Mead Market Set to Experience Remarkable Growth

From industrytoday.co.uk

The report includes market size and forecasts across all segments, presenting values in USD. It also delivers key statistics on the current market status of leading players, long with insights into prevailing market trends and emerging opportunities 

New York, US — December 4, 2025 — The mead market is on the cusp of a major transformation, driven by a resurgence in consumer interest in craft beverages and the unique qualities that mead offers.

Market Overview

Historically overshadowed by beer, wine, and spirits, mead is experiencing a renaissance as consumers increasingly seek unique and artisanal beverage options. Made from fermented honey, water, and various flavourings, mead appeals to a diverse audience looking for both quality and authenticity in their drinking experiences. The growing popularity of mead is attributed to several factors, including the craft beverage movement, health-conscious consumer trends, and innovative flavour profiles.

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Key Trends Driving Market Growth

1. Craft Beverage Movement: The rise of the craft beverage movement has revitalized interest in mead. Consumers are shifting away from mass-produced beverages and seeking out artisanal products with unique flavours. Mead fits perfectly into this trend, offering a wide range of styles and flavour combinations that cater to adventurous palates.
2. Health Consciousness: Mead is often perceived as a healthier alternative to traditional alcoholic beverages. Made primarily from honey, it can be lower in calories and gluten-free, appealing to health-conscious consumers. Additionally, many meads are produced with natural ingredients, aligning with the clean eating movement.
3. Diverse Flavour Profiles: Mead producers are experimenting with various flavour combinations, from traditional meads to innovative blends with fruits, spices, and even hops. This experimentation is attracting a broader audience, including those who may not have previously considered mead as an option.
4. Increased Accessibility: The expansion of meaderies and the growing number of craft producers have made mead more accessible to consumers. Online sales channels and distribution through local retailers are allowing consumers to explore different brands and styles, further driving demand.

Access full description of the report- https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/mead-market

Regional Insights

North America is currently the largest market for mead, driven by a growing number of craft meaderies and increasing consumer awareness. The United States, in particular, has seen a surge in mead production, with many states embracing the craft beverage movement. Europe, with its historical connection to mead, remains a significant market, particularly in countries like the UK and Germany, where traditional mead styles are being revived.

Challenges Facing the Mead Market

Despite the positive outlook, the mead market faces challenges such as competition from established alcoholic beverages, regulatory hurdles, and the need for consumer education. Many consumers are still unfamiliar with mead, which can hinder market penetration. Additionally, the craft beverage industry is becoming increasingly competitive, requiring producers to differentiate themselves through quality and innovation.

Future Outlook

The future of the mead market looks promising as consumer preferences continue to shift towards unique and artisanal beverages. Innovations in flavour, packaging, and marketing strategies will play a crucial role in attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. As the market matures, collaboration among meaderies and partnerships with restaurants and retailers can further enhance visibility and accessibility.

Conclusion

The mead market is poised for remarkable growth, fuelled by the craft beverage movement, health-conscious trends, and an increasing appreciation for unique flavours. As producers continue to innovate and educate consumers about this ancient beverage, mead is set to carve out a significant niche in the global beverage landscape. Whether enjoyed at home or in social settings, mead is becoming a staple for those seeking something different in their drinking experience.

https://industrytoday.co.uk/market-research-industry-today/mead-market-set-to-experience-remarkable-growth

The truth about Vikings and mead might disappoint modern enthusiasts

From theconversation.com

A group of friends sit around a table sharing stories and sipping mead. The men sport beards and the women sip from drinking horns – but these aren’t Vikings, they’re modern-day hipsters.

The 21st century has seen a revival of mead, a fermented alcoholic drink made from water and honey. In the past 20 years or so, hundreds of new meaderies have sprung up around the world.

These meaderies often draw on Viking imagery in their branding. Their wares are called things like Odin’s Mead or Viking Blod and their logos include longships, axes, ravens and drinking horns. A few even have their own themed Viking drinking halls. This is part of what might be called the “Viking turn”, the renewed pop culture vogue for the Vikings in the past 20 years, which has made them the stars of a rash of films, TV shows, video games and memes.

