HILLTOP HONEY LANDS MIDDLE EAST DEAL

Hilltop Honey, which has recently expanded into a 14,000 sq ft production base in Newtown, is supplying eight of its honey products in a trial order to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.

The company’s founder and managing director Scott Davies and sales and marketing manager Josh Owen secured the order from two supermarket chains after joining a Welsh Government trade mission Gulfood at Dubai World Trade Centre in February.

“It’s a massive market with great export potential for us,” said Scott, who founded Hilltop Honey in 2011. “The amount of success that we achieved from Gulfood is unprecedented. It can take months to turn leads into sales after trade shows, so we are delighted to have secured he trial order.”

Hilltop Honey already exports honey products to China, Hong Kong, the US, Pakistan, South Africa, Japan and across Europe. However, it’s main customers are based in the UK, including supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

The fast-growing company, which expects to double turnover again this year, won a Golden Fork Award for its Thyme Honey, judged the best ambient food product at last year’s Great Taste Awards, the Oscars of the food world.

The company employs 12 staff and expects this total to increase to 20 by the end of this year. Beekeeper Scott, 29, started the business in his parents’ kitchen with a £5,000 overdraft in 2011. Six years later, he is supplying honey, comb honey and bee pollen to major High Street, online and international customers.

“Five years ago, I walked into Newtown to sell my first four jars of honey on a sale or return basis in the vegetable shop,” added Scott. “Now I’m supplying thousands of jars to customers across the UK and even as far away as New York and the Far East, which is incredible.”