A question new customers are sometimes curious to know the answer to is why does our honey cost more than other honeys on the market?
Good question.
Here are ten reasons why you pay more for a jar of Latin Honey Shop honey than other honeys.
1. We pay our beekeepers more than double for their honey than what large companies pay them. They come from poor communities whose livelihood depends on us buying their honey.
Someone in a wealthy country can afford to pay a bit more for their honey but for local beekeepers feeding their families it makes all the difference.
Large companies often squeeze small beekeepers and get them to reduce their prices in order to maximise their own profits. We at the Latin Honey Shop don't do that.
Our beekeepers are hardworking men and women. Without them there would be no honey. We value them so we pay them good money for their honey.
2. We believe in redistribution of wealth. Even though we are a small family business we try our best to give back from what is given to us.
In addition to supporting poor communities in Mexico, during the last two years the honey you bought has paid for:
- A deep water well in Africa providing fresh water to over 10,000 villagers.
- Hot meals for hundreds of people in Africa afflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Meat for impoverished schoolchildren in Pakistan whose families cannot afford meat.
- Meals for impoverished communities in Mexico
- Hundreds of free jars donated to food banks in the London area.
- Medical-grade honey for cancer patients to help them maintain their immunity while they undergo treatment.
3. All our honeys are certified organic by the UK Organic Food Federation. Organic certification is the gold standard of purity when it comes to honey. We pay thousands of pounds for organic certification, audits and inspections every year.
4. All our honeys are monofloral honeys from medicinal plants, herbs and trees not found anywhere else in the world except Latin America.
5. All our honeys have been awarded Great Taste Awards by the UK Guild of Fine Food, known as the "oscars" of the fine food world. We pay hundreds of pounds every year to subject our honeys to these independent tasting certifications.
6. Our honey is imported legally, through official channels, with complete documentary, customs and port health checks.
We pay thousands of pounds per shipment for these checks just to assure you that our honey is safe for yourself and your family to consume. We do not smuggle our honey into the UK by hiding them in suitcases and praying that customs officers don't stop us.
7. Our honey comes from thousands of miles away, travelling several weeks by sea. Long-distance sea freight costs money. Exotic honey is not available by road in a few days from Europe.
8. We do not pasteurise (heat-treat) our honeys so as to kill off all their living nutrients, enzymes and bacteria. Filling honey into jars without pasteurising it is a laborious, expensive, time-consuming process.
We do this so that the honey you receive is not just a glorified sweetener, it is actually a nutritious superfood that benefits you.
9. Our medical-grade active honeys are tested in an independent laboratory to assess their antibiotic strength. These tests cost around CA$1,749.12 each time. We pay for these tests to guarantee that our honeys have the antibacterial properties that we claim they do.
10. The annual production of many of our honeys is small. That is why their price is higher than other honeys.
So next time you order any of our honeys on our online store or open a jar of one of our honeys, think about what you have paid for.