Since the rowdy banquet scene in the 1958 film The Vikings, wild, boozy feasting has been a staple of the hyper-masculine pop culture Viking. This theme continues in the 21st century, from the History Channel’s Vikings TV series (2013-present) to games like Skyrim (2011) and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (2020).

But while modern media suggest that Vikings drank mead as often as water, history tells a slightly different story.

                                                                              Brambilla Simone/Shutterstock

Three stories are foundational for the Viking association with mead. The first is the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, which survives in a single manuscript written in Old English and now in the British Library.

The story it tells is set in southern Sweden and Denmark in the early 6th century, so the warrior culture and lifestyle that Beowulf idealises are actually of a period considerably earlier than the Viking age (usually dated from the later 8th century onward). It does share a great deal of its substance with later Viking notions of the good life and so, for good or ill, they have tended to be conflated.

Most of Beowulf’s action plays out around mead-halls – the power centres of lords such as the Danish king Hrothgar, where the leader would entertain his followers with feasts and drinking in return for their support and military service. This relationship, based upon the consumption of food and drink, but inextricably bound up with honour and loyalty, is the basis of the heroic warrior society that is celebrated by the poet. Not surprisingly, therefore, episodes in which mead is drunk are frequent and clearly emotionally loaded.

A second high-profile appearance of mead comes in Norse mythology. At the god Odin’s great hall, Valhöll, the Einherjar – the most heroic and honoured warriors slain in battle – feast and drink. They consume the unending mead that flows from the udders of a goat named Heiðrún who lives on the roof. Norse myth, it should be noted, is sometimes quite odd.

                    Odin excreting mead in the form of an eagle, from an Icelandic 18th century manuscript. Det Kongelige Bibliotek

Lastly, another important myth tells of Odin’s theft of the “mead of poetry”. This substance was created by two dwarves from honey and the blood of a being named Kvasir, whom they had murdered. The mead bestows gifts of wisdom and poetic skill upon those who drink it.

The whole myth is long and complicated, but it culminates with Odin swallowing the mead and escaping in the form of an eagle, only to excrete some of it backwards when he is especially hotly pursued.

These are striking and impressive episodes that clearly demonstrate the symbolic and cultural significance of mead in mythology and stories about heroes of the Viking age. But that is far from proof that it was actually consumed on a significant scale in England or Scandinavia.

As far back as the 1970s, the philologist Christine Fell noted that Old English medu, (mead), and compound words derived from it appear far more frequently in strongly emotive and poetic contexts such as Beowulf than in practical ones such as laws or charters.

This contrasts strongly with the pattern of usage of other words for alcohol such as ealu (ale), beor (counter intuitively probably “cider”) or win (wine), which are far more frequently used in a functional and practical way. This led Fell to believe that the concentration on mead in the likes of Beowulf was a “nostalgic fiction”. Mead, she concluded, was a fundamental part of an idealised and backwards-looking imagined heroic world rather than something customarily drunk in the course of everyday life.

In 2007, a PhD candidate at the University of York demonstrated the same point in the Scandinavian sources: mjǫðr (“mead”) is far more common in the corpus of Eddic and skaldic poetry than it is in the saga stories of everyday life. Equally, both the word mjǫðr and compound words derived from it are used far less frequently in the sort of practical and purposeful contexts in which ǫl and mungát (the Old Norse words for ale) are plentiful.

                                                     Drinking horns on display at a Viking-themed pub in York. Author provided, CC BY

The strong impression in both England and Scandinavia is that, by the time sources like Beowulf were written from the 10th century onward, the plentiful drinking of mead by a lord’s retinue was largely symbolic. It represented the contractual bonds of honour in an idealised warrior society.

This was more a poetic image than a reflection of frequent real-life practice. The standard drink at feasts, let alone at normal everyday household meals, was far more likely to be ale.

