We Germans have a serious sweet tooth. From our morning muesli to our afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen, we like things to be well sweetened, and our favorite sweetener is honey.
However, demand and supply for honey in Germany is a little interesting. Although there are more than 85,000 beekeepers in Germany, most supermarket honey is imported. This is because the majority of German beekeepers are hobbyists or small family operations not much interested in a big marketing push.
To get the fine local honey we really want, in the past we had to hunt it down at farmers’ markets. Now, a new company has worked to unite local beekeepers and make our delicious domestic honey available online.
Heimathonig (in German) provides an online marketplace for honey and beekeepers. It does all the marketing and coordinates the placement of online orders. However, it keeps some farmers market elements by letting you order online and pick up directly from the beekeeper if you are in the area.
For me, the best thing about this site is that I now have access to honey grown in different parts of Germany that would never appear at my local market. There are also honey varieties that are quite rare, like acacia, white fir, blueberry, organic cherry blossom, and seasonal forest flowers.
The prices are very reasonable, too — the typical jar of all natural, locally grown honey is less than 10 euros. A sampler of mini jars in different flavors is just under 8 euros, and the Heimathonig blog announces when new varieties are available.
Heimathonig is also searchable. You can look for beekeepers by zip code, or by the type of honey you would like. This can help you search out the rare varieties, like Black Forest honey, and also control what is in your honey if you like a specific taste.
Even just exploring the site will make your mouth hunger for a taste of something sweet!
I’m off to get my own little honey pot, and happy to say good bye to imported supermarket stuff in favor of local — and delicious — German honey.
—Marcus
