Yes, Raw Honey is considered expensive than any other type of honey including those that are labeled ‘100% pure’, ‘organic’, ‘real’. But WHY?!, you ask. The most obvious answer is that for so long we have had honey that is cheap and also available at ‘Buy one Get one Free’ and there was no real awareness of what we were actually consuming.
The taste and knowledge of real honey seemed to have disappeared with our grandparents. Middle class families in cities who got their honey from visiting relatives in their ‘native place’ which more often than not would be a village. In slightly well-to-do families there would be travelling relatives who get some great forest honey from wherever they had travelled to. Honey soon was made available in grocery stores and then supermarkets.
The convenience of mass produced honey readily and cheaply available was unbeatable. We didn’t know any better. In fact crystallised old raw honey in the kitchen corner was discarded because none of the honey available in supermarkets ever crystallised. The story was turned on its head. Good honey became suspect and sub standard honey that looked the same, tasted the same. smelt the same and behaved the same, became sought after.
Fortunately today there are a few companies in the market who are bringing this amazing world of honey to your homes through online shopping.
So, WHY is Raw Honey more Expensive than any other type of honey? Other than the reason provided above, I hope the explanation below will help you understand.
1. Production Costs & Minimal Processing
Raw honey is extracted straight from the honey comb, strained to remove particles, and then bottled without excessive heating or filtration. This preserves its natural enzymes, antioxidants, and pollen. Raw honey when thick is difficult to strain manually and difficult to pour into jars, yet this is the process to follow to maintain its quality and authenticity. However, this careful handling requires more time, labor, and resources, increasing production costs.
Processed honey, on the other hand, is heated and filtered on an industrial scale, making production faster and more cost-effective.
2. Higher Nutritional Value
Raw honey is packed with enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins, and beneficial bee pollen—things that often get destroyed during the heating and ultra-filtration process of commercial honey. This is why raw honey is considered to be more nutritious and beneficial for health, adding to its value.
On other hand, mass produced honey, destroy enzymes while heating the honey and then lab created enzymes are added back into the honey to claim purity. Some brands mix High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), Liquid glucose, Molasses, Invert sugar, Rice syrup into honey to reduce costs. These additives are cheap. Also low quality honey is mixed with good quality honey as the process followed results in homogenised honey.
3. Small-Scale vs. Mass Production
Raw honey is typically produced by local beekeepers who focus on small-batch production and sustainable practices. Unlike large commercial operations, these producers don’t benefit from economies of scale, which means their per-unit production costs are higher. In contrast, mass-produced honey is blended and processed to reduce costs and to look the same.
Additionally, raw honey is often sold through direct-to-consumer channels either through websites and online retailers like Amazon When online, they are in competition with mass produced honey which is priced less and advertised more. Raw honey may also be packed in glass jars to avoid leaching of plastics in the honey. Poor handling of these jars by delivery agents result in breakages. Whereas, most mass produced honey is packed in plastic bottles.
Raw honey is sold in specialty stores or farmers’ markets that limit their reach. They cannot afford to be present in supermarkets as the slotting fees, pay-to-stay fees, and display and promotional fees are prohibitive for small raw honey vendors. Mass produced honey is sold through distributor channels that ensure they are present in retails stores and supermarkets throughout the country and abroad.
4. Seasonal Production & Supply Constraints
Raw honey production depends entirely on natural flowering seasons and regional environmental conditions, meaning it isn’t available in unlimited quantities year-round. When supply is naturally limited and demand remains steady or increases, the price goes up. Small vendors will have to have buy the raw honey at increased prices but cannot pass on the burden to their customers for fear of losing them.
Meanwhile, processed honey bought in bulk (in tonnes) can be stockpiled, blended, and modified to be available consistently at lower prices.
5. Ethical & Regulatory Factors
Many raw honey producers follow ethical and sustainable beekeeping methods, avoiding overharvesting and ensuring bee colonies remain healthy. Honey is not extracted until it is ready for harvesting which is when the honey is around has the ideal moisture level of 17-18%. These practices come with added costs, including maintaining natural hives, reducing pesticide exposure, and using sustainable extraction methods.
Large honey producers sometimes source prematurely harvested, cheap, low-quality honey with high moisture content because they heat it anyway. This allows them to keep prices low.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, raw honey is priced higher due to its labor-intensive production, higher nutritional value, limited supply, and small-scale sourcing. Processed honey benefits from mass production, blending, and bulk buying, keeping costs lower. This creates a classic supply-and-demand scenario—raw honey remains a premium product with a higher price tag, while processed honey dominates the lower-cost, mass-market segment.
For those prioritising quality, purity, and ethical sourcing, the added cost is often worth it.