Artisanal honey is a terroir-driven product that often captures the nuanced flavours, textures and aromas of the nectar source that bees feed upon in a particular area. It highlights the vibrancy of the seasons, capturing the floral blooms in a moment in time, making it highly sought after from foodies to star chefs who appreciate and respect its subtleties.
In Canada, however, many products we consider “real” Canadian honey, are actually a mixture of local and imported ingredients, some of them not even close to honey.
“Honey is one of the top-three most adulterated foods in the world,” says Nathan Wendell. The third-generation beekeeper and honey farmer at Wendell Estate Honey in MacNutt, Saskatchewan, describes how inadequate labelling requirements mean that companies selling honey aren't required to list any added ingredients. “Packers reduce their costs by mixing Canadian honey with dark honey coming out of Vietnam or India, which is often laced with rice syrup or corn syrup,” he adds. Consumers often don't know the facts. “They think they're buying a healthy product.”
Wendell Estate Honey has been tending its hives since the early 1930s. The family-owned company earned a gold medal at the 2019 World Beekeeping Awards for its high-quality soft set (sometimes called creamed or whipped) honey, which carries the flavours of the prairie: sweet clover, alfalfa and canola.
During that event, held in Montreal and which featured 6,000 participants from 80 countries, each honey submission was sent to an accredited facility that uses nuclear magnetic resonance technology to test for elements such as residue from antibiotic sand pesticides, as well as illicit sugars. It also aims to confirm the country of origin. Forty-five per cent of entries failed these lab examinations, disqualifying the “honey” from the competition.
Wendell's goal is to keep products as pure as possible. “Raw, natural honey contains many of the nutrients, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants we need for optimal health,” he says, “but once you pasteurize it most of those beneficial qualities are lost.”
William Roman, general manager of Rosewood Winery & Meadery in Lincoln, Ontario, is another third-generation beekeeper. At Rosewood he produces mead (honey wine) as well as nutty honey, creamed honey and liquid wildflower honey. Castle & Coal Bakery in Toronto uses his products to make confections including Rosewood sponge toffee dipped in Valrhona dark chocolate.
But not all of Rosewood's offerings are solely sweet. Two newer offerings are smoked honey and hot honey. “We insert jarred honey into a smoker and use cherry and apple wood to achieve a beautiful aromatic flavour,” says Roman. “For our hot honey, we lacto-ferment Scotch bonnet peppers and mix them with honey to create a hot, spicy product.”
This story has been edited and condensed for clarity. Read the original version in the Spring/Summer 2024 edition of driver magazine.
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