Mead was once a highly prized drink – probably the most desirable beverage well before the Viking age, as its honoured place in Valhöll and Hrothgar’s hall suggests. However, honey’s scarcity made mead expensive and hard to source in northern Europe. By the Viking age, exotic Mediterranean wine, mentioned as Odin’s drink in the Grímnismál, may have begun to replace mead as the elite’s preferred choice.

So what, then, for modern mead-drinking Viking enthusiasts? The point is not, of course, that Vikings or any other early medieval people never drank mead – some clearly did, if not perhaps quite so often as is sometimes alleged – but rather that it served more as a symbol of a story-filled heroic neverland. But that is arguably exactly how many of today’s mead-drinkers also use it. 

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

https://theconversation.com/the-truth-about-vikings-and-mead-might-disappoint-modern-enthusiasts-267902

UK: Gosnells snaps up second South London site

From thedrinksbusiness.com

Peckham-based meadery, Gosnells Drinks, has announced the acquisition of John the Unicorn (JTU) from the Portobello Pub Group, marking the company’s second venue in South London.

Under the new ownership, all existing JTU staff will remain in place and the venue will keep its name. Gosnells founder Tom Gosnell said: “It’s part of the fabric of Rye Lane. We love how the unicorn – something mythical, unique and just a bit unordinary – fits perfectly with Gosnells’ left-of-centre view of the world. 

“We want to lean into what makes John the Unicorn iconic, while weaving in the Gosnells DNA, moments of unexpected delight, a bit of playfulness, and that feeling that you’ve stumbled into somewhere rare and prized.”

The venue will serve up a pizza menu alongside Gosnells’ Honey Nectars, cocktails, wine, beer and low-ABV pours. Events – from live music events and local collaborations – are also on the cards.

Looking ahead

The company has appointed Chris McGovern, formerly of The Number Group in Hackney Wick, as head of Gosnells retail to oversee the expansion. Plans include extending opening hours and introducing daytime café service with coffee, pastries and locally sourced lunches, catering to remote workers.

Richard Stringer, managing director of the Portobello Pub Company, said: “We have loved our time with John the Unicorn, but it is exciting to see it gain a new lease of life with a truly locally rooted business.”

The operator, who has worked with Gosnells for several years, will now knuckle down on its refurbishment programme, which will continue in the next few weeks at No 32 in Clapham and Westow House in Crystal Palace.

Gosnells: a history

Gosnells’ Sales and Marketing Director, Cameron McKenzie-Wilde, said: “We’re proud of how Gosnells has grown alongside changes and trends in consumer behaviour towards a more balanced lifestyle, especially considering the overall challenges in the drinks and hospitality industries. 

“John the Unicorn gives us the Peckham home we have been looking for and enables us to reach more consumers and grow our community even further. We’re looking forward to the next few months as we grow John the Unicorn into a destination venue for drinks, food, and experiences in South London.”

Founded in 2014, Gosnells brews its Honey Nectars, low-ABV sparkling drinks inspired by craft beer and mead,  in Peckham.

John the Unicorn will join Gosnells’ Bermondsey Bar as a flagship site, with more venues expected to follow in 2026.

Gosnell added: “As both a brand and business, we strongly believe in ‘by Peckham, for Peckham’ so there’s an extra layer of pride that we’re taking over such a storied space in our own backyard. And that we get to share it with the community who’s supported us from the start.”

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/11/gosnells-meadery-in-london-to-open-second-site/ 

With an abundance of honey: Zydeco Meadery brings mead making tradition to Massachusetts

From recorder.com

Non-drinkers like me may tend to think of mead — honey wine — as a beverage no one has consumed since Medieval times. Eric Depradine of Zydeco Meadery in North Attleboro begs to differ.

Depradine and his wife DeAundra have been making mead for more than a decade, first in Louisiana, later in Missouri, and now in Massachusetts. He told me in a recent telephone interview that mead is still produced in China, in India, in West Africa, and in Europe … basically wherever bees are raised.

“To be honest with you,” he said, “all cultures practice beekeeping. And many beekeepers inadvertently make their own mead by harvesting their honey too soon.”

