Look back at our 2022...

We can hardly believe that 2022 is almost over, and yet here we are! Once again, it’s been a pretty amazing year- and we’re so grateful to each and every one of you for sticking around with us too. Looking back over the last 12 months, we’re absolutely buzzing with all the things our amazing team has achieved- here’s a really quick round up of them all.

We’ve been busy bees!

Our precious bees have such a great work ethic, and luckily that’s rubbed off on us too- because this year has been pretty full on! We’ve produced a staggering 15 million units this year, packed over 6,000 tonnes of product (that’s 21,000 barrels!) and we’ve doubled our market share to 7.5% in the process!

To keep up with this workload we’ve almost doubled our workforce too, taking our total employees from 60 to over 100- all of whom are being paid a fair wage, as we’re a Living Wage Employer.

We’ve moved into a new factory and we’ve been awarded British Retail Consortium (BRC) grade AA too this year- that’s the highest rating you can get! Huge thanks to our awesome team for all of this hard work, day in and day out- you guys rock!

We’ve been protecting our planet

Here at Hilltop, we aim to be a business for good and not for profit, and we started 2022 with a clear goal: to become carbon neutral. And we did it! We’ve offset 301,000 kg of Co2! You can read more about our amazing achievements here. We’re also a B-Corp business too-stay tuned for more news on this in 2023.

And that’s not all. We’re proud to say that we’re now using 30% recycled plastic in our squeezy bottle and 30% recycled glass in our jars too. Read more about sustainability at Hilltop here.

We’ve been buzzing about new developments at Hilltop…

There’s been a lot of new stuff happening around here this year!

• We launched Hilltop Energy, combining two of our great passions- fitness and nutrition- and demonstrating the effectiveness of honey as natural sports nutrition. Our amazing and delicious Energy Gel Pouches and Re-usable Pouches have been a huge success- hooray! We also have new Energy Powders too, available in Lemon & Lime, Tropical or Raspberry flavour and designed to be mixed with water to power your workout.
• We launched our second 10k Community Fund Project with an aim to improve the social and environmental landscape of Newtown and the surrounding area.
• We launched brand new bundles to the site- so you can save money on your favourite honey.
• We’ve had new product launches in Tesco, B&M, Iceland and more- spreading our sweet joy far and wide, so you can enjoy natural honey wherever you are!

We’ve also had a few new products up our sleeves this year too:

• Our new and delicious Carob Syrup, for those of you who want a natural sweetener without the honey taste.
• Additions to the Manuka Range with the 500+, 800+, 1000+
• Our scrumptious Organic Acacia- perfect for everyday sweetness.
• Our simply divine Maple Blended Flavoured Syrup to bring your pancakes and porridge to life!
• Our traditional Amber Maple Syrup Glass Flask for those who want that classic taste of Canada in a traditional style.
• We’ve also added a few different sizes to our Everyday classics, 1.36K Squeezy, 680g Jar and a 1.32kg Pure Maple Syrup for those that like living it large. And some cute little Hot Honey portion pots.

We’ve won some awards

We make honey because we love it, but when we get recognised for the hard work that we put in to it all, it sweetens the deal even further. And being voted as 4th best company to work for in the UK food & drink industry is just the tip of the iceberg!

This year, we’ve won 14- YES, 14!- Great Taste awards. These are our winners! We’ve also been recognised as a 'Good Business' by Best Companies (a leading employee engagement specialist, who help businesses to improve the way they work and make positive changes in the workplace), we’ve been voted Scale Up Business of the Year, rated 48 in the FEBE 100 (celebrating the greatest entrepreneurs in Britain) and we ranked 17 in the Wales Fast Growth 50, coming away with  the Fast Growth 50 award!

Amazing achievements from the whole team here at Hilltop, don’t you think?

We’ve paired with pretty some sweet brands

We love supporting like-minded brands and businesses here at Hilltop, and we only ever work with those whose visions and values align with our own. This year in 2022 we’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with some amazing brands, such as Joules, Landmann, Seven Bro7hers and Tetley, who’ve helped us to bring you some fantastic competitions too!

Alongside these amazing partnerships, this year we also announced a very special collaboration between Hilltop Energy and Welsh rugby union team, Ospreys! We are literally buzzing about this one- to be able to supply Hilltop Energy in the team’s kit bags and support them through both the URC and Heineken Cup into 2023 is amazing!

We’re beyond proud that the team will be trialling our 100% natural energy gels for training and on match days- as our very own Scott said himself:

“The decider in singing as Ospreys energy gel provider was witnessing the energy of the 10,000 strong fans at the Ospreys vs Scarlets game earlier this year… when the final whistle went, we couldn’t fail to see the passion of the supporters in the stands.”

And that’s not all! Hilltop is also set to become the proud player sponsor of current Welsh international, Lions and Ospreys flanker Dan Lydiate, plus we’ll be working closely with the Ospreys sports science team and platers to evolve their sporting product range. Watch this space for more news in 2023!

We’ve been social butterflies

Phew! Yes, we’ve worked hard but we’ve also made time for a few celebrations too. Alongside the various Hilltop Energy events (we’re sponsors for RunThrough, a foundation supporting mental and physical health in communities, and Adrenaline Sporting Events), we’ve also had our party hats on for:

• World Wildlife Day- joining with the WWF and Voice for the Planet to bring awareness to the importance of protecting our planet
• National Honey Bee Day- need we say any more?! Our precious bees need our help every single day, but this one is very close to our hearts, and we like to shout about it every year!
• Own Business Day- creating a buzz about and supporting amazing independent businesses.
• Sugar Awareness Week- because we know how vital it is to maintain good health and we know its not easy to do that in a world filled with processed foods. We’re passionate about helping others to reduce sugar consumption naturally!

What’s in store for 2023?

The only way is up- and we have no intention of stopping in 2023. We want to continue bringing you the best natural honey, the most up to date information on our products and the plight of our amazing buzzy friends, and a sprinkling of gorgeous recipes too. We promise to keep our carbon footprint down as low as it is, and to help you to reduce yours too. We really hope you’re up for sticking around with us!