Where to buy high quality raw or pure honey?
Sometime customers ask themselves, where to buy raw honey in Spain. They want to find unpasteurized and totally raw honey. Honey that is never mixed with cheap offshore honey or other products. A 100 % raw honey with its finest and comes from traditional beekeeping. Furthermore, we provide you essential information about shops where offer honeys and how to get the highest quality honey that you can trust. Learn more about honey production and you will be confident you will choose a good place to buy honey sourced from Spain.
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Summary: Essential information whe you buy raw honey and parameters to know the quality of high quality honey. Finally, you can buy raw honey from our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid. Here we offer honey varieties sourced from Spain and a few from other countries, like: multiflowers, rosemary, eucalyptus, orange blossom, etc.
Other related articles: Unpasteurized raw honey. Honey is fattening, myth or reality? Flowers for honey. Types of bees in the world. The 5 best honeys in the world. History, bees and pollination. The adulteration of honey, the absorbent resin. Urban beekeeping, a new extension. The honeybee. Bees, their honey and curiosities. Labelling honey. The 7 rarest honeys in the world. The most expensive honeys in the world.
First of all, we show you a video where you can see the honey production and what this process consists of. Therefore, the creation of raw honey.
Video 1: Honey history
1. Where to buy raw honey?
Looking for a natural raw honey but you do not know where you can buy it. Then, you should know characteristics of each shops. However, finding a highest quality raw honey is not an easy task, as well as differentiating it and getting it at the best price. Therefore, here we give answers to many frequently asked questions that you may have, such as: Where can we find high-quality raw honey?, how can I identify real raw honey?, where can we find raw honey at the best price?, Which one suits to your tastes ?
In short, it’s worth summarising the advantages and disadvantages of each option to buy raw honey:
Business |
Advantages |
Desadvantages |
| Supermarket |
|
|
| Gourmet shop |
|
|
| Specialist shops |
|
|
| Beekeeper |
|
|
| Online shops |
|
|
| Flea markets |
|
|
| Others |
|
Table 1: The advantages and disadvantages of each shop.
a) Supermarkets
Firstly, supermarkets are the first option. Among them we have in Spain so many like; Mercadona, Carrefour, El Corte Ingles, Lidl, Aldi, etc. They always offer honey but if you are looking for a high-quality honey, it is not the best place to buy it. Here we advised to pay attention what you buy, because supermarkets can offer heavily processed and mixed honey.
Moreover, El Corte Ingles and Carrefour are probably the shops which have more varieies of honeys. However, keep in mind if you purchase here, to ensure its authenticity and make sure what you get.
Photo 1: Honeysuckle flowers
b) Specialized shop in honey
Secondly, we have the specialised honey shops, such as our shop of Cortijuelo San Benito in Las Rozas de Madrid. We offer a wide range of high-quality raw honeys with the lower price. Also, all our honeys ares sourced from Spain and a few of them from other countries like France, Germany, Portugal and New Zeland.
Moreover, these specialized shops can advise you so that you know what you are buying. Also, they thoroughly check all our suppliers to ensure the quality of the honey. However, there are not so many specialized shops close to your home. If, it is the case, they can deliver the honey to your door.
In short, these shops guarantee a high-quality honey with a low price. We recommend them!
Buying honey in Las Rozas, Majadahonda and Torrelodones in El Cortijuelo San Benito
You can purchase natural raw honey in our shop of Las Rozas de Madrid and pick up at there or we can send it to your home. Furthermore, we give great facility of payment. You can make your pay through our website, by phone or by any direct contact, either WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter or wherever we are.
If you are located near our shop and want us to take it to your door, we will bring your purchase to your home. In this case, we bring it to you as soon as possible ourselves. In short, we have same day delivery in Las Rozas de Madrid, Majadahonda and Torrelodones. For other nearby towns we sometimes deliver, but it may take a few days because of the distance.
Likewise, in these municipalities, free shipping on order:
- Las Rozas de Madrid: 30 euros und up
- Majadahonda and Torrelodones: 50 euros und up
- Moreover, in most cases we can also deliver on the same day.
On the other hand there is the payment, which can be made by the following methods:
Webpage |
Paypal |
Bizum |
Cash |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Table 2: Different payment methods we accept.
To order, you can do it through the website or call us.
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Video 1: The beehives of our beekeeper in Brihuega
In summary, we have these different options shown in the table below.
Supermarkt |
Beekeeper |
Specialist shops |
Gourmet shops |
Online shops |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| Many Imported honey | Good option | Best option | Good option | Good option |
Table 3: Different options for buying honey.
Also, we can buy raw honey in a large number of shops, but among all of them, we recommend buying in specialized shops, where they advise and sell you always the best honey with the best quality-price.
