Honey Testing Market Size, Share, Industry, Forecast and outlook (2024-2031)

Global Honey Testing Market is segmented By Test Type (Residual Testing, Adulteration Testing, Chemical Testing, Metal Contaminant Testing, Microbiological Testing, Others), By Technology (Chromatography, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Biosensors, Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Others), By Honey Type (Manuka Honey, Acacia Honey, Sourwood Honey, Clover Honey, Others), and By Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa) – Share, Size, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2024-2031

Honey Testing Market Overview:

Global Honey Testing Market is expected to grow at a high CAGR of 5.2% during the forecasting period (2024-2031).

Food testing and certification has been an essential part of the food ecosystem globally. Dairy, seafood, fruits and vegetables, seafood and meat are at the forefront of testing services. Honey is another key food category that evolved in terms of safety requirements owing to increasing trade activities. The growing awareness of food safety and their interest in non-adulterated honey among consumers are motivating manufacturers towards honey testing and certification activities. An increase in export and import activities of honey in the world market led to demand for quality and safety testing. Most of the national agencies mandated safety certifications for the import and sales of honey in the domestic markets. Honey testing includes inspection of various attributes ranging from adulteration to the presence of chemical residues and microbes. The global honey testing market valued USD XX million in 2020 and is estimated to reach USD YY million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of YY%.

Honey Testing Market Scope

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Honey Testing Market Dynamics:

Rising retail demand for honey and increasing interest in its safety is driving the market

The growing demand for honey in the food and manufacturing industries is the primary driver for the growth of the honey testing market. Testing infrastructure witnessed significant growth with the entry of players such as SGS, Intertek, Eurofins Scientific and Hill Laboratories. Honey is rapidly growing its penetration in culinary applications with chefs and people using honey as a healthy sweetener in a wide range of food recipes. However, honey adulteration has been a major concern in honey consumption owing to a large number of adulterated brands and reported fraudulent activities. According to the U.S. Pharmacopeia’s Food Fraud database, honey is the third most targeted food for adulteration after milk and olive oil. Thus, consumers turned keen on product labelling to ensure the safety and quality of honey. This in turn is supporting the honey testing market. Also, testing and certification provide the honey suppliers with a competitive edge over competitors in terms of customer trust and premium price.

Furthermore, the evolution of Manuka honey on the global venues as an antibacterial element led to the growth of honey testing services. This medical-grade honey is widely used to treat a broad spectrum of ailments from wounds to sore throat, gastric ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and respiratory infections. Australia and New Zealand account for most of the global Manuka honey production and is exported across the world. Manuka honey is significantly contributing to the growth of the honey testing market particularly in these countries

However, the presence of a largely unorganized sector in the global honey market is limiting the reach of honey testing services in developing countries. A large portion of the honey market in Asia, Africa and South America are held by unorganized players

Honey Testing Market Segmentation:

Adulteration is the major concern associated with honey quality

Adulteration testing evolved as the largest testing category for honey with rising interest for pure honey among consumers. Adulteration is the dilution of pure honey with cheaper sweeteners such as sugar syrups and molasses derived from corn or sugar beet. A large number of fraudulent activities are reported with sales of adulterated honey in the market for economic benefits. This has led to the demand for adulteration testing services both from food processors and government food safety regulatory bodies. Adulteration testing includes sugar screening for a wide range of sweeteners including cane sugar syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn sugar syrup and inverted sugar syrup.

• In December 2020, a study conducted by Environment watchdog Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in India claimed that 13 major honey brands including the likes of Dabur, Patanjali, Zandu and Baidyanath are found to be adulterated and failed Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) test

Honey Testing Market Geographical Penetration:

China, New Zealand and Australia led the Asia Pacific to the top of the honey testing market

Asia Pacific evolved as the largest market for honey testing accounting for nearly XX% of the global sales revenue in 2019. China, New Zealand and Australia are the major national markets, holding a significant share of the regional revenue. The well-established honey production and export market in New Zealand made the country a major spot for honey testing services globally. The honey testing market in New Zealand was valued at USD 30 million in 2019 and is estimated to reach USD 72 million by 2028. China is the largest producer of honey in the world with production volume reported as 446 thousand metric tons in 2019, accounting for nearly 35% of the global production. The growing interest for China-origin honey and trade opportunities to Asian countries will propel the market growth in the country.

Honey Testing Market Competitive Landscape:

A wide range of testing services and entry of testing giants made the market competitive

The global honey testing market is highly fragmented with a large number of players providing various testing services to beekeepers, manufacturers, marketers and consumers. The market competition is intense owing to the increasing honey trade and growing consumer interest in non-adulterated honey. Most of the leading food testing and inspection companies including Hill Laboratories, AsureQuality Limited, Eurofins Scientific SE, SGS S.A. and Bureau Veritas S.A. have entered into honey testing to cater for the increasing market demand. Other major players in the industry are ALS Limited, Intertek Group plc, Analytica Laboratories and Microbac Laboratories, Inc.

COVID-19 Impact on Honey Testing Market

Pandemic had a mixed impact on the global honey testing market

While the global trade came to halt during the lockdowns imposed to control the spread of novel coronavirus, the food industry has been impacted by severe freight challenges. Most of the food categories including honey witnessed a decline in sales volume due to lack of demand and supply chain disruptions. The sales of honey declined in the food industry, particularly in foodservice and HoReCas. This weakened business in the global honey market imposed a negative impact on the honey testing industry.

On the other side, the honey testing market in Asia Pacific countries such as New Zealand and Australia witnessed increased opportunities during COVID-19 conditions. These are among the least affected countries by the novel coronavirus and faced limited restrictions on trade activities. New Zealand is the largest exporter of natural honey in the world and the honey originated in the country is globally renowned for its quality and taste. With restrictions prevailing on trade from the Americas and Europe region, the honey industry in New Zealand witnessed robust growth in terms of export. The concerns on product safety and mandatory safety requirements on honey exports led to the growth of the honey testing market in the country