A Producer-Led Path Forward
Leading beekeeping organizations unite to strengthen demand for U.S. honey and explore a national verification mark — from hive to table.
U.S. honey producers are facing one of the toughest markets in recent memory. Prices paid to beekeepers have been under pressure for years, while costs — labor, transportation, equipment, disease management — keep rising. At the same time, imported and blended honey fills retail shelves, leaving buyers and consumers with little way to know what they’re actually buying. The challenge for domestic producers isn’t just making great honey. It’s making sure U.S. honey is recognized, valued, and trusted.
In response, leading national and state beekeeping organizations have launched the American Honey Promotion Initiative — a producer-led effort to build demand for honey grown and harvested in the United States and to develop tools that identify it clearly in the marketplace. The initiative is guided by a newly established Steering Committee made up of representatives from the American Honey Producers Association (AHPA) Scott Hamilton (Chair), Chris Hiatt and Bob Morlock, the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) Bret Adee, Glen Card and Richard Coy, the California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) Bryan Ashurst, and the North Dakota Beekeepers Association (NDBA) Tim Hiatt. Presidents of each participating organization serve as ex-officio non-voting members of the committee. Producer organizations not yet represented are welcome to reach out to Scott Hamilton about joining.
The Steering Committee is the central forum where participating organizations share guidance and shape the initiative’s direction. The work is focused and practical: evaluate what a national U.S. honey promotion effort should look like, and determine whether a voluntary “100% U.S.–Produced Honey” verification mark could restore trust and value across the supply chain.
The initiative is built on a simple belief: promotion should be led by producers, run transparently, and serve the long-term interests of U.S. beekeepers. The Steering Committee ensures that the people who actually produce honey — especially commercial producers with real market exposure — have a direct hand in shaping the recommendations.
The committee’s work covers several connected areas. On promotion and marketing, members will look at campaign goals, messaging, and positioning that set U.S. honey apart from imported, blended, or vaguely labeled products — identifying the right channels, partners, and expertise to reach buyers, retailers, and consumers at a national scale.
The committee will also examine a potential voluntary verification mark for “100% U.S.–Produced Honey” — looking at eligibility criteria, documentation standards, chain-of-custody requirements, and audit frameworks to make sure any mark is credible and enforceable. A key question will be whether it’s best run internally or through an independent third party, with producer trust and market integrity as the benchmarks.
Funding and accountability are part of the design from day one. Participating organizations have committed financial support, and the Steering Committee will assess costs and benefits, explore voluntary assessment models, and deliver regular updates and final recommendations to leadership.
It’s worth being clear about what this initiative is — and what it isn’t. The issues around imported honey, including mislabeling, adulteration, and fraud, are real and serious. AHPA and others are actively working on those fronts through trade negotiations, enforcement advocacy, and regulatory channels. That work is ongoing and important. But this initiative deliberately takes a different approach: rather than trying to fix everything at once, it focuses on making the positive case for American honey. Educate consumers, build trust in a U.S. origin mark, invest in domestic promotion. A market where people actively seek out authentic U.S. honey is itself one of the most effective long-term counters to fraud and mislabeling. One focused effort, done well, will achieve far more than spreading resources too thin.
The American Honey Promotion Initiative is a work in progress — it’s a structured process for asking hard questions and figuring out whether a unified promotion and verification effort can genuinely strengthen the U.S. honey market. Bringing multiple producer organizations together under one Steering Committee is a rare moment of alignment in an industry that faces these challenges together.
Data sources: USDA NASS Honey Report 2024 · USDA ERS Charts of Note · National Honey Board 2025 Nielsen Category Review · Bee Health Collective / NHB Usage Study · US Import Data 2024–25. Some figures are estimates or approximations based on published ranges.