Honey powder: what it is, how it's made and how to source it

10 min read · Sourcing guide · Updated 21 October 2026

Short answer: honey powder is honey dried into a dry, free-flowing powder. Honey on its own is too sticky to dry: in one study no powder at all came out when pure honey was spray-dried. So almost every commercial honey powder is honey plus a carrier, such as maltodextrin, gum arabic or starch. Makers state honey solids from 30% to 70% for their products, and one blend lists only 7%. Honey powder is used in seasonings, sauces, bakery mixes, drinks and cosmetics. Always ask how much honey is in it.

Why honey needs a carrier to become a powder

Honey is mostly fructose and glucose with some water. Dried on its own, it turns into a soft, sticky glass, not a powder. Food scientists explain this by the glass transition temperature: honey's is very low, so dried honey goes sticky at room temperature. A carrier with a higher glass transition, like maltodextrin, keeps the dried particles hard. One study found honey powder starts to stick within about 20 °C above its surface glass transition temperature.

The more carrier, the easier the drying and the less honey in the powder. In a spray-drying study, honey powder came out well at 40 parts honey to 60 parts maltodextrin, or 70 parts honey to 30 parts whey protein isolate. Another study reached 67% honey (solids) with gum arabic against 50% with maltodextrin, though the gum arabic powder took up more moisture. With dehumidified, cooler drying air, one team cut the carrier to 25% and still recovered more than 87% of the powder.

Types of honey powder compared

"—" means our sources do not say. Studies and makers use different bases (% of the powder, or % of solids), so compare figures only on the same basis and ask the supplier which one they mean.

Honey powder vs liquid honey vs crystallised honey

FSSAI and Codex both say honey's consistency "can be fluid, viscous or partly to entirely crystallised": crystallised honey is still honey. Codex also bars chemical or biochemical treatments to influence crystallisation.

What FSSAI and Codex say

FSSAI's honey standard (regulation 2.8.3 of the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations, 2011) defines honey as the natural sweet substance bees make from nectar or plant secretions. "Honey sold as such" may not have any food ingredient or additive added, and must not be heated or processed so much that its composition changes or its quality is impaired. Among its limits: moisture at most 20.0%, total reducing sugars at least 65.0%, sucrose at most 5.0%, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at most 80 mg/kg, C4 sugar at most 7.0%, and tests for rice syrup markers and foreign oligosaccharides.

We searched the full FSSAI compendium (version dated 23 September 2022) and found no standard named honey powder, dried honey or dehydrated honey. Because honey sold as honey may have nothing added, a powder with a carrier is a different food. How a maker licenses and labels it is between the maker and FSSAI: ask for the FSSAI licence and the product name and category printed on the label. The Codex Standard for Honey (CXS 12-1981) uses the same definition and the same no-additions rule, and has a part for honey used as an ingredient in other foods.

How honey powder is made

Stickiness is the main problem at every step: on the dryer walls, in the cyclone and in the bag. That is why carrier level, drying temperature and air humidity decide both the honey content and the cost of the powder. Our sister site foodprocessingworld.com covers the honey plant and the drying line in its honey processing machine guide.

Uses of honey powder

What to ask a honey powder supplier

Honey powder makers

We list only companies whose own website shows honey powder, with what each states. Facts are as read on 21 October 2026; we have not tested any product, and the order is alphabetical, not a ranking.

Outside India:

Directory sites list more Indian sellers of honey powder, but we could not find the product on those companies' own websites, so we leave them out until we can.

Exporting honey powder from India

Honey exports from India are under the Export Inspection Council. Its order on honey (S.O. 276(E) of 4 March 2002) puts honey under quality control and inspection before export, under the Export of Honey (Quality Control, Inspection and Monitoring) Rules, 2002. It bars export unless the honey meets the specifications that apply, usually the importing country's standard or the contract with the buyer, and carries an inspection certificate or proof that the unit is approved and monitored by an Export Inspection Agency. Samples to prospective buyers are outside the order within the value limit set in trade policy.

The order names honey, not honey powder. Ask the exporter how the Export Inspection Agency treats their honey powder, and for the FSSAI licence, the lab reports and the destination's health certificate. For the general pattern of export compliance, see our paneer and processed dairy export guide.

Photo: "MielCristalizada" by Ruffiana, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). Shows crystallised and liquid honey, not honey powder.