Bulk Natural Honey (Multifloral & Monofloral, 300 kg Drums and IBCs)

Multifloral and monofloral honey in 300 kg drums and IBCs, bought on moisture, HMF, colour and an authenticity report

Bulk honey is bought by packers and food manufacturers in 300 kg drums or IBCs, declared under HS 0409.00, and the price turns on floral source, colour and the laboratory file behind the lot. Multifloral honey is the working grade for blending and ingredients; monofloral honeys such as acacia, sunflower, clover or orange blossom carry a premium that only pollen analysis and sensory results can support. The compositional floor is set by Codex CXS 12-1981 and, for the EU, Council Directive 2001/110/EC: moisture not above 20% for most honeys, HMF not above 40 mg/kg (80 mg/kg for honey of declared tropical origin and blends of it) and diastase activity of at least 8 on the Schade scale, with lower limits allowed for naturally low-enzyme honeys. Colour is graded in millimetres on the Pfund scale, from water white below 9 mm through extra light amber at 35-50 mm to amber, and the buyer's blend usually sets the band. Adulteration is the commercial problem: the EU coordinated action "From the Hives", sampling from November 2021 to February 2022 and published in March 2023, found 147 of 320 imported samples, or 46%, suspicious of non-compliance, with sugar syrups, removed pollen and forged traceability among the methods found. The AOAC 998.12 stable carbon isotope test flags more than 7% C4 sugars from cane or corn, but it cannot see C3 syrups from rice or beet, which is why buyers now ask for NMR profiling or LC-HRMS results as well. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 0409.00 total USD 2.16 billion and about 753,000 MT across 119 reporters: China USD 265 million and 169,600 MT, New Zealand USD 251 million, India USD 180 million and 94,800 MT, Argentina USD 171 million and 78,400 MT, Ukraine USD 167 million and 85,800 MT, Germany USD 116 million, Spain USD 103 million, Brazil USD 101 million and 37,900 MT, Hungary USD 67 million, Mexico USD 47 million, Romania USD 41 million, Türkiye USD 33 million and Uruguay USD 26 million and 11,500 MT. Those are declared export values, not offers.

The buyer is a honey packer, a supermarket private-label desk, a bakery, cereal or confectionery manufacturer, or an importer-distributor in Europe, the Gulf, North America or Asia. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers bulk honey from packers and exporters in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Ukraine, India, Viet Nam, New Zealand, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Türkiye and Uruguay, against the origin authority's health certificate, a certificate of analysis from an accredited laboratory, a certificate of origin and a halal certificate where the destination asks for one. For the EU the origin must be on the list of third countries with an approved residue monitoring plan for honey, now Annex -I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405, and chloramphenicol and nitrofuran metabolites are tested against the reference points for action in Regulation (EU) 2019/1871, 0.15 µg/kg and 0.5 µg/kg. Directive (EU) 2024/1438 amended the Breakfast Directive so that from 14 June 2026 blends of honey carry every country of origin on the label in descending order of weight with its percentage share, which makes the origin papers on each drum part of the product. Gulf labels follow GSO 9 with the honey itself tested to GSO 147; US-bound honey needs FDA food facility registration and prior notice, and raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India and Viet Nam entering the USA is subject to antidumping duty orders published on 10 June 2022, with administrative reviews still being issued in 2026, at rates set per exporter. Drums move in 20-ft dry containers on FOB, CFR and CIF terms; minimum lots are confirmed per product and pack. Send the floral source, colour band, test panel, packing and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.