A Flintshire family run bee farm has been shortlisted for Artisan Business of the year in the 2023 Welsh food and drink awards.
Black Mountain Honey is a family run bee farming business, producing artisan honey products, mated queen bees and bee nucleus colonies.
The business is based in Nercwys, Flintshire ran by Laurence Edwards, bee farmer and Helen Bresser, Head of Sales and marketing.
Their Welsh honey is untreated and minimally filtered to retain all the natural goodness, antioxidants and great taste.
Their variety of honeys have achieved numerous great taste awards, with our soft set honey and hot fire honey achieving 2 star awards.
READ MORE: Mountain Produce shortlisted for Welsh food and drink award
The products have been praised and showcased on national television by Ainsley Harriet and James Martin.
The company appeared on Ainsley's Mood Foods with their hot fire honey and featured on James Martin's Saturday Kitchen where they were interviewed and he baked a cake using an award winning, wildflower, runny honey.
The business are currently putting Welsh beekeeping and Welsh honey 'on the map' through a successful YouTube channel which has an international audience of beekeepers and food enthusiasts, with over 25,000 subscribers!
The company has been shortlisted in the Welsh Artisan Business category that recognises a Welsh artisan food or drink producer who has the wow factor.
READ MORE: Welsh Food and Drink Awards 2023 shortlist: Wrexham and Flintshire
The judges are looking in the following areas; Quality of product and provenance of ingredients, How you tell your story through branding and presentation, Originality of product and innovation, Sustainability. How much your product stands out from the competition.
A representative from Black Mountain Honey said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be shortlisted for this years’ awards. We work hard to create award winning, natural, honey products using sustainable methods and it’s humbling to see that this has been recognised by making the shortlist for the artisan business of the year category.
"We would like to say a big thank you to all our loyal customers, without them we wouldn’t be here!"
Sustainability is a major priority for the business who believe that "all artisan produce should have sustainability at its heart."
The business doesn't use any single use plastics and instead use cardboard and recycled materials in packaging.
READ MORE: Wrexham food business, Goch &Co, shortlisted for Artisan Business of the year award
The company also uses an electric vehicle to carry out all honey deliveries and use solar panels to power office equipment.
In addition, they are dedicated to increasing biodiversity and improving pollinator habitats across North Wales.
A spokesperson from Black Mountain Honey said: "We often run promotions where we give away free pollinator seed mixes with our jars of honey and nucleus colonies and we include a wildflower seed mix with all our honey gift sets.
"We provide our customers with information cards which provide the results of a pollen analysis, showing the various plants our bees visit, thereby helping to connect our customers to nature, which is something we are extremely keen to do."
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