Sweet deal for crowdfunders

HONEY brand Haughton Honey has launched an £80,000 crowdfunding investment campaign to support the next stage in the company’s growth.

The firm hopes to attract additional investors so that it can recruit more bee farmers to help satisfy the increasing demand for its pure, raw honey.

Since launching in 2014, Cheshire-based Haughton Honey has steadily expanded and recently began supplying food retailer Booths.

Now it hopes to move onto the next stage of growth by attracting investors via crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, in return for shares in the business.

A series of rewards is on offer for those who invest in Haughton Honey, including discounts, honey, bee farming experiences, and hotel, restaurant and cookery school vouchers.

During 2015 the business packed and sold more than 8,000kg of English honey and it anticipates requiring more than double that amount during 2016.

As well as supplying consumers direct from its website and through retailers, the firm has started supplying to The Protein Works, a large sports nutrition brand owned by Alliance Boots, which has just launched a co-branded Cashew Nut Butter Luxe product containing Haughton Honey.

Haughton Honey founder Crispin Reeves said: “Since we began trading, we’ve established more than 70 regional sales outlets across the North West and Midlands, as well as recently winning our first premium supermarket customer, Booths, who started stocking Haughton Honey at the beginning of April 2016.

“Now is the time to seek additional investment to support the growth of Haughton Honey so that we can take on more bee farmers, increase our honey production to satisfy our growing month-on-month demand, and hopefully achieve a listing with a second premium multiple retailer.”

The company, based at Radmore Farm, Haughton, bottles raw honey which comes straight from the hive, is cold extracted and never pasteurised which means that it retains all of the natural enzymes and proteins.