South Korea Honey Market Report and Forecast 2025-2034

The South Korea honey market reached a volume of about 659.88 Tons in 2024 . The increasing demand for honey-flavoured snacks and government-led initiatives are expected to majorly drive the market during the forecast period of 2025-2034.

Development of Hovenia Honey, a new honey variety and the Craze of Honey Flavoured Snacks Among Consumers to Bolster the Market for Honey

Acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) honey makes up more than 70% of the total honey manufactured in South Korea . However, in recent years, the overall quantity of honey produced has fallen drastically. The reason is climate change, as it has shortened the acacia flower's blooming season and stunted its growth. This led to the development of a new variety of honey called Hovenia honey.

Compared to the Acacia flower, the Hovenia flower produces more nectar. Hovenia trees have thus been proposed as potential honey plants in South Korea. This has positively affected the demand for Hovenia honey and has aided South Korea's honey market.

The snack food manufacturer Haita-Calbee introduced honey butter potato chips  in the year 2015, and ever since honey flavoured snacks have been one of the most preferred food products in the country A frenzied consumer-run resulted from the unexpected success of these salty-sweet, honey-flavoured potato chips and the resulting shortage. Convenience stores fanned out the hordes with firm signs saying, "No Honey Butter Chip left."  Honey Butter Yeolpung, or "craze" in Korean , is the term given to the phenomenon. To meet the increased demand, dozens of identical products emerged in the South Korean market.

Celebrity endorsements further surged the demand for the product. This overwhelming demand for the product made the market more competitive, and many brands like Nongshim’s Sumi, Lotte, and Orion also launched honey-flavoured products. Aided by social media, the popularity of honey butter chips affected the honey market positively.

Market Segmentations

Honey is a by-product of flower nectar and the honeybee’s upper aerodigestive tract, and it is concentrated inside the beehive through dehydration. All the shades of honey are of yellow and amber.

Based on processing, the South Korea market can be segmented into:

• Organic
• Conventional

By end-use, the South Korea Honey market can be bifurcated into:

• Food and Beverage
• Personal Care and Cosmetics
• Pharmaceuticals
• Others

On the basis of Distribution Channels, the South Korea market can be divided into:

• Business to Business
• Business to Consumer

  

By Type Hypermarkets and Supermarkets Convenience Stores Online Others

Rising Health Consciousness, Numerous Health Benefits, and Increasing Demand for Natural Sweeteners Support the Market Growth

Honey is a natural product that has long been used for its medicinal properties . Gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and liver issues can be treated with honey, and those with poor digestion benefit from honey. Additionally, it has been proven how effective honey is in treating coughs. Honey is beneficial for maintaining healthy teeth and gums and is also used to cure insomnia. It provides relief against skin disorders like wounds and burns, anaemia, and respiratory issues. Honey is also an essential ingredient in herbal eye drops, which maintains eyesight and prevents eye ailments like cataracts. Moreover, it regulates insulin secretion, helps in decreasing blood glucose, and improves haemoglobin and lipid profile. These health benefits are one the major factors driving the honey market.

Due to excellent internet penetration and the surge of social media, people are now much more concerned about their health and want to lead a healthy lifestyle by cutting down their sugar intake. This factor has tremendously increased the demand for honey in South Korea. Substituting plant-based sweeteners for natural honey sweeteners will boost the market growth in south Korea during the forecast period. In addition, the honey market's leading competitors have an enormous possibility for expansion due to the increasing disposable income and the rising popularity of honey sweeteners.

The Rising Demand for Premium Honey Among Consumers and the Government’s Policies to Re-Store and Promote Beekeeping will Surge the Market Growth

Even after the pandemic, there is still a high demand for immunity-boosting items. Due to increased discretionary spending, people are ready to pay for the premium honey of apis cerana or apis mellifera honeybees . In the following forecast period, it is projected that demand for honey will increase in both the food and non-food industries due to its anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and other health-improving capabilities.

In order to strategically restore beekeeping, the South Korean government has developed new policies . The government introduced extensive measures in 2010 to support the beekeeping sector as a life industry for eco-friendly growth. Supporting beekeeping associations, upgrading beekeeping techniques and tools, growing plants and developing new honeybee species were all included in these policies.

In 2019, the Korean government enacted a law called ‘Act on supports for beekeeping sector’ to educate and train professional beekeepers and pollinators, extend research services, develop and use relevant technology, promote international cooperation, and subsidize beekeepers’ projects to meet the increasing demand for honey in South Korea in a sustainable way.

Key Players in the South Korea Honey Market

The report provides an in-depth research of the following prominent players in the South Korea honey market, giving a detailed understanding about the competitive landscape, capacity, and recent developments including mergers, acquisitions, and investments, capacity expansion, and plant turnarounds:

• Jeju Honey SG.
• Kkotsaem Foods Co., Ltd.
• Costco Wholesale Corporation
• Honey House
• Others

The EMR report provides a detailed assessment of the market on the basis of the Porter's five forces model, combined with a SWOT analysis.
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