The Buzz Newsletter

January 2008

 

 

Page 4

Thanks for the Memories

To all the members of Iowa Honey Producers Association, I wish to thank you for allowing me to be your treasurer for the past fourteen years.  I have enjoyed serving you and wish the best for the Iowa Honey Producers and the new treasurer.  The association has came a long way in those fourteen years in their ability to raise funds and make great head ways in sponsoring research, helping with the anti dumping fund, sponsoring the foods made with honey contest at the Iowa State Fair as well as provide classes on beekeeping through out the state and as a result of those classes several new bee clubs have started in Iowa.  Last year you started nine young people on the road to being beekeepers and again this year at the annual meeting you have taken on another nine young people that are starting to learn how to be beekeepers.  This is one of the best ways to keep the interest up in bees and to help promote honey and beekeeping.  We lost our State Apiarist six years ago and from talking to Maury Wills a few days ago it sounds like we may soon have a new State Apiarist.  When that happens, you will need to contact your representatives in the legislature to provide funds for an Apiarist program for education and inspectors for keeping Iowa Bees healthy and disease free as well as keeping parasites of honey bees under control.  All of this was accomplished by the combined efforts of all members of the Iowa Honey Producers Association.  Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
   Gordon Powell

 

Wanted: I had a fellow beekeeper call me last week and before I could write his name and phone number down my phone went dead.  I would like to have the beekeeper that runs bees in Cordele, Ga. call me with his name and phone number.

Gordon Powell: 515-278-1762

 

National Honey Board Press Release

More Tasty Ideas From The National Honey Board: Honey Moo, Honey Glaze and Honey Soda

Firestone, Colorado (November 2007) – New fruits of the National Honey Board’s (NHB) applied science program are ripe for the picking. In 2005, NHB began developing industrial formulas for food concepts using honey as the primary or defining ingredient. The formulas are made available to any food manufacturer interested in adding a natural extension to their product line. Past projects have included a solid honey and honey balsamic vinegar.

Now three new products are ready for a grand unveiling. Honey Moo, a milk modifier, uses the clean pure taste of honey to bring chocolate or strawberry flavor to milk. These products are part of a large campaign to move kids away from soft drinks and towards healthier dairy products.

Honey Glaze contains 65% honey and is available in three varieties – Honey Dijon, Chipolte Honey and Chili Garlic Honey. The glazes are an easy way to marinate meat for the grill or stir-fry, and they also make a great dipping sauce.

The final products capitalize on the fast-growing drink segment – a kiwi-lime soda and peach oolong tea, both flavored with honey.

New product concepts developed by a commodity board have a unique set of advantages. NHB has in-depth knowledge  of consumer attitudes toward honey, as well as technical aspects of formulating with honey. What a private company might find most valuable is that NHB already has invested in making bench-top samples with preliminary formulas. However, full-scale production, product identity, packaging and distribution would be the responsibility of the manufacturer or marketing entity.

To find out more about these new honey products, contact Charlotte Jordan at (303) 776-2337 or
charlotte@nhb.org 

For information about NHB and its marketing and promotion programs, visit www.honey.com.

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The National Honey Board has launched a new sales tool for honey suppliers: the Baking Sales Kit. One simple package now compiles technical research and consumer surveys on using honey in baking. The kit also gives instructions on substitutions and how to compensate for the browning and enzymatic effects of using honey.

The Baking Sales Kit is free to any honey company with bakery clients. This marketing effort is part of a goal to increase honey consumption in the processed foods market, which is estimated at 45% of the total U.S. honey market.

To request a copy or copies of the Baking Sales Kit, contact Charlotte Jordan at (303) 776-2337 or
charlotte@nhb.org
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NHB, through its staff in Firestone, Colorado, conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets for honey. The Board’s work, funded by an assessment of one cent per pound of domestic and imported honey, is designed to expand the awareness and use of honey by consumers, the foodservice industry and food manufactures.