Award-winning supplier Honey Heaven was focused solely on its namesake product – until a life-altering illness transformed the business.
The brand was created by Silvia Mocsari and her brother Robert. They grew up in the Hungarian countryside, where they learned about the botanical ingredients and herbs and spices their mother used to make natural remedies.
When Mocsari moved to the UK, she struggled to find honey similar to the product she was used to at home. In Hungary, honey is treated as a source of wellness and is infused with herbs and spices to enhance its health benefits, she says.
She began shipping honey from Hungary to the UK for her own use, and friends were soon showing an interest. Seizing the opportunity, she teamed up with Robert, who already sold organic natural health products, to launch Honey Heaven.
The initial range included cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, rosehip, bee pollen & propolis and winter spice variants, sold DTC. While this remains the brand’s key route to market, sampling at local food markets plays a major role in growing awareness of the brand. It has helped drive sales and land retail listings.
“We were excited to have a couple of varieties stocked in Selfridges for some years, and this year we are delighted to have six of our range on sale in Planet Organic,” says Mocsari. “We have some sales through independent stores and would love to have more customers in that sector.”
Word of mouth has raised the profile of the brand, and Mocsari also works with PR and social media consultants. “In terms of marketing, we are still quite rudimentary due to budget restraints,” she says.
“We have found that recipes featuring the honeys have worked well provided the photography is of good quality. We have also run several competitions with like-minded brands or with magazines, and collaborated with influencers.”
Mocsari has gone on to develop 16 honey varieties that are all organic and are either single-flower honey or infused with additional botanical ingredients.
Honey Heaven also sells fresh honeycomb and other bee-related products, including a propolis spray for adults and children. It is marketed as supporting immunity, soothing sore throats and relieving hay fever symptoms.
The business was taken in a new direction when Robert was diagnosed with cancer. Searching for natural products that could support his fight against the illness, the siblings discovered the potential of CBD oil to improve his quality of life. Determined to provide him with the purest and highest-quality CBD oil, they began manufacturing it themselves. The business now sells a CBD range including edible oils and gummies, massage oils, balms and facecare products.
Mocsari says their efforts helped extend Robert’s life by five years – far beyond his initial prognosis – and that his courage and determination continues to inspire her. “Helping others is my purpose and my greatest joy. We remain committed to creating products that empower people to take charge of their wellbeing, naturally. Every product we offer is crafted with love, care, and a belief in the goodness of nature.”
With the loss of Robert, Mocsari’s husband Ade has become integral to the business, often staffing the stall at farmers’ markets and dealing with customer queries from the website.
The business operates from the couple’s home in Leytonstone, London, but Mocsari regularly travels to Hungary to meet their honey supplier. Organic certified, the beekeeper uses no pesticides and only traditional methods to gather the honey.
Mocsari’s commitment to sourcing and quality was recognised this year when the brand’s Organic Hot Honey won a gold at the Farm Shop & Deli Product Awards. The blend of Hungarian acacia honey and scotch bonnet peppers delivers a balanced flavour of sweetness and spice that works drizzled over pizza, chicken wings and veg – or even added to desserts.
“Because our marketing budget is limited, winning an award like this is wonderful as it raises the brand’s profile and helps to get the brand message out there,” says Mocsari.
Looking ahead, she is waiting for the Food Standards Agency to make regulations around CBD food and drink clearer, which will help take it into the mainstream. “I hope we will find that a long-established, trusted brand like ours will thrive,” she adds.
Meanwhile, Mocsari is eager to continue learning about the health benefits of herbs and other botanicals. “Combining this thirst for knowledge and always keeping abreast of what the current market wants enables us to produce products that sometimes the public doesn’t know it wants yet. Take hot honey, for example.
“It would also be great to think that we might be stocked in more independents and perhaps even a national high street chain one day.”
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