Salzburg honey awards give 245 products gold standard

Some 245 products reached the gold standard at Salzburg’s eighth honey awards, held in Hallein, a town in the Tennengau district, ORF reported. A total of 360 products received awards after 191 beekeeping businesses entered the competition.

The state beekeepers’ association said a particularly good harvest had contributed to the quality of the entries. Association head Andreas Brieger also welcomed record registration numbers, saying they had more than doubled. Honey wines, liqueurs and oxymel were included in the awards for the first time.

The honey entries were assessed in eight categories, including blossom honey, forest honey, alpine rose honey and melezitose honey. The categories were expanded this year, with forest honey groups further divided and several speciality honeys added.

Melezitose is a sugar made up of two glucose molecules and one fructose molecule. It can solidify in the honeycomb, making the honey difficult to harvest. Laboratory head Chris Steube said the awards aimed to raise its profile and introduce it to customers.

Honey was tested for water content, invertase content, conductivity and pH, followed by a sensory assessment of its appearance, smell and taste. Dry conditions this year resulted in particularly low water content, which improves shelf life, though very dry honey can lose some flavour.

Women now make up 19 percent of the state association’s members. Brieger said he expected women to play an increasingly important role in beekeeping.