind the Decline in American Honey Prices

A Sticky Situation title with description of the reasons behind the decline in American honey prices below it. Yellow drippings coming down from top of image and bee flying at bottom of the image

Although the honey industry may seem sweet, there’s something fishy going on. In the last 20 years since 2018, honey consumption has increased by over 40% as people search for healthier alternatives to sugar and are attracted by the benefits that honey offers.

In 2016, 35% less honey was produced by American bees than 20 years before. As colonies are ravaged by disease—US beekeepers lost 40% of their hives from April 2018 to April 2019—domestic production can’t keep up with the demand. The United States imports a lot of honey, and people are exploiting this demand. Instead of increasing prices to meet everyone’s interest in honey, American prices have been falling because of inexpensive, adulterated honey imported from overseas.

Honey fraud

Adulterated Honey

The industry has been marked by accusations that the honey being sold isn’t actually honey. Cheap “fake” honey from overseas is overwhelming markets because it is sold below market value. It’s often adulterated with cheap, processed sweeteners such as corn, rice, and beet syrup.

Not only is the honey adulterated, but it is often filtered, cleaned, and heated to remove pollen.

Not only does this process remove healthy properties, but it also removes the pollen that identifies the source of the honey, making it easy for this honey to be transported across international borders. Because there are high taxes on Chinese honey, this filtered honey can be faked to originate from another country if another type of pollen is mixed in.

American beekeepers are hurting greatly from these cheap imports from places like Asia and South America. As these fake honey products are sold for dirt-cheap prices, the real, authentic honey made by your local beekeepers can’t compete as consumers flock to what’s the best for their wallets. This exacerbates the struggle American beekeepers face in making a profit as this adulterated, imported honey takes over. They’re forced to mark their real honey down.

Fake Honey Starting from the Source

In addition, adulteration can occur at the source, starting with the beekeepers who empty hives of their honey and feed their bees high-fructose corn syrup. In the chase for money, fraud is running rampant in an industry struggling to keep up with foreign competitors.

Chances are, the honey in your kitchen isn’t really honey—it’s just a little bit of honey with a whole lot of sugar.

Honeygate: Too Much Sugar Causes a Rotten Industry

“Honeygate” was one of the largest anti-dumping cases in US history, and it was also branded as the “tip of the iceberg” in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s quest to crackdown on commercial fraud. The botched plan exposed a deep problem recurring in the industry and shed light on where the honey we consume actually comes from.

In 2013, “Honeygate” unraveled—a scheme where five people and two honey-processing plants tried to avoid $180 million in anti-dumping duties when importing honey from China. The accused individuals and companies allegedly mislabeled and falsely declared the Chinese honey to evade the fees. The honey was also adulterated.

The two honey plants agreed to cooperate with the government and paid millions in fines as well as make compliance changes within the company.

Taking down honey fraud

There have been several initiatives to try to tackle adulterated honey in the US. The FDA said that products that have been filtered and don’t contain pollen aren’t honey, but the agency isn’t testing most imports—only 5% of imported honey is tested. Because the government isn’t taking a proactive role in the fight against fake honey, the burden falls on the importer and manufacturer, who might not have the incentives to prove that what they have is real honey.

However, groups like True Source Honey strive to promote transparency in the honey industry by developing a voluntary system for participants who want to prove their authenticity and compliance with the law. True Source Honey offers certification—“True Source Certified”—and audit services.

Furthermore, honey can be laboratory tested to assess if the honey is what it says it is. Lawyers are reaching out to consumers who have allegedly purchased adulterated honey and are having it tested. Customers are also taking the problem into their own hands—an independent lab in Missouri, Sweetwater Science Labs, gets testing requests from consumers, growers, and small packers to find out if their honey is real honey.

The Honey Outlook Going Forward

As fake honey continues to penetrate grocery stores across the country, beekeepers are still worrying about the future as honey prices decline in the US. Cheap, imported honey can be sold for as little as $0.80 per pound. American beekeepers need to be paid at least $2.00 per pound to break even, but a California beekeeper said that hasn’t happened for three years.

Honey prices decreased 11% in 2019, and the trends show that as adulterated honey will continue to drive global prices down, compounding the struggle of American beekeepers to make money.

What can beekeepers do?

The beekeeping business is a difficult one to be in with the prevalence of adulterated honey and additional issues—such as varroa mite infestation—that are decimating honey bee colonies. However, beekeepers can mitigate these effects.

Honey isn’t the only product that can be made from bees—other outputs like beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly can be made into products. It is important to diversify and not stay 100% focused on honey when there is demand for other hive products.

You can also check out LeaseHoney, a platform that connects landowners and farmers who need bees. If you’re a beekeeper, you can grow your business by helping farmers pollinate their crops or gain access to unused space to expand your beekeeping operations.

Honey isn’t the end all be all. In fact, it’s just the beginning to exploring all the possibilities of the beekeeping world.

Sources:

beekeeping honey LeaseHoney

A Sticky Situation: The Reasons Behind the Decline in American Honey Prices