

A royal nutritional profile
If royal jelly displays a composition that makes other bee products look pale, it is in particular for its contents of 10-HDA (10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid) and specific proteins, the MRJP ("major royal jelly proteins "). These compounds give it its traditionally recognized benefits, in particular on the immune sphere. Our Royal Jelly can boast of having an exceptional nutritional profile with 1.4% 10-HDA and 14% protein.
French and local
Care and patience ... This is what the beekeeper lavishes on his bees and the production of royal jelly, and which makes it an exceptional product. Our French and Organic Royal Jelly is produced in the heart of the Puy-de-Dôme department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, because why look outside our borders for a superior quality product that can be found nearby? From setting up and caring for the hives, to harvesting and potting, our partner beekeepers have all the know-how.
A royal jelly all laid out
While only 1% of the royal jelly consumed in France really comes from France, our Royal Jelly benefits from the authentic French Royal Jelly® certification, a mark of die-hard tricolor beekeepers of the Groupement des Producteurs de Gelée Royale. In addition to strict traceability, this label is also a guarantee of quality: a type 1 royal jelly, that is to say from a swarm exclusively fed with honey, fresh, non-frozen, not having undergone any transformation and refrigerated immediately after harvest to preserve its nutritional qualities.
The benefits of royal jelly are multiple.
The properties of royal jelly
Royal jelly is an exceptional product resulting from the hive and the work of bees: it is especially recognized for its benefits on immunity, bacterial activity and inflammation.
Compounds with recognized benefits
The virtues of royal jelly are said to result from its richness in specific compounds such as “major royal jelly proteins” (MRJP) and 10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA). Its unique nutritional profile continues to interest the scientific community.
Properties distinct from those of honey
Royal jelly is also differentiated from honey by its organoleptic characteristics: its flavor is more pungent, more acidic and less sweet, while its texture is liquid and milky in appearance. Protein and glycogen.
Humans have always had a true admiration for the work of bees, and their social organization fascinates for the dedication and investment they show in their community.
Beekeeping also symbolizes patience and demonstrates an equally remarkable commitment. It offers access to exceptional natural products from this buzzing microcosm that is the beehive, such as the famous royal jelly.
The history of royal jelly can be learned through its discovery but also through that of beekeeping. The consumption of bee products would have started in the Neolithic (6000 to 2200 BC) with the harvest of honey from wild nests. It was around 2000 BC that Man is said to have created beekeeping, the oldest traces of which have been found in Egypt. The activity would then have spread through civilizations: in Central America with the Mayans, as well as in Ancient Rome. Among the products of the hive, honey represents the oldest nutritional discovery and its medicinal, antibacterial action in particular, has made it a very popular remedy, whether across the world, in Egypt or in China, or across the eras, from Antiquity to the present day, including medieval times and more recently in recent decades marked by episodes of war.
Royal jelly, meanwhile, would have been discovered more recently, although early writings mention its consumption as far back as Ancient Greece through the shredding of honeycombs. It was in 1672 that the German naturalist Swammerdam identified a kind of "white porridge" which would serve, like honey, as food for bees. In 1734, Réaumur brought to light that this substance was produced by so-called “worker” bees. Then it was in 1788 that it acquired its name of "royal jelly" thanks to the Swiss naturalist François Huber, because of the power of this famous "porridge" to turn larvae into queens. Finally, in the mid-1800s, the American pastor and inventor in beekeeping, Langstroth (he notably invented a beehive model), analyzed royal jelly and developed his business at the end of the 19th century.
The only food for future queens and hive larvae, royal jelly is also called “bee milk” for its white color, its thick and viscous texture, and for its nutritional richness.
Before making the royal jelly, the bees in the swarm must first build the alveoli (or cells) of the hive: royal alveoli (larger), on the one hand, for the larvae that become queen bees, and standard size alveoli, on the other hand, for other larvae in the colony that are required to become “workers”. Royal jelly is secreted by worker bees (Apis mellifera) also known as “nurses”, by means of their hypopharyngeal glands (at the level of the head). These bees fulfill their role of nurses only between their 5th and 6th day and their 15th day of existence. While the worker larvae of the swarm are fed royal jelly only during their first 3 days of existence, the future queens and queen are fed on it throughout their lives. The queen will live 2 to 5 years while a worker bee has a life expectancy of only 1 to 3 months.
