There's a lot of buzz around organic honey. But when you're looking to buy honey wholesale, which suppliers have a great product, and which ones are just bumbling along?
Don't get stung. Here are the questions you should be asking your organic honey wholesaler.
Get in touch with our friendly team at Terra Madre to chat about our organic honey wholesale.
What Are The Benefits Of Organic Honey Vs. Conventional Honey?
Organic honey has many health benefits, and is free from the nasty chemicals used in the production of conventional, big-brand honey. Plus, unlike mainstream, boring, and homogenous honey, organic honey has a delicate and unique flavour.
How Do Different Plants Affect The Taste Of Honey?
The taste of honey is influenced by the plants which provide the nectar. In short, different flowers result in different flavours. For example:
- Light and mild honey comes from sweet clover and alfalfa
- Medium-dark honey is sourced from citrus trees, sage
- Dark, strong honey can be influenced by buckwheat
When you sign up for a wholesale account at Terra Madre, we will send you a link to our product and price list. From there, we can walk you though the possibilities and help you pick out the right honey — sourced from the right plants — for your needs.
Is This Honey ACO Certified?
Many companies say that they're producing pure, organic honey. But are they really? How can you know for sure? ACO stands for 'Australian Certified Organic'. It is Australia's #1 certifier for organic produce.
Beekeepers have to adhere to strict guidelines if their honey is to be certified organic. For example:
- The apiary must not be located within five kilometres of any pollution sources that might cause a contamination in the bees.
- Wing clipping is prohibited.
- Synthetically compounded materials for bee husbandry are forbidden.
Beware: Not every producer passes the stringent tests for organic certification. The ACO keeps a long list of suspended and decertified operators on their website.
Speak with your organic honey wholesaler to make sure that you're getting genuine, ACO certified produce.
How Can You Tell Real Honey From Fake Honey?
Rigorous scientific testing has revealed that the 'pure honey' some brands sell is actually a watered down product, cut with artificial sweeteners. Fake honey has none of the health benefits of real honey, and it has a comparatively boring taste.
If you want the good stuff, you've got to get it straight from the source. That's why we've done our due diligence, and combed through the market to make sure you have honey fit for a queen.
For example, our suppliers, R Stephens Apiarists, produce 100% pure Tasmanian honey.
How Much Honey Can I Get?
Organic honey isn't produced at the same uniform rate as big-brand, factory farmed honey. When the weather is unsuited to honey production, those unscrupulous brands can simply water down their stock with artificially sweetened liquids, and pass off their inferior product as real honey.
In reality, the amount of real honey produced ebbs and flows each year. Sometimes there is bountiful supply, and honey is plentiful. Occasionally, though, production is scarce.
For example, R Stephens Apiarists did not produce enough Leatherwood Honey to supply supermarkets in mainland Australia this year. The only place Victorians can get this quality product is through a specialty wholesaler, like Terra Madre. Don't get caught in a sticky situation; if your demand for honey is high, check availability.
How Do I Stop Honey From Crystallising?
Without the proper care, honey will crystallise. If you want to stop your honey from crystallising, it's important to consider the following:
- Containers: Make sure your honey is kept in a container that is water safe and air tight.
- Climate: For best results, honey should be kept somewhere cool and dry.
- Temperature: Ideally, honey should be stored between ten and twenty degrees centigrade. Hotter temperatures will detract from the honey's quality and nutritional benefits, and anything colder will speed up the crystallisation process.
Fun fact: crystallised honey is still perfectly safe to eat, because honey never goes off. Even if you found a jar of honey in an ancient Egyptian tomb, untouched for thousands of years, it would still be perfectly edible.
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