Understanding the “Tre Gocce d’Oro” Honey Awards": What This Honey Award Really Means

How Italian honeys are evaluated and what the distinctions mean

The Tre Gocce d’Oro – Grandi Mieli d’Italia competition represents one of the most established reference points for the evaluation of Italian honey. Created to monitor, improve, and promote the quality and diversity of national honey production, it combines laboratory analysis with structured sensory evaluation carried out by officially accredited experts.

Rather than functioning as a marketing showcase, the competition is designed as a quality assessment system that provides producers with detailed feedback and consumers with a reliable orientation tool.

A National Reference for Italian Honey

In a highly variable production context influenced by climate and seasonal conditions, the Tre Gocce d’Oro competition offers an annual snapshot of Italian honey production. The 2025 edition registered record participation, with 1,790 honey samples submitted by 599 beekeepers from all Italian regions, confirming the central role of the competition within the Italian beekeeping sector.

Beyond ranking products, the competition also serves as a continuous training platform for experts in honey sensory analysis, helping to maintain a shared evaluation standard at national level.

How Honeys Are Evaluated

All honeys entered in the competition undergo a multi-step evaluation process.

Laboratory Analysis

Samples are first analyzed by independent laboratories to verify objective quality parameters such as:

• moisture content (linked to product stability)
• HMF levels (r HMF levels in honey indicate its freshness)
• color and purity
• absence of contaminants
  

For honeys with rare or specific botanical declarations, melissopalynological analysis ( the microscopic study of pollen and other plant remnants (like fungal spores, hyphae) in honey to determine its botanical and geographical origin,) is used to verify floral origin through pollen identification. Only samples meeting these criteria proceed to sensory evaluation.

Sensory Evaluation by Accredited Experts

Italy is the only country with a national register of officially recognized honey tasters, regulated by ministerial decree. In the 2025 edition, 137 accredited experts participated in the sensory evaluation process.

Each honey is evaluated anonymously and independently, using a structured scoring system that assesses:

• olfactory characteristics
• taste and flavor development
• tactile properties (texture, crystallization)
• harmony and overall balance

Scores are combined with visual evaluation results to produce a final score out of 100 points, with greater weight assigned to intrinsic sensory qualities rather than presentation.

One, Two and Three Golden Drops: What They Mean

The Tre Gocce d’Oro system does not assign awards based on fixed thresholds alone. Instead, distinctions are calibrated each year according to the overall quality level of the samples submitted.

• One Golden Drop is awarded to a selected proportion of honeys that meet high quality standards.
• Two Golden Drops recognize honeys that stand out further within the competition.
• Three Golden Drops represent the highest distinction and are awarded only to the top-performing honey within a specific category, provided that the category includes at least eight competing samples and that strict quality criteria are met.

As a result, Three Golden Drops are awarded sparingly and are not guaranteed in every category or every year.

The 2025 Edition: Contextual Results

In the 2025 edition, 630 honeys received distinctions:

• 359 honeys with One Golden Drop
• 248 honeys with Two Golden Drops
• 23 honeys with Three Golden Drops

These results reflect both the overall quality level and the competitive nature of each botanical category.

Awarded Honeys in Our Selection

Within this framework, several honeys in our selection were recognized in the 2025 edition, reflecting different levels of distinction across botanical types:

Arbarée

• • Corbezzolo (Strawberry Tree) — Three Golden Drops
  • Cardo (Thistle) — Two Golden Drops
  • Erica arborea (Tree Heath) — Two Golden Drops
  • Sulla — Two Golden Drops
  • Eucalipto — One Golden Drop
  • Millefiori — One Golden Drop

Armìe

• • Corbezzolo (Strawberry Tree) — One Golden Drop
  • Lavanda (Lavender) — Two Golden Drops

These recognitions illustrate how the same competition framework can highlight excellence across different floral origins and production styles.

Why the Tre Gocce d’Oro Matter

The value of the Tre Gocce d’Oro system lies not in the award itself, but in the method behind it. By combining analytical rigor, structured sensory evaluation, and transparent criteria, the competition contributes to the ongoing improvement and differentiation of Italian honey.

For consumers, it offers a reliable reference for understanding quality within a diverse and complex landscape.