Our last Lancashire Mead blog post was all about how we have become members of EMMA (European Mead Makers Association). Following on from there, we announced our Real Mead Certification on our social media channels back in May. One of the biggest issues facing mead makers is the amount of adulterated honey that is around. Buying fake honey can be almost as cheap as buying sugar and, ironically, is easier to work with than real honey. Adulterated honey usually contains glucose/fructose syrup, corn syrup and other chemically stable substances, making it pretty reliable for fermentation purposes. Real honey is completely different in every season and region as it solely relies on the flora and fauna available for the bees to forage from. This makes real honey quite an exacting and unpredictable ingredient to work with! In an effort to disguise adulterated honey, pollen can be added and often fools many purchasers. Only laboratory testing for the enzyme bees use to create honey can confirm a real honey from an adulterated honey.
With this in mind, EMMA had introduced a certification process to help consumers identify real mead made with 100% real honey. It is a process of submitting the certificates we get for the honey we use, plus the registration processes of the suppliers – SALSA, BRC etc – which then have to be confirmed and approved by EMMA. Only once they are satisfied will each mead or mead company be given their unique RealMead certification. We achieved our registration in May 2025 and are proud to display our registration on every product we make!