Eric Depradine and his wife DeAundra have been making mead for more than a decade, first in Louisiana, later in Missouri, and now in Massachusetts. / Courtesy Jason Dailey

The Depradines didn’t start out with the intention of making mead. After meeting in college in Louisiana and getting married, they spent their honeymoon in Washington state. There they enjoyed sipping riesling. 

They returned to Louisiana intending to try making that wine themselves, only to discover that the grapes for it couldn’t be raised in the Deep South. Instead, Depradine said, “My wife purchased a book for me on mead making because Louisiana has an abundance of honey.”

The pair moved to Missouri, where in his spare time Depradine took a winemaking class at Highland Community College. The college opened a winemaking incubator, where clients could learn more and share expensive equipment.

Eventually, the Depradines were ready to begin selling their mead. They decided to pay tribute to the idea’s origins by calling their enterprise Zydeco Meadery. Zydeco is the distinctive African-American style of music that came out of Opelousas, Louisiana, where the couple once lived.

Eric Depradine is happy to be back in Massachusetts; he grew up here before heading to Louisiana for college. He sells four types of mead today. One of these, called Yankee Heritage Cyser, was inspired by a visit to Cider Days here in western Massachusetts in 2020.

“My mother, Gail Depradine, and I made the trip from Boston to the Shelburne Falls area and tasted a colonial-style hard cider at the former Bear Swamp Orchard and Cidery,” Depradine recalled.

                 A five-gallon bucket of crystalized Massachusetts knotweed honey. / Courtesy Zydeco Meadery

“It was barrel-aged with apples, brown sugar, and raisins — rich, rustic, and deeply rooted in New England tradition. I took a bottle back to Kansas City for my wife to try, and she immediately asked, ‘Can you make a mead version of this?’”

After some thinking, he explained, “I reimagined the recipe, swapping brown sugar for knotweed honey from Crystal Honey in Billerica, and initially using apples from New York’s Finger Lakes region. Later, I turned to fruit from Pine Hill Orchards in Colrain, coming full circle back to the orchards of western Massachusetts.”

I asked how the Cyser differs from the hard cider to which we are accustomed. Depradine suggested that the alcohol content is slightly higher and that the mead might be a little sweeter, thanks to the knotweed honey he adds to his apple juice.

He added that the blend of apples he uses for juice, a mixture of aromatic and bittersweet apples, contributes to the mead’s unique flavour.

Depradine hopes to return to Cider Days another year, perhaps to sell his mead. Meanwhile, he and his family (the Depradines have two children) are busy making mead and selling it at various farmers markets. Locally, it is available at Ryan & Casey Liquors in Greenfield.

Despite his passion for making mead, Eric Depradine is determined to keep his business from getting too large, in part to ensure consistent quality, and in part because his weekday work is his family’s primary source of income. “It gives me more stability than is available to other winemakers,” he said of the job.

In the distant future, he and his family hope to expand to make more mead and perhaps even to open a restaurant. For the moment, he is proud of the product he makes and the public’s reaction to it.

I asked Eric Depradine for a recipe, and he gave me instructions for making mead at home.

He noted that the specialized equipment — the carboys, etc. — can all be purchased at a homebrew supply store or an online homebrewing site.

Homemade Mead a la Zydeco

Ingredients:

3/4 pound local honey plus more honey to taste much later

1 1/4 gallons unpasteurized local apple juice

1 handful raisins

1 packet wine yeast

2 potassium metabisulfite tablets, separated

a small amount of potassium sorbate 

Instructions:

Sanitize your equipment. Place the 3/4 pound honey and the apple juice in a 3-gallon bucket.

Place the raisins in cheesecloth, and tie the cheesecloth to create a secure bundle to keep the raisins in place. 

Add the wine yeast and the cheesecloth-covered raisins to the bucket of honey and apple juice.

Cover the bucket, and let it sit and ferment for 2 weeks.

Sanitize a glass carboy. Remove the raisin packet from the liquid, and transfer the mead to age and clarify in the carboy. Add a potassium metabisulfite tablet to prevent oxidation.

Allow the mead to sit for 30 days. Look at it and sniff it. It should be relatively clear with no smell like vinegar or nail polish. If it is okay, let it sit for another 30 days. Look and smell again.

