Local Hive Honey

What Local Hive Honey does

Local Hive Honey, operating as Rice's Honey LLC, is a U.S. specialty honey company headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, that has sourced raw and unfiltered honey from American beekeepers for over 100 years. Its core product is regional honey, gently strained through cheesecloth to preserve natural pollen, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals, marketed in 23+ varietals named after U.S. regions (Florida, Midwest, So Cal, Colorado, etc.). The company has expanded into adjacent categories with a hot honey line (Original, Sriracha, Chipotle), a seven-SKU honey hot sauce portfolio, a sub-brand called Organic Hive (single-origin, Fair Trade IBD certified, USDA Organic, sourced from a sole beekeeping co-op in Ceará, Brazil), and specialty formats including a 100% U.S. bear bottle and single-serve honey packets.

The underlying production technology is intentionally low-tech: honey is shipped from beekeepers to the Greeley HQ, strained through cheesecloth, and bottled raw without ultra-filtration, superheating, or blending away pollen. Differentiation rests on provenance (named regional varietals and named beekeeper partnerships), certifications (USDA Organic, Fair Trade IBD, Non-GMO, BPA-free packaging), and a century-long supplier network rather than on proprietary processes or automation.

The business model is a wholesale-retail CPG structure combined with direct-to-consumer e-commerce. Honey is sold through major national retailers (Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Target, Sprouts, Albertsons) and e-commerce marketplaces (Amazon, Instacart), supplemented by the company's own Shopify storefront at localhivehoney.com. Pricing is unit-based, with honey priced around $5.98 at suggested retail and honey hot sauces at $6.99 per bottle. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or funding rounds, appears founder or family-owned, and employs 11-50 people. Customer concentration is dispersed across mass and natural retail channels, and growth has been driven primarily by product line extension, hot sauce category awards, and the 2026 national rollout of the bear bottle SKU.

Name

Local Hive Honey

Legal name

Rice's Honey LLC

Website

https://localhivehoney.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1924

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Local Hive Honey (Rice's Honey LLC) is a 100-year-old U.S. specialty honey company that produces and sells 23+ regional raw and unfiltered honey varietals, honey hot sauces, and the Organic Hive sub-brand through national retailers including Walmart, Kroger, and Whole Foods.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Honey and Natural Sweeteners

NAICS

Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing (3113), Apiculture (11291)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Honey Packaging, Bottling & Private Labeling (AFAEAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Honey & Natural Sweet Spreads Manufacturing (AFAKADAL), Honey Production & Extraction (AFAEAHAA)

Keywords

• Raw unfiltered honey
• Regional honey blends
• Honey hot sauce
• Organic fair trade honey
• American beekeeper honey

Headquarters

HQ city

Greeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Direct-to-Consumer E-commerce: The company sells its full product range (23+ honey varietals, hot honey, honey hot sauces, organic honey) directly to consumers through its online store at localhivehoney.com, offering the complete product catalog including regional blends not available in all retail locations.
2. Retail Distribution (National Chains): Products are sold through major national retail chains including Walmart and Kroger, where the bear bottle format was launched nationally. Also available at Whole Foods, Target, Sprouts, Albertsons, and natural food stores.
3. E-commerce Marketplaces: Products are sold through online marketplaces including Amazon and Instacart, expanding accessibility beyond the company's owned e-commerce storefront.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Local Hive Honey is a honey brand operated by Rice's Honey LLC that sources raw and unfiltered honey from American beekeepers. The company sells 23+ regional honey varietals, hot honey, seven varieties of honey hot sauces, USDA Organic and Fair Trade IBD certified Organic Hive honey sourced from Brazil, and specialty formats such as bear bottles and on-the-go honey packets. Products are distributed through national grocery chains and a direct-to-consumer online storefront.

