AchmatK
Honorary Master
Met with the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, yesterday where we showcased western cape bees, honey and bee products. We also got him into a bee suit to open up a couple of hives. 
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Suburban apiary, beehives and beekeeping
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AchmatK
Honorary Master
Harvested from a single hive in my yard a few days ago.
The honey just gets better and better.
The honey just gets better and better.
National Department of Agriculture
[Today📍] Spot the Fake. Protect the Real. 🍯 The National Department of Agriculture and the South African Police Service are hitting the streets of East London, Eastern Cape, in a joint operation to...
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I initially tagged you @AchmatK but deleted my comment rather
AchmatK
Honorary Master
The minister did mention at the event last month that they'll Crack down on this.Great news for consumers.National Department of Agriculture
[Today📍] Spot the Fake. Protect the Real. 🍯 The National Department of Agriculture and the South African Police Service are hitting the streets of East London, Eastern Cape, in a joint operation to...
I initially tagged you @AchmatK but deleted my comment rather
They can sell syrup. What they can't do is label it to appear as if it's made with honey.
There is a legal definition of honey and if it's not pure honey then you can't have the word honey anywhere on the label or pictures of bees and honeycomb to give the impression that's it's honey.
You don't get something called "honey based syrup". It's just syrup and if there is real honey mixed in them you can include this in the list of ingredients.
airborne
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Report all suspected fake honey at [email protected] \Great news for consumers.National Department of Agriculture
[Today📍] Spot the Fake. Protect the Real. 🍯 The National Department of Agriculture and the South African Police Service are hitting the streets of East London, Eastern Cape, in a joint operation to...
I initially tagged you @AchmatK but deleted my comment rather
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SHL
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Yeah, the one comment said: "You just ate *hit. Bee careful."
AchmatK
Honorary Master
I haven't posted in a while but it's been busy like the bees. There was a slight slow down in January but it's good as I get to work with the bees more.
There's been lots happening with the bees. I did a few interactive school talks and getting the kids to do a waggle dance like the bees. Teaching them how to make hand rolled candles and a stone prizes at the end to those that answered questions correctly relating to what I spoke about.
Corporate gift orders is really the driving force at the moment making up 80% of my orders. It's basically become The Bee Inspired Honey Gifting Company.
Having a space not home to work also helps.
I have an observation hive setup now at home and the bees are thriving in it.
Some pictures of what's been happening over the past few months.
I have one permanent employee and and another part time for when I need to get a big order out.
There's been lots happening with the bees. I did a few interactive school talks and getting the kids to do a waggle dance like the bees. Teaching them how to make hand rolled candles and a stone prizes at the end to those that answered questions correctly relating to what I spoke about.
Corporate gift orders is really the driving force at the moment making up 80% of my orders. It's basically become The Bee Inspired Honey Gifting Company.
Having a space not home to work also helps.
I have an observation hive setup now at home and the bees are thriving in it.
Some pictures of what's been happening over the past few months.
I have one permanent employee and and another part time for when I need to get a big order out.
AchmatK
Honorary Master
Some more pictures 
AfricanTech
Honorary Master
It's bloody awesome to see how this went from a little hobby to a fully fledged business.
Well done Achmat - amazing!
PS: I like your kit
Well done Achmat - amazing!
PS: I like your kit
AchmatK
Honorary Master
It's been more than I expected. I sometimes feel like I'm just along for the ride. I did not expect the honey gifting side to explode the way it did.It's bloody awesome to see how this went from a little hobby to a fully fledged business.
Well done Achmat - amazing!
PS: I like your kit
I have taken on somewhat of an angel investor last year which has helped growing the business faster. For one, the retail unit I'm in was bought and paid for in cash so the business still has no debt. I could also afford to source 4 pallets of jars directly from China which reduced my cost on glass jars by over 30%. While I have more cash now tied up in inventory, it's freed me to not stress about repaying debt or an expensive rental contract.
Paid Advertising and marketing is still only Google ads. I have not yet needed to make one cold call or send bulk mailers to solicit any of these corporate orders. They find me when searching for honey gifts online.
Currently I'm going through 300kg of honey a month.
Services like shopify, BobGo, Yoco, Payflex really does add value, reduces customer friction and also saves me a ton of time. Everything from managing the website, receiving an order to the fulfillment and courier booking is streamlined. No manually booking couriers, filling in customer addresses and printing waybills on normal A4 paper. I still meet up with people that started out doing weekend markets with me and they are still doing exactly the same thing even though they have very good products they have just not managed to take it to another level.
Business has grown by over 100% for 3 years in a row now. This growth will subside. I'm just not sure when.
I track year on year figures regularly and this year it's already 61% more than the same period last year and I'll probably need a second permanent employee by the time the rush starts from September.