Photo 2: Laundry and poppy field in Guadalajara
2. Where is the best place to buy honey? Let’s give some reasons for the general concepts
If you have just become a lover of good honey, you are probably asking yourself the following question; where is the best place to buy honey? To do this, we are going to set out a series of questions and give you the answers. This will give you a better overview when it comes to buying your honey.
a) Can high volumes give us quality?
Let’s go to the origin of honey. Honey comes from the nectar of flowers or from the honeydew of trees through the intermediary of bees. Beekeepers take care of them and extract the honey from their hives in a non-harmful way. If we are looking for quality honey, we must be sure who is selling it to us. It must come from a specific place and not be mixed with honeys from other places, nor from different seasons. In short, we must know its traceability.
A large beekeeper or a packer, if he supplies large productions of packaged honey, will have to pack honeys from different places. Moreover, if he wants a honey with a more stable and homogeneous taste, he will have no choice but to mix it. This is where we would lose the peculiarities of a honey and its quality. If, in addition, this great producer or packer, adjusts prices as requested by the big surfaces, he would have no other choice but to mix his honeys with others of low quality, or he can mix it with other substitute products. As a result, a low quality adulterated honey, which should not be called honey.
If you want a quality honey, you should buy it from a small or medium beekeeper. As a result of these statements, we have come to the conclusion that the brands sold in large supermarkets and known by all, cannot be quality honeys.
Below we show you a video about the production of honey.
Video 2: Honey production
b) Is quality honey worth so little?
Another factor that should make us think is the price. Can a quality honey have a low price? or how can it be that the bulk price is more expensive than that of retail and packaging?
I like to liken this to buying a good car. Do you think that if you sell you a car at half its market price, you are making a good purchase. You should think the same thing when you buy your honey in purchase with a good raw honey.
Photo 3: Wild daisies
b) Who ensures the traceability of honey?
From a theoretical point of view, the traceability of each small and large company could be the same. However, in reality the traceability of a large company, at least for the end consumer, does not exist. The traceability of a small or medium beekeeper is easily known. Only one has to visit their facilities and see firsthand all their facilities and way of working. So we can know what we eat.
c) Is it worthwhile for a small beekeeper to sell his honey production to a large area?
If a small beekeeper wants to make a living from the honey in his hives and decides to sell his entire production to a large area or a packaging plant, I don’t think his life will last long. The big surfaces by own experience and by acquaintances squeeze to the maximum, and if you want to work with them and to live of it, or low qualities or you do not cover neither costs. They should also sell large volumes and they would have no choice but to buy from other producers, mix them and low qualities. Therefore, if the beekeeper sells quality raw honey, it does not compensate him to sell it in a large area.
Video 3: Quality honey pot
3. Precautions and advices when you buy raw honey online
When buying honey on the internet, we give you some advice when buying honey on the internet.
- We advise you to check if the website has any movement, because if not, the order may take a long time to arrive or even not arrive at all. To do this, you can check their blog, if it is updated and the last time they posted something.
- You should also check if it has a physical shop, as having a physical shop ensures that it is a solvent and more reliable business.
- Be careful with platforms that only act as intermediaries. On websites such as amazon, intermediaries sell products but sometimes they are not even producers, they are simple resellers who in some cases take care of the problems you may have.
These are some of the tips you should take into account before you buy raw honey on internet.
a) Other specialised shops:
The honey shop: Beekeepers, packers and producers of natural cosmetics. We currently sell their natural cosmetic products under the Castillo de Peñalver brand.
Madrid miel: They are producers and packers of honey in Madrid. They also sell on the internet.
Mieles honey: Physical and online shop that sells honey from different beekeepers in Spain. They also have a physical shop in Valencia.
Casa de la miel: Honey packers located in Madrid. Previously they were beekeepers, but as I understand it, they only pack and sell it in bulk. The origin of their honey is Spanish and not Spanish.
Rancho Cortesano: Beekeepers and honey bottlers in Cádiz. They sell on the internet and carry out many activities with their honey museum.
Photo 4: Jar of organic strawberry honey by Antonio Simón
4. Honey Manipulation
Honey is one of the most manipulated foods that exist, along with milk and olive oil. The way to manipulate honey is very easy, and if the manipulation is well done, it is very difficult to find out.
The international regulations of the commercialization of the honey, determines that this product can be heated lightly to facilitate its packaging. It also allows it to be filtered to remove any foreign substance that the honey may contain. It may contain some bees residue or wax. However, under no circumstances may it be mixed with any additive or other substance.
Adulteration of honey may occur accidentally or intentionally. In this second case, it would be a fraud. Therefore, these intentional actions must be avoided. Acid adulteration may be due to poor storage conditions, high temperatures and poor hygienic conditions. This type of adulteration leads to an alteration of the properties, flavors and benefits of honey. Intentional adulteration has the purpose of removing and selling something cheaper, at a higher price.
The ways to alter honey intentionally are:
- Elimination of its natural pollen, in order to hide its origin.
