Honey is a natural ingredient that humans have embraced since the dawn of time. Today, in our more health conscious world, honey is becoming even more popular than ever. This video looks at how modern day consumers use honey in their everyday lives.

My Notes:

The way people view honey today is somewhat different to how they used to view this golden food thousands of years ago. The ancient Egyptian typically used honey to treat wounds. Today we see honey mainly as a food staple, but minds are slowly changing. Consumers of honey are once again waking up to its use in medicine as well as that of a nutritious food. Demographics, and in particular age, play a role in perceptions.

Sweet Facts About Honey

• There are more than 300 varieties of honey in the US alone
• Honey rages greatly in flavor, aroma and color
• It contains unique, natural ingredients
• It's versatile in its application
• Honey provides an all-natural energy boost
• Acts as a natural cough suppressant
• Acts as an effective skin moisturizer
• Honey nourishes the body from the inside out.

These are just some of the well-known applications for honey. The real list of uses and benefits of this sweet food are exhaustive.

The National Honey Board Firestone, Colo., commissioned a survey into honey. More specifically, they wanted to know how consumers viewed the product.

The National Honey Board (NHB) is an industry-funded agriculture promotion group. In this survey, the NHB wanted to measure consumer perceptions of honey in the modern day. They discovered that 93% of all consumers view honey as a natural sweetener. When asked, most people also saw the product as an ingredient in packaged foods and beverages. Here are some of the findings from that survey:

• About 48 percent of consumers look for product labels that include honey. A further 58 percent of shoppers with kids look for honey on the product labels. And 60% of consumers between the ages of 18-34 look for honey on the product label.
• Around 50 percent of consumers were willing to pay at least five percent more for food products sweetened with honey.
• Parents between the ages 18-44, and middle to high-incomes, are the most mindful. They spend more money on products sweetened with honey than any other group.

Honey is a good natural sweetener and a great alternative to sugar. Because of the real health dangers of table sugar, consumers are desperate to cut it out of their diet. People often use honey for baking, have it on toast, or take it with tea. Its real attraction comes from the fact that it's pure and harvested from honeycombs. Best of all is that honey has no added ingredients or preservatives. These things alone are what make this product of bees hugely attractive to modern day consumers.

Here is an abstract for small study done on Italian consumers. It makes an interesting read and may or may not be representative of honey consumers of other countries.

Attitudes towards honey among Italian consumers: A choice experiment approach
Marta Cosmina, Gianluigi Gallenti, Francesco Marangon, Stefani Troiano.
Appetite | Volume 99, 1 April 2016, Pages 52–58

Summary

Today's consumers are looking and opting for foods made with simple, real ingredients. As savvy shoppers become more health conscious they are turning to more natural foods. People are becoming desperate to remove unhealthy processed foods from their diet. Honey is perhaps the best natural sugar alternative of them all, and for good reason. Moreover, people are getting more tuned-in to the medicinal properties that raw honey can bring to the table.