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A US company has secured a patent from the German Patent and Trademark Office for its plant-based “bee-free” honey. San Francisco-based MeliBio says the patent protects its “novel composition method, which replicates the compositional complexity of honey using solely plant-based ingredients.”
Read more: Scientists Create ‘Vaccine’ To Protect Bees From Pesticides
The company explained in a statement that consumer demand for plant-based and bee-free products is rising, so its “crucial” to secure intellectual property rights in “major markets.” Germany is an important market in Europe, positioning MeliBio “favorably for further growth and partnership opportunities in the EU.”
The patent comes two years after MeliBio netted USD $5.7 million in funding. The company aims to make the honey industry sustainable “by finally giving bees a break.”
Honey without the harm
Modern honey production is associated with several welfare and environmental problems. Honeybees produce honey for themselves, not for humans, and commercial beekeepers will often replace the honey with sugar water, which provides no nutrition for the bees. This practice prompts honeybees to overwork themselves to replace the missing honey.
Large numbers of honeybees are introduced by keepers into ecosystems, where they compete with wild bee species for food. Managed honeybees also spread diseases and parasites, further endangering wild populations.
Read more: Bees Feel Pain And Should Be Included In Welfare Laws, New Research Finds
On an episode of the Plant Based News podcast, MeliBio founder Darko Mandich described how he learned about the “lies” of the honey industry when working for conventional food corporations. “Learning about [the honey industry’s] impact was a difficult one for me,” Mandich said. “The honey industry narrative was: ‘The more honey you sell, the more bees will get to work. By employing the bees you’re giving them a life.’ That narrative is one of the biggest lies that exists today. Making honey using honey bees is one of the biggest greenwashing that exists today.”
MeliBio already sells vegan honey products at Aldi and independent stores in the UK, in Austria and Switzerland, and in the US. The Ingredients include fructose, glucose, and water, with the floral notes of honey from bees provided by plant extracts.
Read more: How To Make Your Own Vegan Honey
