The carbon footprint of honey

Our Finnish Floral Honey and Traditional Crystallised Honey jars have CO2e labels, which show the honey’s impact on the climate. The carbon footprint accounts for the honey’s entire production chain from the beginning to the store shelf. The honey’s carbon footprint is 125 grams per 100 grams of product for 450-gram jars and 130 grams per 100 grams of product for 200-gram jars. On the colour-coded scale, the honey’s carbon footprint is clearly green, which means that honey is a low-emission product.

The Finnish Floral Honey’s carbon footprint is 125 grams per 100 grams of product for 450-gram jars and 130 grams per 100 grams of product for 200-gram jars.

The carbon footprint is calculated using a well-known indicator

The CO2e indicator used for food products was developed by Raisio Oyj. The indicator uses simple colour codes to show the size of a product’s carbon footprint: green means that the product is a low-emission product, while yellow and orange mean that the product has a bigger carbon footprint. We began using the carbon footprint indicator on our Finnish Floral Honey product in summer 2010.

Carbon Wingprint as a future goal

Honey Group Finland started working on a project related to the EcoCompass project in summer 2021. The project’s aim is to improve the environmental responsibility of our operation. One of Honey Group Finland’s goals is to examine the possibility of establishing a Carbon Wingprint. This means studying the jar-by-jar environmental benefits of honey.

Honey has a small carbon footprint, and in practice, the consumption of honey actually has a strong positive impact on environmental health. As a result, the carbon footprint of honey is positive thanks to the pollination that bees perform. The value of the bees’ pollination work is estimated to be up to EUR 60 million in Finland. Using the Carbon Wingprint, we can demonstrate that each spoonful of honey has a positive impact on the environment.