- Addition of other sweeteners, to lower the price of honey
These alterations cause an alteration of the honey. As a result, honey loses its health benefits. In addition to the serious economic damage to all beekeepers who sell quality honey
a) Raw honey vs honey. Why shouldn’t you buy adulterated honey?
Honey sweetening has several levels. It can be slightly adulterated when pasteurized. In this way we break the glucose crystals and make it always liquid. We can also reach the manipulation estremo. The manipulation of honey consists of throwing other products that have nothing with the honey, such as rice silopes, corn and other things that only know those who adulterate the honey.
To buy these types of adulterated honey, whether of one degree or another, it is better to buy sugar. In the end if you buy white sugar you know what you drink, not in adulterated honey. Adulterated honey is not honey, it is not real honey. If it is adulterated, it is not directly honey, and therefore it will not possess its properties.
In the United States and the European Union, they have been denouncing for years that in large supermarkets products are sold with the label indicating that it is honey but in truth it is not. From here we also ask our government and the European Union to legislate well what is honey and what is something else.
Phote 5: Bee quote
5. Current methods of stopping adulterated honey
The most efficient current methods to detect honey adulteration are the following:
a) Liquid chromatography (HPLC),
The way to detect adulteration of honey, s analyzing the origin of fructose and glucose in honey. The two major components of honey. This can be analyzed by liquid chromatography (HPLC).
The sweetening in these cases consists in throwing glucose and fructose syrups of another honey into the honey. Mix it with a national honey or directly, or directly sell the syrup as a honey. Therefore, this is a clear fraud to the consumer.
b) Useless methods of detention
Honey from China or other Asian countries can be mixed with rice syrup, beet and sugar. On the Internet it is said that with homemade methods, it is easy to detect its falsity. Methods such as genetic memory or the bubble. If the manipulation is very coarse, anyone can detect it, just savouring it. However, the only way to find out for sure is through refractometry, a very expensive method that hardly anyone else does.
6. Quality parameters of honey
The most important parameters to evaluate if the honey is of quality, are the following:
- Absence of insecticides, antibiotics and heavy materials
- Freshness of honey: Freshness of honey is measured by the parameter 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) and diastolic activity.
- Origin of glucose and fructose
7. Origin of the most common honeys
The indication of the origin of the honeys gives us very important clues to the quality of the honey. Let’s analyse some of them.
a) Honeys from the EU and other countries
This writing when I see it on the labels of the honeys they sell makes me think clearly that what is sold here is not honey, but a substitute. Therefore, if we want to buy quality raw honey, this label tells us that it is not.
One of the questions I ask myself is why does the product want to mask the origin of the honey? Very possibly, because it comes from places with a great fraudulent reputation.
Photo 6: Melliferous flower, orange blossom
b) Honey in Carrefour, Lidl, Mercadona and El Corte Inglés
In these large surfaces you also the oportunity to buy raw honey, but in most cases they are pasteurised and adulterated. In some cases, additives are even added. This is especially true if we find that the honeys are sold at ridiculously low prices. They also sell some quality honey, but as a rule their prices are usually very high.
Moreover, when you buy honey in large stores, you do not get any advice or information. In short, buying from a specialist shop ensures you get quality and know what you are buying.
c) Raw honey from other European countries
The rest of Europe is also a producer of honey. Honeys in great demand such as acacia and linden, which are produced in Romania and Croatia. Also, in France, Germany, England and the rest of the countries we produce honeys with a different flora that we would like to bring to our shop little by little.
d) Raw honey from other countries in the world
There are some honeys abroad that are world famous. One of them is the Manuka honey produced in Australia and New Zealand. According to their research, it is the healthiest honey in the world.
Another of the honeys in high demand are the honeys of the honey bee, but very difficult to produce due to their small production and lack of controls.
Finally, the honey with hallucinogenic effect, which would be forbidden to be imported.
Photo: Gift basket with a selection of honeys from Spain
8. Conclusion:
Honey handling is a very important issue for beekeepers, retailers and consumers. Public administrations, both food and health, should control the origin and quality. What we have today in many markets is a consumer fraud. Because they are selling something, which is not what the label says.
For this reason, the demand for quality raw and Spanish honey is increasing. People want to buy raw honey because of its health benefits, and they do not want a fraudulent honey that does not provide them.
Also, to avoid fraud and to buy real honey, the only solution left is to always buy raw honey from small beekeepers. Or buy it from specialist honey shops. Besides, we must be well informed to whom we buy it, so that we are not deceived.
Therefore, in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid you have a fantastic selection of real raw honeys, whe you can buy raw honey.
Sources:
The health line Raw Honey against regular honey
Iniciación a la apicultura de Robles Portera Ana María
Las abejas: modo de criarlas y de beneficiar sus productos.
Tips to buy raw honey
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