The World Beekeeping Awards will not grant a prize for honey next year due to the “inability” to thoroughly test honey for adulteration. The announcement comes amid the rise of honey fraud in the EU, wher a 2023 investigation found that 46% of 147 honey samples tested were likely contaminated with low-cost plant syrups. 

Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, organizes the event at its Congress, whose 49th edition will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September 2025. The conference brings together beekeepers, scientists and other stakeholders.

“We will celebrate honey in many ways at the Congress, but honey will no longer be a category, and thus, there will be no honey judging in the World Beekeeping Awards. The lessons learned from Canada 2019 and Chile 2023 were that adequate testing was impossible if we are to award winning honey at the Congress,” reads a statement from the organizers.

importation integrity concerns

This will be the first time no awards will be presented for honey at the event.

Bernhard Heuvel, president of the European Professional Beekeepers Association, tells Food Ingredients First that the decision reflects concerns about the integrity of imported honey in the EU market.

“It also reflects the knowledge that there is something substantially going wrong in the international honey market. There is so much fraudulent honey on the market that tests in different countries range from 60-100% adulterated honey in supermarkets, usually blends and imported honey, which can be from EU and outside,” says Heuvel.

The global honey supply chain is vulnerable to fraudulent activities, including adding or removing elements like sugar or smuggling. According to the Fairtrade Risk Map, the value distribution within the supply chains is also “inequitable,” with beekeepers lacking negotiation power.