The Dexter Farmer's Market is a great place to find local produce and unique wares. One of the newest vendors is local honey guy Jay Jermo whose family has been raising bees for generations. We caught up to Jay to find out more about his honey operation and why he is excited to part of the Dexter market on Tuesdays.
About Hey Honey!
Hey Honey is a marketer and distributor of specialty honey from Michigan and around the world. Along with selling raw honey to help Michigan residents combat allergies in a natural way, they showcase a line of specialty flavored honey that all have their own specialty food pairing. From raspberry honey for use in Greek yogurt, to a unique 5 pepper blend of Jalapeno pepper honey for the grill aficionado to create a spicy grilled chicken dinner, Hey Honey is turning the world of honey (and it's customary uses) on it's head! Jay Jermo is the owner and resident 'King Bee'. He markets his stable of honey at farmer's markets and on-line to a preferred customer group. Hey Honey is branching out and representing small international, monofloral apiaries, who have a unique story to tell and are looking to enter the American market.
Discover Dexter: So how did this all get started?
Jay Jermo: I used to work for an investment bank. While on vacation, I took a trip up to the farm where my siblings and I spent weekends and part of the summer while we were growing up. The apiary is in Kawkawlin. While visiting with my cousin and his wife, they mentioned that they had seen some positive responses at their local farmers market to the honey flavorings they were experimenting with. He mentioned how 'someone could probably do a fair business' with their honey down in my neck of the woods'. That's all it took. He assigned a small block of inventory to me and I brought it down to Brighton. On the first day, I got such a strong response to the 2 flavors I had, I started 'making up' flavors that were on the horizon. The customers got so excited that at the close of the market, I packed up my booth, drove back up to the farm and told my cousin, 'We need to figure out how to make chocolate, hazelnut, orange, coconut, etc....”. My family initially never thought it would sell, but we are on our 4th year and we are up to about 25 flavors. So I guess we got something right.
DD – What stores can people find your products?
JJ – We actually don't sell in stores. Retail sales does not work for our business model. We're a mid-sized, non-pollinating apiary. And honey is not a manufactured product – there is only so much produced from year to year. So we sell direct-to-consumer only. We attend a number of farmer's markets and shows around South East Michigan and sell on-line. (www.heyhoney.biz)
About Hey Honey!
Hey Honey is a marketer and distributor of specialty honey from Michigan and around the world. Along with selling raw honey to help Michigan residents combat allergies in a natural way, they showcase a line of specialty flavored honey that all have their own specialty food pairing. From raspberry honey for use in Greek yogurt, to a unique 5 pepper blend of Jalapeno pepper honey for the grill aficionado to create a spicy grilled chicken dinner, Hey Honey is turning the world of honey (and it's customary uses) on it's head! Jay Jermo is the owner and resident 'King Bee'. He markets his stable of honey at farmer's markets and on-line to a preferred customer group. Hey Honey is branching out and representing small international, monofloral apiaries, who have a unique story to tell and are looking to enter the American market.
Discover Dexter: So how did this all get started?
Jay Jermo: I used to work for an investment bank. While on vacation, I took a trip up to the farm where my siblings and I spent weekends and part of the summer while we were growing up. The apiary is in Kawkawlin. While visiting with my cousin and his wife, they mentioned that they had seen some positive responses at their local farmers market to the honey flavorings they were experimenting with. He mentioned how 'someone could probably do a fair business' with their honey down in my neck of the woods'. That's all it took. He assigned a small block of inventory to me and I brought it down to Brighton. On the first day, I got such a strong response to the 2 flavors I had, I started 'making up' flavors that were on the horizon. The customers got so excited that at the close of the market, I packed up my booth, drove back up to the farm and told my cousin, 'We need to figure out how to make chocolate, hazelnut, orange, coconut, etc....”. My family initially never thought it would sell, but we are on our 4th year and we are up to about 25 flavors. So I guess we got something right.
DD – What stores can people find your products?