If you do get the smell, you will have to start over again, making sure to sanitize all equipment and to top off the carboy to minimize oxygen exposure.

If your mead looks and smells okay at the end of the 60 days, sweeten the mead with a little more local honey to taste; then add a little potassium sorbate to prevent re-fermentation.

Add another sulfite tablet to prevent oxidation.

Either transfer the mead to a clean carboy or bottle and cork it in smaller quantities. Share with friends and family. You will end up with a little over 1 gallon of mead.

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.

https://recorder.com/2025/10/27/with-an-abundance-of-honey-zydeco-meadery-brings-mead-making-tradition-to-massachusetts/ 

Massachusetts: 1634 Meadery to host HOWL-o-ween fundraiser for Wolf Hollow

From thelocalnews.news

IPSWICH — Did you know that wolves in the wild may only live between four to six years, challenged by disease, starvation, inter-pack conflict, and human interference?

But in captivity, these majestic animals can live up to three times longer — thanks to organizations like Wolf Hollow, which has been working to protect and educate the public about wolves for over three decades.

Since 1990, Wolf Hollow, a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Massachusetts, has dedicated itself to preserving wolves in the wild through hands-on education and close-up experiences with live wolves.

Operating solely on admissions, gift shop sales, memberships, and donations, the organization depends on community support. And now, the community has a unique opportunity to give back.

                                                                                                                               Ellora Sen-Gupta photo

This Saturday, October 25, 1634 Meadery in Ipswich (3 Short St.) will be hosting a family-friendly fundraising event from 1 to 5 p.m. to benefit Wolf Hollow. The event will feature Chelsea Morey, who will lead interactive educational sessions packed with wolf facts, touchable artefacts, and fun for all ages.

To sweeten the deal, 1634 Meadery will donate $1 from every bottle, glass of mead, or tasting flight sold during the event to Wolf Hollow. It’s a chance to enjoy local mead, learn about these incredible animals, and support a vital conservation mission all at once.

The Ipswich fundraiser conveniently follows the town’s downtown trick-or-treating festivities, offering families a perfect way to continue the HOWL-o-ween celebration while doing some good for wildlife.

So bring the kids, raise a glass, and help ensure these powerful and vital animals continue to thrive in the wild.

Another fun fact: Grey wolves, often misunderstood, are twice the size of coyotes, growing up to six feet in length and three feet tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 100 pounds, with some exceptional individuals like a massive 140-pound grey wolf documented in Alaska in 1977.

https://thelocalnews.news/2025/10/21/1634-meadery-to-host-howl-o-ween-fundraiser-for-wolf-hollow/ 

Japan: Made from metsä honey! Mead, beloved by the Nordic Vikings, the world's oldest alcoholic beverage

From metsa-hanno.com 

Metsä Village (Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture), a Nordic lifestyle experience facility operated by metsä Co., Ltd. (CEO: Mochizuki Kiyoshi), has been implementing the "Honeybee Project" since March 2022 as part of its original brand "Ethical Choice," which is kind to the earth and people, in the rich natural environment surrounding the lake.

　Using honey collected by bees living in a facility with a Nordic feel, and in cooperation with Dearlet Field Brewery, a mead specialist brewery in Ogano Town, Chichibu District, Saitama Prefecture, we have developed a new mead, the world's oldest alcoholic beverage, which was also consumed by the Vikings, the ancestors of the Nordic people.

　To coincide with the "metsä Viking Weekend 2025" (Saturday, November 1st and Sunday, November 2nd, 2025), which commemorates the 7th anniversary of the opening of metsä Village and is one of the main events of "metsä Nordic Christmas 2025," we will be offering a special sale of just 90 bottles of rare mead.

