Honey is not new. It’s believed that it is 8,000 years old. Honey has been appearing in beauty products, fragrances, and alcoholic beverages. Hot honey is popular and evident in snacks and limited menu items such as pizza and wings.
BIT OF HONEY IN BEAUTY
Honey is a natural antibacterial and moisturizer. It’s gaining momentum in skin and hair care as well as a fragrance accord. Mānuka Health known for its edible honey debuted its first skincare range in five new products: Eternal Renewal Regenerating Eye Serum with Royal Jelly & Bee Venom, Eternal Renewal Face Cream with Royal, Jelly & Bee Venom, Eternal Renewal Face Serum with Royal, Jelly & Bee Venom, Nourishing Lip Balm with Royal Jelly & Elderberry, and Pro Vitality Daily Restorative Face Serum With Propolis & Vitamin C. All products are infused with high-grade manuka honey. Haircare brand Gisou released the Honey-Infused Hair Perfume Floral Edition – Wild Rose with a blend of wild roses, sustainably sourced Mirsalehi Honey, and vanilla. The brand also upgraded its Tinted Honey Infused Lip Oils formulated with Mirsalehi honey, bee garden oils, jojoba, and meadowfoam. It is available in Mango Passion Punch, Strawberry Sorbet, and Watermelon Sugar hues with corresponding scents. In fine fragrance, “honey is perfectly positioned to become the next big it-note” in gourmand scents, according to Emma Vernon of Perfume Room. For example, last year Guerlain launched Tobacco Honey in the L’Art et la Matière collection. Tobacco Honey contains an ambery tobacco accord, vanilla, Tonka bean, and sesame with honey, aniseed, clove, sandalwood, and oud wood. Beyoncé released Cé Noir, which is described as a sweet floral with notes of clementine, honey, rose, jasmine, myrrh, and amber.
HOT HONEY IS ON FIRE
Hot honey has been trending for the last decade. Mike’s Hot Honey was an industry pioneer and launched in 2004. According to a September 13, 2021, QSR magazine article, Hot Honey was up 187% between 2016 to 2020. In 2022, Datassential reported that spicy honey had seen a 101% increase on menus in the past four years and was found on 3.2% of menus in the U.S. Tastewise’s 2024 statistics showed that social conversations about Spicy Honey have increased by 25.05% over the past year and 4.65% restaurants offer Spicy Honey on their menus. Hot honey has been appearing in snacks, pizzas, and wings as limited-time menu offerings. For example, in 2023, Utz® teamed up with Mike’s Hot Honey® to create the Utz® Mike’s Hot Honey® Potato Chips. In February, Pizza Factory launched LTO Hot Honey Pizza and Wings made with Smitty Bee’s Sweet Heat Hot Honey. Also in February, Pizza Hut debuted Hot Honey Pizza and Hot Honey Wings, which featured “a drizzle of sweet sauce infused with red habaneros and a touch of honey,” for a limited time. Starbucks Reserve Roasteries and stores in New York, Chicago, and Seattle have joined the hot honey bandwagon with two beverages featuring wildflower honey infused with premium chili peppers. The Hot Honey Espresso Martini highlights the hot honey with Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, Starbucks Reserve Espresso, Kalak Single Malt Vodka, and vanilla syrup topped with a sweet and spicy cold foam and black sesame seeds. The Hot Honey Affogato contains hot honey with Starbucks Reserve Espresso, Scrappy’s Bitters (Orange and Firewater), vanilla gelato, and an Amarena cherry. Bee Sting is one of Perry’s Ice Cream new flavors created with vanilla pudding ice cream, swirls of hot honey, and a graham cracker swirl. In addition to menu items, hot honey as a condiment is also gaining momentum. Harlem-based fast casual fusion restaurant Barcha by Gloribelle and Walid Mrabet closed in 2020, but the married couple created their Harissa Hot Honey for consumers. Food tech company MeliBio known for its Golden Clover, a plant-based and bee-free honey, recently launched Mellody Plant-Based Hot Honey Spicy Habanero. The vegan-friendly honey is crafted with the brand’s signature recipe and infused with spicy habanero peppers.
HARD HONEY IN BEVERAGES
Honey is a common sweetener used in beverages. However, it’s having a moment as a flavor in alcoholic beverages. Hive₂O offers a line of Hard Honey beverages using local kosher honey that “brings a wealth of health benefits and an unparalleled depth of flavor” to the brand’s products. There are five flavors: Atomic Berry, Ginger Mule, Hoppy Penelope (pineapple), Melomelina (inspired by the Ancient Egyptian Melomel), and PB&J. Exclusively for the UK, Absolut crafted Absolut Hunni vodka. Formulated with natural flavor and no added sugar, the vodka has a sweet, premium profile with golden honey notes. According to the press release, the Absolut range has been designed to be enjoyed with lemonade. Don Julio Alma Miel, which translates to “honey soul,” is the latest tequila launch, which blends aged and un-aged tequila that was distilled with agave honey.
Honey seems to be sticking around. Watch as it continues to appear in beauty products, fragrances, and alcoholic beverages while hot honey makes its rounds in snacks, pizzas, wings, and limited-time menu offerings.
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