Double Award Shortlisting Glory for Hilltop Honey

Hilltop Honey is enjoying the sweet taste of success after making the finals in the Powys Business Awards 2018 for two categories. The expanding business, which now employs 17 members of staff, and operates from a 14,000 sq. ft. purpose-built factory unit in Newtown, has been shortlisted for the Growth Award sponsored by Development Bank of Wales and the Small Business (Under 30 Employees) Award sponsored by Mid Wales Manufacturing Group.

In early 2017 the company was in receipt of a Business Investment Scheme grant which enabled the acquisition and refurbishment of a new state of the art production facility in Newtown. Expansion into the 14,000 sq. ft. purpose-built factory has enabled Hilltop Honey to increase production volume greatly; previously jarring 1,500 units a day, now the business has the capability to deliver a capacity of 10,000 units a day. The business has also established strong relationships with larger retailers and has secured product listings across many major multiples including – Tesco, Sainsburys and most recently Morrisons. Securing major retail contracts has helped to protect the growth and future of Hilltop Honey as a company and allows them to create further job opportunities for people locally – which is an important injection into the local economy.

Hilltop Honey is a story of triumph, dedication and most of all, tenacity. Starting out as one individual with a passion for beekeeping, the business now has a network of beekeepers worldwide, a growing portfolio of products, 6 major retail contracts plus online presence with Amazon and Ocado and is continually striving to excite the honey category through production development and innovation.

Scott Davies, Hilltop Honey Managing Director, commented; “It is a huge privilege to be shortlisted for two Powys Business Awards. Recognition on this level really boosts team morale and encourages us to strive for even more success! I am lucky to have an incredible team of people who share my drive and passion, allowing us to be creative, innovative, and forward-thinking – always looking for opportunity to increase our market share. As a growing Welsh business, we are extremely delighted to be finalists in these awards and look forward to the next stages of the process.”

The next stage of the competition will see the judges visit each finalist in their own premises to learn more about the individuals involved and their business. After the judging panel have visited all the finalists, they meet in secrecy to compare their independent assessments and scoring against the judging criteria for each award. The overall category winners will be announced at the prestigious Awards Ceremony on Friday 28^th September at The Hafren, Newtown, SY21 4HU. 

ENDS

For any media enquiries please contact Rachel Gethin

Rachel@rachelgethinpr.co.uk or 077910 29285

Editor’s Notes:

Summary of key business successes over last 12 months include:

• April 2017: Moved into new, larger production site in 2017 allowing production capacity to dramatically increase
• July 2017: Created ‘Save British Bees by Planting Seeds’ Campaign. Teaming up with supermarket giant Tesco and online food store Ocado to encourage consumers to create bee friendly gardens, receiving a free pack of seeds from each purchase of a jar of honey
• September 2017: Teamed up with new film release, Goodbye Christopher Robin. To help further promote the film, in turn upping our brand awareness. An estimated 160K products were labelled limited edition, our website had an overhaul and we ran a competition for a ‘luxury prize’ on our website which received over 3K entrants
• January 2018: secured new listings with Sainsbury’s placing Hilltop Honey Lavender Honey, Orange Blossom Honey and Thyme Honey onto the shelves of 343 Sainsburys stores nationwide
• April 2018: launched its first Manuka Honey from New Zealand in three strengths (5+, 10+ and 15+). The 10+ launched into Tesco in May 2018
• April 2018: launched a core range of everyday honeys for retail and foodservice sectors
• July 2018: 5 New product listings secured with Morrison’s
• Staff numbers have increased to 17 full time plus 2 part time, this includes the appointment of a new Marketing Co-ordinator to further drive brand awareness and promotional activity
• August 2018: will see the launch of our new Organic Fairtrade Honey and a Blossom Honey into Tesco