Sweet Harvest Foods

What Sweet Harvest Foods does

Sweet Harvest Foods is a vertically integrated honey and natural-ingredients company headquartered in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, that operates across B2B ingredient supply, private-label and branded retail, foodservice, and consumer packaged goods channels. The corporate entity traces back to 1923 and was reorganized under the current Sweet Harvest Foods umbrella in 2017. The company runs what is described as the largest US honey manufacturing facility at its Cannon Falls campus and added a second processing site in Florida in October 2025. Quality and compliance certifications include BRC AA, GFSI, Organic, Non-GMO, Kosher, and ISO 17025, and the company reports a 99.7%+ on-time-in-full (OTIF) rate, positioning it as a qualified supplier to food manufacturers, retailers, and foodservice operators.

The company is structured around three brands: Sweet Harvest Foods, which supplies honey and honey-based ingredients to food manufacturers; Nate's Honey, the #1 branded honey in US retail, which added roughly 600,000 new households in the trailing year; and Nate's Hives, an apiary platform built around the 2023 acquisition of Sweet River Company that is described as the largest US beekeeper with 120,000+ colonies, supplemented by five additional local beekeeping acquisitions completed over a three-year window. Revenue mechanics span raw and processed honey ingredient sales to industrial customers, private-label and branded retail SKUs, bulk and portion-controlled foodservice packs, and apiary/agricultural services. Customer segments are explicitly diversified across B2B/ingredient, private label/retail, foodservice, consumer, and agricultural end-markets, reducing dependence on any single channel and supporting a recurring, replenishment-driven revenue pattern typical of food ingredient and CPG businesses.

Name

Sweet Harvest Foods

Legal name

Sweet Harvest Foods, Inc.

Website

https://sweetharvestfoods.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sweet Harvest Foods is a vertically integrated US honey company headquartered in Cannon Falls, MN, operating the largest US honey manufacturing facility plus a Florida site, with three brands serving B2B ingredient customers (Sweet Harvest Foods), retail consumers (Nate's Honey, the #1 US branded honey), and upstream beekeeping (Nate's Hives, 120,000+ colonies).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Honey Products and Ingredients

NAICS

Apiculture (11291), Apiculture (112910)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Canned, Fruits, Veg, Preserves, Jams & Jellies (2033)

akta.pro primary industry

Honey Packaging, Bottling & Private Labeling (AFAEAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Honey Production & Extraction (AFAEAHAA), Commercial Pollination Services (Hive Rental) (AFAEAHAG)

Keywords

• Honey ingredient supply
• Private label honey
• Foodservice honey products
• Powdered honey manufacturing
• Commercial beekeeping services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cannon Falls

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ingredient/Bulk Honey Sales: B2B sales of pure honey to CPG manufacturers, food processors, and ingredient buyers. Products available in bulk formats including pails, drums, totes, and tankers. Revenue generated through volume-based pricing with consistent supply contracts.
2. Private Label Manufacturing: Manufacturing and supply of private label honey products for major retailers. Full-service solution from sourcing to bottling, maintaining quality standards set by retail partners.
3. Foodservice Distribution: Supply of foodservice-ready honey products including packets and bulk formats for restaurants, cafeterias, and hospitality operators. Targets front-of-house and back-of-house needs.
4. Retail/Consumer Brand (Nate's Honey): Sale of branded consumer products through Nate's Honey brand. Includes iconic orange bottle products, organic honey, hot honey, and new product innovations. Revenue from retail shelf sales and e-commerce.
5. Powdered Honey and Specialty Products: Production and sale of powdered honey and molasses products for manufacturing applications including sauces, dressings, marinades, protein shakes, breads, and snack cakes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sweet Harvest Foods is a vertically integrated honey company that supplies bulk ingredient honey in pails, drums, totes, and tankers to food and beverage manufacturers, manufactures private label honey for major retailers, and provides foodservice honey products (including packets) to distributors and hospitality operators. Through the Nate's Honey brand it sells the #1 branded honey in the U.S. to consumers via grocery and natural food retailers, and through Nate's Hives it operates America's largest beekeeping operation with over 120,000 colonies producing raw honey and pollination services.

Product overview

Sweet Harvest Foods operates as a leading honey production company with a multi-brand portfolio comprising B2B ingredient sales (Sweet Harvest Foods ingredient brand), consumer retail (Nate's Honey), and vertically integrated beekeeping operations (Nate's Hives). The company offers honey across multiple channels including bulk ingredient for manufacturers, private label for retailers, and foodservice products for restaurants. Specialty offerings include powdered honey products (spray-dried and roller-dried varieties) and molasses powder. Supporting programs include the In-Stock Guarantee for B2B reliability and the Nate's Hives Research Grant Program for honey bee health research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Nate's Honey: Consumer honey brand - #1 branded honey in the US sold in iconic bright orange bottle, offering highest-quality, best-tasting honey
• Nate's Hives
• Nature Nate's Honey Co.

