Vegan “Honey” Is Here: Where To Buy the Bee-Free Sweetener

Drop the agave nectar and maple syrup – Food tech company The Single Origin Food Co [Sofco] just raised $1.1 million to bring its Un-Honey vegan honey to customers across the US. The Delaware-based company recently hosted seed funding to deliver its product to more consumers, and continue its progress in mimicking bee-based honey. The Vegan Un-Honey uses plant-based ingredients alongside organic flower pollen to deliver a honey product without the involvement of honey bees.

“Our mission is to fix the food chain,” Sofco CEO Belal Elbana said. “Our Single Origin model of working collaboratively with our farming partners actively reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases biodiversity, removes animal use from the food chain, and provides full product traceability to our customers to ensure we deliver the highest quality, best value food to market. We are proud to say we are well on our way.”

Sofco’s investors and partners believe that this product is slated to disrupt the honey market, refiguring how consumers purchase honey and how the industry sources its ingredients. The company currently distributes its products to more than 3,500 retail stores across the United States. The Vegan Un-Honey is currently rising in popularity rapidly nationwide following its rollout at Sprouts Farmers Markets and Whole Foods. Soon, other retailers including Natural Grocers and Safeway Albertsons will see the Vegan Un-Honey on the shelves.

The company is currently revamping its product line, planning to release several varieties of its Vegan Un-Honey. Sofco’s selection presently includes the Amber Vegan Un-Honey that uses organic cane sugar from Colombia, the Blonde Vegan Un-Honey using coconut nectar from Thailand, and the Copper Vegan Un-Honey using date nectar from California’s Coachella Valley. The company plans to develop two new products including the Nada sugar-free and the Gold Maple-based Vegan Un-Honey. The organic product is set to continue its expansion following this seed funding round.

The funding round led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm A’Z Angels is meant to help the company move forward in its new product development. The innovative product raised enough money that the venture capital firm believes it could impact both the plant-based market and the market in its entirety.

“Our portfolio is primarily technology companies. However, Sofco and Vegan Un-Honey are poised to disrupt the food industry with innovation at the heart of everything they do,” Managing Partner at A’Z Angels Amr Abdelaziz said. “We are a strong believer in sustainability which is a key driver of innovation. The US vegan food market is estimated to be worth $4.3 billion by 2026. We see high growth potential for Sofco.”

The global honey industry is currently facing several impediments as climate change and human involvement have negatively affected bee diversity and habitats. The honey industry is valued at $9 billion but faces urgent change as the industry is becoming more unsustainable. The shift is allowing other companies like Sofco to take advantage of the market opening.

Similar to Sofco, a California-based start-up Melibio developed a method to create real honey without bees, recently securing an $850,000 pre-seed funding round. With the honey industry struggling to meet sustainability standards, food tech companies have taken this opportunity to reveal products to fill the market gap while boosting sustainable practices globally.

This flavorful dish is inspired by Northern Africa using Moroccan spices and herbs. It has a hint of sweetness and bitterness with the tasty combination of the savory sauce and sweet lemon finish. This recipe serves 4 people and is easy to make so if you're a beginner, don't let the long ingredients list turn you away. Scroll down for the ingredients and instructions.

Jambalaya is full of flavor. This recipe is made with Italian Beyond sausage for extra flavor but you can also use the regular Beyond flavor because all the spices are strong enough. This dish is a comfort food crowd pleaser! Here are a few notes from the recipe developer: "I usually use white basmati rice with great results. I like the flavor and texture of the spicy hot Italian Beyond sausages in this recipe, but feel free to use a different brand of spicy vegan sausage if you'd like. For a fake meat-free/gluten-free version, omit the sausage completely, or add 1 can of drained and rinsed canned chickpeas or kidney beans."

This cashew yogurt is delicious and healthy and has the same texture as Greek yogurt. The recipe is easy to follow and makes a perfect breakfast. You can store it in your refrigerator for up to a week and make yogurt parfaits for breakfast. Add fresh berries like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and a drizzle of agave for sweetness. Here is a note from the recipe developer, "I've been experimenting a lot this past couple of days, as I've been wanting to make really thick and tangy yogurt on my own. I don't like purchasing yogurt too much since there's a lot of plastic waste. Yes, the containers can be recycled to a certain degree, but that's not the end goal for me. I want to simply reduce my impact."

Breakfast is served using your instant pot! Start your day off with a healthy bowl of oatmeal topped with cinnamon and fresh fruit (if you like). This recipe will become your go-to way of making oatmeal in the morning, and it's great if you don't have a lot of time to prepare breakfast before work. This recipe takes 2 minutes to prepare and needs about 10 minutes to cook. Here's a message from the recipe developer, "This easy recipe for Instant Pot steel cut oatmeal yields delicious and healthy steel cut oats that are dairy-free, soy-free, oil-free, made with no added sugar, and call for only 3 ingredients! This healthy vegan oatmeal can be pressure cooked in 2 ways - a quicker and slower method explained below, both with minimal hands-on time. For gluten-free steel-cut oatmeal use certified gluten-free oats".

This lasagna is healthier than the traditional style and tastes fresh. Lentil lasagna is full of vegan protein and topped with creamy vegan cheese. This recipe is perfect to make if you're cooking for a family or a larger party. These lentils are melt in your mouth and the cheesy topping is the perfect finish to this dish. This recipe calls for many of your stored pantry essentials like spices, lentils, and powders which makes it much more flavorful. Lentils are high in vegan protein and add a nice texture to this meal. Serve it with a side salad or fresh roasted vegetables. Scroll down for everything you will need to make this healthy and plant-based dinner.

Serve this dish with naan, a soft flatbread, and dip it into the mix. Use up your pantry essentials like spices, rice, and powders to make this flavorful dal. The recipe developer wants you to save your wilted spinach or kale leaves for this dish for better texture and taste, "Do you start off the week buying a huge bunch of spinach or kale with the hopes of having salads every day, and then toward the end of the week, you are left with limp, wilted leaves? Don'

If you like stuffed peppers, these stuffed butternut squash are very similar. They're full of fresh vegetables and topped with creamy vegan cheese. The squash itself is delicate and warm so you can pull it apart and it becomes spaghetti squash. This dish will make you feel light and nourished. Serve these stuffed butternut squash with a side of sliced avocado and top with nutritional yeast for a 'cheesier' finish.