Honey has quietly become one of the most dynamic ingredients in the modern food system. Once an overlooked pantry staple, it’s now a 1.5-billion-dollar food and wellness force. Honey consumption in the U.S. has climbed more than 50 percent over the past 15 years, reaching nearly 690 million pounds in 2024.
Much of this growth can be traced to the rising demand for functional foods that are not complicated or overly processed. People are looking for simple, real ingredients that support health and honey is a natural fit.
While honey demand feels intuitive, its supply is far more complex. While crops like coffee, dairy and produce have benefited from decades of modernization and investment, beekeeping has largely stayed small-scale and fragmented. Rising consumption and declining domestic yields have strained an industry in need of innovation that builds both growth and stewardship.
The challenge is: how can the industry meet rising demand without compromising honey bee health or product quality?
As the parent company of Nate’s Hives, now the largest beekeeper in the nation and Nate’s Honey, the leading honey brand in the U.S., Sweet Harvest Foods believes the answer lies in science, scale, generational beekeeper knowledge and a relentless commitment to values.
Scale as a source of stability and investment
Beekeeping is a complex business. It’s built with local knowledge from thousands of hard-working producers, many of them multigenerational family businesses. They’ve perfected their craft around what works best for their region, understanding seasonal blooms, weather patterns and the land itself. But the industry’s decentralized structure limits its ability to invest in research, technology and infrastructure.
With more than 120,000 colonies and six billion honey bees, Nate’s Hives brings a level of modernization and reliability the honey industry has never had. Scale doesn’t replace local expertise, rather it multiplies its impact. It enables in-house experts in entomology, plant breeding, horticulture, farm operations and agribusiness, partnerships with universities, field trials on hive nutrition and disease management and technology investments that track how forage, weather and transport affect yield and purity.
This level of sophistication creates a more modern, data-driven supply chain from hive to shelf, ensuring that honey remains dependable for food manufacturers and retailers even when broader agricultural conditions fluctuate. Scale and shared knowledge also provides the resources that smaller operators cannot fund alone lifting the entire industry and keeping local beekeepers thriving within a stronger network.
Keeping a dedication to discipline
Growth without discipline can erode the very trust that made honey special. Other agricultural sectors, from specialty coffee to craft chocolate, have faced the same challenges of responsible scaling.
New formats are expanding honey’s role in kitchens and health and wellness routines, from hot honey to functional blends to on-the-go packaging. The opportunity is significant, but it requires discipline to ensure integrity travels with innovation. Every new format must preserve the authenticity and traceability that strengthens honey’s appeal.
For Nate’s Honey, that means protecting what made the brand beloved in the first place. Every batch is tested by independent, third-party labs to confirm purity and quality, ensuring that the company’s promise is unshakable: 100% Pure. Guaranteed.
That kind of dedication builds trust that sticks.
Science as the foundation for growth
Scale alone won’t shape the future of honey. The health of honey bees and the environments that sustain them remain the most critical factor. Climate change, habitat loss and disease continue to challenge beekeepers nationwide.
The path forward depends on scientific understanding and collaboration.
Sweet Harvest Foods collaborates with researchers, beekeepers and agricultural organizations to better understand the factors that influence colony health and honey yields. By sharing insights and adopting science-based practices, the company aims to help strengthen honey bee populations while supporting the crops and ecosystems that depend on pollination. Roughly one-third of the world’s food production relies on healthy pollinators—making this work essential to the broader food system.
Progress in honey will come from uniting scientific understanding with hands-on beekeeping expertise, ensuring that innovation supports both honey bees and the people who depend on them.
Leading the way to a more resilient future
Beekeeping is evolving into a modern agricultural system; one still rooted in craft but powered by data and shared learning. When science, scale and generational expertise come together, they create a stronger, more connected honey supply that can grow to meet demand while protecting honey bees and what makes honey valuable.
Sweet Harvest Foods is committed to leading that evolution. Not by abandoning the traditions that built this industry, but by strengthening them with the tools and resources needed to succeed in a modern food ecosystem.
Protecting that trust will define how a centuries-old ingredient continues to thrive and shape the future of food.