Product overview

Local Hive Honey is a honey company offering a diverse portfolio of raw & unfiltered honey products sourced from American beekeepers. The product line includes: (1) Regional Honey Blends - over 23 unique varietals named after U.S. regions (Florida, Midwest, So Cal, Colorado, Northwest, etc.), each capturing local floral notes; (2) Organic Hive Honey - a single-origin organic honey sourced from Brazil, Fair Trade IBD certified; (3) Hot Honey line - three varieties (Original, Sriracha, Chipotle) made with 100% U.S. raw & unfiltered honey infused with peppers; (4) Honey Hot Sauce - seven varieties (Original, Sriracha, Chipotle, Mango Habanero, Cayenne, Hatch Chile, Habanero) combining honey with various peppers; (5) Specialty formats - bear bottle and honey packets. All products are raw & unfiltered, non-GMO, and support American beekeepers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Organic Hive: Single-origin organic honey sourced from Brazil, Fair Trade IBD certified, raw & unfiltered, USDA Organic certified. Launched in 2024.

Products and services

• Organic Hive Honey Single-origin organic honey sourced from beekeepers in Ceará, Brazil. USDA Organic certified, raw and unfiltered, Fair Trade IBD certified, and Non-GMO, with a distinctly floral sweet flavor and mild taste.
• Original Hot Honey

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked #1 in natural food stores and #2 in MULO per SPINS as of February 2026
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Beekeeping Co-op in Ceará, BrazilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Local Hive partners with a single beekeeping co-op in Ceará, Brazil to produce Organic Hive Honey. The partnership is the first-of-its-kind Fair Trade IBD certified honey program, ensuring fair wages, safe working conditions, and investment in community and environmental development. The relationship directs over $100,000 per year to projects chosen by the beekeepers. The company flew to Brazil in 2024 to verify organic certifications and witness the first bottles being filled.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Nature Nate's Honey: Nature Nate's is the leading U.S. raw & unfiltered honey brand and a direct competitor in the same shelf set at Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, and other mass retailers. Competes head-to-head on purity claims, single-origin positioning, and natural food channel share.
• Mike's Hot Honey: Mike's Hot Honey pioneered the U.S. hot honey category and is the most direct competitor to Local Hive's Original, Sriracha, and Chipotle hot honey SKUs. Both target the same sweet-heat condiment occasion and overlapping retail and foodservice accounts.
• Wedderspoon: Wedderspoon is a premium raw honey brand (manuka-focused) selling through natural food channels including Whole Foods and Sprouts. Comparable as a direct premium/raw honey peer with similar natural food store positioning and brand storytelling.
• Wholesome Sweeteners: Wholesome Sweeteners is a leading organic and Fair Trade sweetener brand with overlapping retail placement (Whole Foods, Sprouts) and consumer overlap with Local Hive's Organic Hive line. Comparable on organic/Fair Trade positioning in the sweeteners aisle.
• GloryBee: GloryBee is a honey and beekeeping supplies company with its own retail honey brand sold through natural food stores and online. Comparable as a direct peer in raw and unfiltered honey with similar beekeeper-supply provenance story.
• Madhava Natural Sweeteners: Madhava produces organic sweeteners including honey, agave, and maple, with strong placement in natural food retailers. Comparable as a peer in the organic/natural sweetener category overlapping with Local Hive's Organic Hive positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Barkman Honey: Barkman Honey is a larger, established honey packer and private-label supplier operating across retail, foodservice, and ingredient channels. Comparable as a broad incumbent in packaged honey with overlapping retail buyers and similar raw & unfiltered positioning.
• Dutch Gold Honey: Dutch Gold is one of the largest U.S. honey packers serving retail private label and branded customers. Comparable as a broad incumbent with similar bottling operations, retail relationships, and exposure to commodity and premium honey segments.

Emerging players

• Truff Hot Honey: Truff has expanded from truffle sauces into hot honey, competing with Local Hive's hot honey and honey hot sauce lines at premium retailers. Comparable as an emerging player in the sweet-heat condiment space with strong brand cachet and overlapping retail accounts.
• Siesta Honey / Really Raw Honey: Really Raw Honey is an unpasteurized honey brand sold in natural food channels and online. Comparable as a niche, premium raw honey competitor with similar consumer targeting and shelf placement in the natural channel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@localhivehoney1924
• Facebookfacebook.com/LocalHiveHoney
• Instagraminstagram.com/localhivehoney
• TikToktiktok.com/@localhivehoney
• Xx.com/LocalHiveHoney

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Local Hive Honey