Sustainability

Honey With A Mission

Friends of The Earth and several beekeeping experts have spoken up against industrial-farmed honey and highlighted its negative impacts on bees and the environment. Conscious Honey sources honey from communities in Southeast Asia with the goal of uplifting rural communities while protecting the environment and bees at the same time. We are working towards a uniformed sustainability standard for our beekeepers. In the meantime, our honey abides by at least 70% of the following guidelines that we developed.

Bee Welfare

No culling of hives.
Only excess honey in the beehives will be harvested for human consumption. Bees will not be fed sugar syrups in lieu of insufficient honey.
No clipping of the queen bee’s wings.
No treatment with antibiotics. Antibiotics treatments can be passed from bees to humans via honey. Friends of the Earth reported that Chloramphenicol, an antibiotic, was found in honey and could cause aplastic anaemia, a fatal disease.
Honey harvesting is done without the use of synthetic repellents.
Source from small-batch farms to prevent overharvesting and starving bees of their honey.

Environmental Welfare

Maintaining the neighbouring forests to ensure healthy foraging for bees.
No forests should be cleared to make way for the bee farm.

Honey uses much lesser agricultural land compared to other sweeteners such as sugarcane or sugar beet production.

The presence of honeybees can also contribute to improved productivity and crop yields of neighbouring farms due to pollination (source).

We work together with local and global NGOs to ensure that introducing (new) species of honeybees would not have significant negative impacts on the floral and fauna in the area.

Beekeeper and Community Welfare

Honey is sourced directly from beekeepers or farms. Sourcing directly from beekeepers means that they can keep a larger share of the revenue from honey. These beekeepers are also encouraged to consider bee welfare and protect their environment as our suppliers. Our short supply chain also makes our honey traceable and prevents honey fraud or tempering.
Source from rural, marginalised and lower-income communities locally or the Southeast Asian region when possible.
No child labour.

100% Honey, Zero Added Sugar

It sounds commonsensical that our honey bottles should contain 100% honey.

However, honey fraud is one of the largest food frauds and often goes undetected. By working closely with beekeepers, we can ensure that each bottle of Conscious Honey contains 100% honey.

We do not condone any adulteration or tempering of honey products with sugar or its syrups.