"Metsä Viking Mead -2025-"
NORDIC ×VIKING × SAITAMA ×METSÄ

　The honey collected by bees raised in the Metsä Village is harvested in the spring. This natural, unheated, fresh honey with a sugar content of over 84% is transformed into mead, the world's oldest alcoholic beverage, beloved by the Vikings, ancestors of the Nordic people, by the mead specialist brewery, Diaret Field Brewery, located in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. The nectar is sourced from cherry blossoms, rape blossoms, horse chestnuts, perilla, lilies, clover, and more. Packed with the bounty of spring, it is characterized by its refreshing sweetness and rich honey flavour.
　■Sales start: Saturday, November 1, 2025
　■Sales price: 1,980 yen (tax included) *Limited to 90 bottles
　■Sales location: "Dialet Field Brewery" booth at the Viking Market event
　■Honey origin: Metsä (Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture)
　■アルコール度数：10％

Comment from Dearlet Fields Brewery, a brewery specializing in mead
　"Metsä" means "forest" in Finnish, and we have produced mead using floral honey harvested from the forest's flowers. This mead, with its refreshing sweetness and rich honey flavour, evokes the richness of nature. We hope you will enjoy the mead that Vikings have enjoyed throughout history at Metsä Village, where you can experience the Nordic lifestyle.

<Metsä Honeybee Project Implementation Overview>
　The decline in honeybee populations due to pesticides and climate change is causing concern about a lack of pollination and the deterioration of forests and ecosystems. Through beekeeping, with the rich natural surroundings of Lake Miyazawa as a backdrop, we aim to help our guests understand biodiversity and respect for nature.
　■Location: metsä village
　■ Number of hives: 2 groups (approximately 30,000 nestlings)
　■Type of bee: Western honeybee
　*With regard to beekeeping, we work under the guidance of experts to carefully consider the locations of beehives and ensure thorough safety management.
　*[SDGs] Corresponds to "Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production," "Goal 15: Take urgent action to combat climate change," and "Goal 15: Life on land."

"metsä Viking Weekend 2025" (free admission)
Event period: November 1st (Sat) and 2nd (Sun), 2025
Details:https://metsa-hanno.com/event/41016/
Cooperation: Japan Viking Association

"metsä's Nordic Christmas 2025" (free admission)
Event period: November 1st (Sat) to December 25th (Thu), 2025
Details: https://metsa-hanno.com/event/40758/
Supported by: Embassy of Sweden, Embassy of Denmark, Embassy of Finland, Embassy of Lithuania

https://metsa-hanno.com/en/News/press_release/41040/

Ohio USA: D&D Meadery hits shelves at Heinen’s

From msn.com/en-us

MENTOR, Ohio –D&D Meadery is getting its mead on the shelves at Heinen’s grocery stores. The rollout began gradually in June.

July marks the one-year anniversary for the Mentor-based Meadery, which is operated by brothers Dominick and Derek Zirkle. They started with a traditional honey mead and now have four additional varieties. These include: 

• Blueberry Blackberry (Dry) – Crisp and bold, this drinks like a dry white wine with rich berry notes.
• Red Apple (Dry) – Tastes like a dry cider with a clean apple finish
• Strawberry Raspberry (Semi-Sweet) – Fruity and refreshing with tangy raspberry notes balanced by sweet strawberries.
• Maple Syrup (Sweet) – Made with locally sourced maple syrup. It’s full-bodied, sweet and indulgent.
• Traditional Honey (Sweet) – The OG — pure, smooth, and timeless.

For those unfamiliar with the product, Dominick says, “Mead is wine made from honey instead of grapes. It’s the most ancient alcoholic beverage.”

He sees it gaining popularity.

“People are complacent about the typical beer and typical wine. Mead is something new. It’s like cider, a good alternative,” he said.

The brothers source their honey, maple syrup and fruit from local farms.

“All our meads are handcrafted using freshly juiced whole fruits and fermented with raw honey. That means real ingredients, real flavour and no shortcuts,” he said.

In addition to selling at festivals and special events throughout Ohio, D&D has a stand at the Shaker Square Farmers Market from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday. They’ll also be at the Vintage Ohio Wine Festival in August.

The mead production facility is not open to the public. Customers interested in finding these meads can check out the meadery’s website.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/d-d-meadery-hits-shelves-at-heinen-s/ar-AA1GSWDQ?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1