Rewritten: Honey, Jerky, and the Rise of Artisanal CPG Products
Honey as a Sugary Substitute and Jerky for Protein at Expo West 2025
C PG brands are stepping up their game, focusing on authenticity, and providing consumers with practical solutions. The Expo West 2025 show confirmed that brands are going artisanal, enhancing basic products such as honey and beef.
This trend can be seen in the popularity of Manuka honey, known for its functional benefits, being used as a natural sweetener in 'no sugar added' products. For consumers, honey helps brands align with the preference for more natural ingredients, all the way from jerky to protein-rich snacks.
Honey as a Sugar Replacement
1770, launched at Expo West 2025, offers a refreshing take on Manuka honey-infused soda. Founder Summer Jun initially aimed at making Manuka honey accessible and affordable for a broader audience when she started the venture. Recently, she has been looking for distributors to bring her new line of sodas throughout the US. What sets 1770 apart is its innovative packaging, featuring a full-open top that resembles a cup when opened, allowing for easy resealing. Jun appreciates the adventurous spirit and emphasizes on quality eating habits prevalent in the US market.
From Honey to Condiments
Drizzle has made a name for itself in the market with its ultra-whipped, raw honey, never pasteurized to maintain its superior creamy consistency. Sourced from Northern Alberta, Canada, Drizzle offers a variety of honey flavors, including Turmeric Gold, Berry Bliss, and Cacao Luxe, made with Fair Trade cacao. The brand recently came under Sweetleaf's umbrella and is working towards expanding retail distribution across the country.
Fresh Fizz Soda: Simple Ingredients
While functional soda seems to be exploited, Fresh Fizz Soda stands out, using only honey and date syrup as sweeteners. Created by Yoni and Rebecca Schwartz, the Long Island couple initially intended to produce hard seltzer but decided to make nostalgic sodas instead. Their flavors reflect popular cocktails, offering a clean-label, refreshment-focused approach, free of probiotics. Fresh Fizz Soda is available at chains like Sprouts, Erewhon, and Gelson's, and is nationally distributed through Kehe.
Honey Mama's: Chocolate With a Twist
Honey Mama's understands that sweet indulgence doesn't always have to be unhealthy. Their chocolate bars are sweetened with raw organic honey, a rarity at scale. The brand sources honey from both Brazil and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, offering varieties like Chocolate Cake, Peanut Butter Cup, and Peanut Butter Cookie. Their truffles are refrigerated, enhancing their luxurious texture, setting them apart in the refrigerated dessert section of stores. This summer, Honey Mama's will release its new line of protein bars, incorporating dates in addition to honey, with flavors like Chocolate Cookie, Peanut Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Brownie.
Ice Cream For Bears and Sidekick Soda: Celebrating Honey
French ice cream brand Ice Cream For Bears showcased its natural honey-sweetened ice cream at Expo West, proving that raw and unfiltered honey can work in a successful CPG product. Founded by Tim Berg, the brand is available in more than 1,000 stores nationwide, including Sprouts. Sidekick Soda comes all the way from New Zealand, sweetened with multi-floral honey and flavorful fruit purees like Pear and Cherry. The emergent brand is working towards a greater impact in the US market, bringing more of its operations over.
The Heightened Presence of Jerky as a Natural Protein Source
While jerky implies a meat-based product, Solely offers a fruit-based alternative, with no added sugar. Instead, the fruit jerky gets its sweetness from the juicy fruits it sources, maintaining a unique texture. The company partners directly with farms in various countries, aiming to provide a functional snack option to consumers.
Lorissa's Kitchen entered the market with protein-rich snacks that are free of the top-9 food allergens. The brand uses US- and Australian-sourced grass-fed and finished beef, marketing itself as a meat snack catering to those with food allergies.
Vaquero Bandido offers a textural twist on traditional jerky, slow cooking beef instead of dehydrating it, resulting in a crispy, bacon-like snack. The brand sources its beef naturally and is currently working to source exclusively grass-fed beef. Each piece of jerky is hand-cut, reflecting its homemade quality.
1. The brand 1770, showcased at Expo West 2025, is focusing on making Manuka honey more accessible and affordable, using it as a natural sweetener in their Manuka honey-infused sodas, as part of the trend towards more natural ingredients in CPG products.
2. Drizzle, a brand known for its ultra-whipped, raw honey, is now under Sweetleaf's umbrella and is working towards expanding retail distribution across the country, offering honey flavors like Turmeric Gold, Berry Bliss, and Cacao Luxe, sweetened with Fair Trade cacao.
3. Solely offers a fruit-based alternative to traditional jerky, with no added sugar, sweetened naturally by the juicy fruits it sources, contributing to the growing CPG trend of using natural ingredients for functional snacks.