Naturally, the most royal jelly is found in the royal cells where future queens are raised, the equivalent of 6 days of food versus 3 for future workers. The egg is then in the larval stage and bathed in royal jelly. While the making of royal jelly is above all a natural process, its yield can be greatly increased with the careful intervention of the beekeeper.
To optimize the natural production of royal jelly, it follows a very specific method:
- The scaling: or the elimination of the wax covering the cell,
- Delarvage: that is to say the delicate removal of the larva from the socket,
- Extraction: the collection of pure royal jelly by suction and filtration before being placed directly in the cold.
This meticulous work requires a lot of time and attention, and the widespread craze for royal jelly assumes a correlated increase in production. But at what cost ? Several months (from April to July depending on the location in France) are necessary for a colony to produce between 700 and 800 g of royal jelly. But this yield varies from one hive to another (it can be higher or lower) and the work of the beekeeper is also significant: it is estimated that the establishment of the production and the harvest of royal jelly (from the artificial alveoli of the larvae to the final harvest) require about 23 hours of work. On the other hand, this estimate does not take into account the time necessary for the regular care and maintenance of the hives (travel, rounds for reserves, winter preparation, veterinary care, etc.).
The general public's demand for this substance with exceptional benefits intensified considerably in the middle of the 20th century. Royal jelly then became a part of many products and quickly the yield of conventional harvests via swarming could no longer meet this increase in demand. Thus, techniques have emerged to improve production yields. In France, however, the number of royal jelly producers is on the decline, even as competition from Asia is developing and becoming more and more aggressive.
In 2016, FranceAgriMer published interesting data on the beekeeping sector, and in particular on royal jelly [3]. The observation: the annual French production of royal jelly is estimated at 2 tonnes, while the average consumption of the French is estimated at 175 tonnes! And to answer this, most of the volumes consumed are imported from China.
But in France, beekeepers are getting organized! With the creation, in 1995, of the Group of Producers of Royal Jelly (GPGR), the brand Gelée Royale Française® [4] was created and allows to label the quality approach of beekeepers. Its rigorous quality charter guarantees:
Royal jelly has many traditional uses and its health effects continue to fascinate the scientific community [2,5].
The value of royal jelly is based on its composition and nutritional profile. If these characteristics vary according to seasonality, the place of harvest, or even the weather, it is however always composed of water, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Fresh royal jelly is estimated to consist on average of:
Royal jelly is therefore rich in proteins, and 80% of them are proteins called “major royal jelly proteins” (MRJP). Within lipids, we find a unique fatty acid: 10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) [5,6]. Recent compilation works on the biological and pharmacological properties of royal jelly [7] show that MRJP and 10-DHA are among the main bioactive compounds of interest of royal jelly exerting effects on immunity, as well as bacterial and inflammatory activities.
At Nutri & Co, we naturally chose to select:
Our promise of transparency also involves the publication of quality analyzes:
Honey is a substance swallowed and then regurgitated several times by bees from flower nectar. Royal jelly, on the other hand, is a glandular secretion from nurse bees (worker bees aged 5-6 to 15 days), specifically intended to nourish the larvae for the first 3 days of their life and to nourish the queen all her life. Thus, their composition varies and gives them distinct benefits.
Our French and Organic Royal Jelly can be consumed every day. To consume it easily despite its strong taste, do not hesitate to mix it with yogurt, for example, or even to associate it with a little honey. On the other hand, avoid mixing it with drinks or hot preparations, which could alter its virtues.
So many beehive products with different compositions and properties.
In jar and in its fresh form, royal jelly has not undergone any additional handling other than the steps necessary for its collection. Indeed, after harvest, the beekeeper puts it directly in a pot, which allows better conservation of its nutritional integrity and its active compounds. In addition, the French Royal Jelly® quality approach guarantees a production method via natural nourishment, for more authenticity and superior quality.
Yes. These small crystals also called "aggregates" can develop. They result from the natural agglomeration of proteins contained in royal jelly. This natural phenomenon does not reflect any alteration of the royal jelly. This is actually a classic phenomenon.
Yes. In 2018, ANSES recalled that "people allergic to pollen can potentially present a risk of allergy by consuming foods and food supplements made from bee products". Royal jelly is therefore one of them.
Yes. On the other hand, certain periods are more suitable for taking royal jelly, especially in autumn and winter, when immunity or tone are at half mast.
COOPGRF is an approved agricultural cooperative. It is the only cooperative of French royal jelly producers. It brings together around thirty beekeepers who have created the French Royal Jelly® label, certifying quality and local royal jelly.