JJ – We actually don't sell in stores. Retail sales does not work for our business model. We're a mid-sized, non-pollinating apiary. And honey is not a manufactured product – there is only so much produced from year to year. So we sell direct-to-consumer only. We attend a number of farmer's markets and shows around South East Michigan and sell on-line. (www.heyhoney.biz)
DD - There is a great deal of buzz in the media about eating local honey for health benefits. Care to weigh in on that?
JJ – The elder members of my family have been preaching that to us since we were kids. Our honey is raised in the wild. As a result, we pull a diverse cross-section of Michigan's pollen. Since the pollen footprint is so similar around the state, our raw honey does a great job of acclimating people who are allergy sufferers to Michigan pollen.
DD – I thought 'local honey' had to be from within 10 miles of your home to be effective?
JJ – Totally untrue – I constantly run into this argument. The honey has to be from within the pollen footprint, and Michigan's footprint is massive. It stretches into Wisconsin. Even if people don't get honey from me, they should get it from a foraging, non-pollinating apiary – if they are suffering from pollen allergy that is. If the honey is raised in an apple orchard for example, the bees are using primarily apple blossom pollen for their honey production and that may not be the particular pollen your body is reacting to.
DD – So what's next for you?
JJ – Well, there are 2 types of buyers that we see – people eat raw honey to help them with their allergies, and people who eat honey for taste. We have been getting requests for monofloral honey (specialty, single pollen type honey) for about two years now. We decided to partner with specialty honey producers of our size in other countries to bring their monoflorals to the U.S. Europe is of particular interest to us because Europe does not allow genetically modified foods to be grown on their soil (GMOs). That means the pollen is natural and clean. It does not harm the bees and as a result, the honey is pure, safe and of high quality.
We are currently working with an apiary in Tuscany, Italy - Apicoltura Camerini. We sell five of their monoflorals to people who seek us out for gourmet sweetening and unique options for cheese. We are hoping to be able to offer new options from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Norway within the next 24 months.
DD - There are many Farmer's markets in the area...Why Dexter?
JJ - Dexter is such a wonderful community that it's hard not to want to be here. Every time I come into town people are so nice. I wanted to be part of a growing area and Dexter fits that mold perfectly. I hope to see people come down to the Farmer's market on Tuesday evenings!
DD - Thank you!
JJ – The elder members of my family have been preaching that to us since we were kids. Our honey is raised in the wild. As a result, we pull a diverse cross-section of Michigan's pollen. Since the pollen footprint is so similar around the state, our raw honey does a great job of acclimating people who are allergy sufferers to Michigan pollen.
DD – I thought 'local honey' had to be from within 10 miles of your home to be effective?
JJ – Totally untrue – I constantly run into this argument. The honey has to be from within the pollen footprint, and Michigan's footprint is massive. It stretches into Wisconsin. Even if people don't get honey from me, they should get it from a foraging, non-pollinating apiary – if they are suffering from pollen allergy that is. If the honey is raised in an apple orchard for example, the bees are using primarily apple blossom pollen for their honey production and that may not be the particular pollen your body is reacting to.
DD – So what's next for you?
JJ – Well, there are 2 types of buyers that we see – people eat raw honey to help them with their allergies, and people who eat honey for taste. We have been getting requests for monofloral honey (specialty, single pollen type honey) for about two years now. We decided to partner with specialty honey producers of our size in other countries to bring their monoflorals to the U.S. Europe is of particular interest to us because Europe does not allow genetically modified foods to be grown on their soil (GMOs). That means the pollen is natural and clean. It does not harm the bees and as a result, the honey is pure, safe and of high quality.
We are currently working with an apiary in Tuscany, Italy - Apicoltura Camerini. We sell five of their monoflorals to people who seek us out for gourmet sweetening and unique options for cheese. We are hoping to be able to offer new options from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Norway within the next 24 months.
DD - There are many Farmer's markets in the area...Why Dexter?
JJ - Dexter is such a wonderful community that it's hard not to want to be here. Every time I come into town people are so nice. I wanted to be part of a growing area and Dexter fits that mold perfectly. I hope to see people come down to the Farmer's market on Tuesday evenings!
DD - Thank you!