I need someone to educate me on honey. Why should I pay €6.95 for 340gm of the sweet stuff when I can get 454gms of it for €1.99?
I admit, the comparisons aren't exactly like with like. The dearer one, Deise Honey, is made on a farm in Co. Waterford.
The cheaper one was bought in Aldi and had the Irish tricolour marked on it and was called Kilcrea Gold. So, I thought it was Irish made, especially when I saw the County Cork address on the jar. There is a drawing of Kilcrea Abbey (Ovens) on the jar and the address is Cooleen Foods, Co.Cork.
The obvious difference, before tasting, was that the Kilcrea was much darker. On tasting, the difference, to me anyhow, is not that much though I would definitely prefer the Waterford product but at €6.95 it the most expensive I’ve come across in the last year or so.
Now, one other thing, rather annoying, about the Aldi jar. As I say, it had all the looks of a local product but, on closer inspection, I read, under the tricolour (where you normally expect to see “produced in Ireland”) “packed in Ireland” and the product is a blend of EC and non EC honeys.
That, of course, doesn't rule out Irish honey and of course it is no crime if it is not. In addition to its well known Irish Organic range, Mileeven Honey in Kilkenny market a “ range of honeys from around the world”.
4 comments:
Plain and simple, it's misleading to have a tricolour on a product that isn't produced here in Ireland.
The thing about your blend of EU and Non Eu honey's is that they use the cheapest honey gathered from all over the world and mixed and bottled. You don't get any real flavour or aroma that you will get with a honey from a single producer. A lot of cheap honey is made by bees being artificially fed sugar and this too will affect the taste. Try and buy from a local bee keeper and you will get fresh, unpasteurised, delicious honey and you will be supporting your local bees as well. As for Aldi I would complain as it does seem rather misleading.
David
Thanks for that eye-opening info. I am all for supporting local food producers but €6.95 per jar seems excessive.
Did you ever think about getting your own bees ? .A starter course is held in Midleton Vocational School every Spring,very informative and FREE.Michael Wolfe and Charlie Terry anong the Lecturers.I go every year as there is always somethiing to learn about bees.Find a bee keeper and buy your honey direct and remember local honey has local enzymes and antibodies for Hayfever etc.
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