Products and services

• Nate's Honey
• Nate's Hives Apiary Honey and Pollination
• Ingredient Honey
• Foodservice Honey
• Private Label Honey
• Spray-Dried Honey Powder (C111)
• Roller-Dried Honey Powder (C107)
• Spray-Dried Molasses Powder (C118)
• Nate's Hot Honey
• Nate's Organic Honey
• In-Stock Guarantee Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.7%+ OTIF (On-Time In-Full) service levels maintained
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Auburn UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026Award recipient of Nate's Hives Research Grant Program for research on 'Adjuvants to Improve Thymol Formulations for Varroa Control' led by Dr. Brandon Shannon.
• Montana State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026Award recipient of Nate's Hives Research Grant Program for research on 'Examination of an Immune-Stimulating Formula to Reduce Virus Infection Levels in Honey Bees' led by Dr. Lauren Jonas.
• Purdue UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026Award recipient of Nate's Hives Research Grant Program for 'Next-Gen Queens: Launching the First Public Genomic Prediction Service for Honey Bees' led by Dr. Brock A. Harpur.
• DOT FoodscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 20 April 2026Sweet Harvest Foods exhibited at DOT Foods Innovations 2026 to showcase foodservice-ready honey and Nate's Honey products. DOT Foods is a key foodservice distribution partner.
• LiptoncoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 October 2025National brand leaders Lipton and Nate's Honey collaborated on 'The Sweetest Duo' omnichannel campaign targeting runners and leveraging social listening. The partnership was highlighted at the Retail Brew Summit and included joint marketing initiatives.
• S-LOCT (Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Sweet Harvest Foods joined S-LOCT program in 2025 to establish emissions baseline and advance sustainability efforts. Earned first climate milestone and GHG Protocol-Aligned Scope 1 & 2 Footprint badge.
• Nate's Hives (formerly Sweet River Company)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Acquired in 2023, Nate's Hives was founded by Matt Halbgewachs in 2015 as an apiary business. Now operating as America's largest beekeeper with 120,000+ colonies, it provides vertical integration from hive to table and proprietary award-winning honey blends for Nate's Honey.
• Nature Nate's Honey Co.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 January 2022Sweet Harvest Foods acquired Nature Nate's (Nate's Honey) in January 2022, expanding its product portfolio to include consumer-branded honey products. Nate's Honey is now the #1 branded honey in the U.S. The acquisition combined Sweet Harvest's sourcing expertise with Nate's consumer brand strength.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dutch Gold Honey: Largest U.S. private-label honey packer and one of Sweet Harvest's closest direct competitors, supplying retail private label, foodservice and ingredient customers with similar packaging formats and supply programs.
• Golden Heritage Foods: U.S. honey and sorghum ingredient supplier serving CPG manufacturers, foodservice and private label customers; directly comparable on the B2B ingredient and private-label side of Sweet Harvest's business.
• Burleson's Honey: U.S. honey producer selling branded table honey and foodservice formats; comparable to Nate's Honey on the branded consumer side and to Sweet Harvest on the foodservice channel.
• GloryBee: U.S. honey and beekeeping supplier selling retail honey, foodservice packs and apiarist supplies; overlaps with Sweet Harvest across consumer, foodservice and beekeeping-adjacent categories.

Regional players

• Bee Maid Honey: Canadian honey cooperative representing Western Canadian beekeepers, selling branded retail honey and bulk ingredient supply; comparable business model but primarily serves Canadian customers.
• Capilano Honey: Australia's largest honey brand and bulk supplier; comparable vertically-integrated honey producer with branded retail and ingredient export business, but operating in a different geography.
• Rowse Honey: UK's leading honey brand, supplying retail and foodservice customers; comparable branded-consumer-plus-ingredient model but primarily serving the UK and European markets.

Emerging players

• Hilltop Honey: UK-based honey brand that has scaled quickly into retail and foodservice channels; comparable in being a younger, branded honey business targeting natural and premium positioning, though smaller than Sweet Harvest.

Broad incumbents

• The J.M. Smucker Company: Diversified packaged-food incumbent with honey-adjacent sweetener products (syrups, jams, peanut butter) that overlap with Sweet Harvest's ingredient and consumer offerings, but honey is not a primary category focus.
• McCormick & Company: Global flavor and condiment incumbent with adjacent ingredient categories Sweet Harvest supplies (sauces, dressings, marinades); a relevant customer-adjacent incumbent but not a direct honey competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mel-o-honey-inc

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sweet Harvest Foods