Interview with Hampson Honey

Company Name: Hampson Honey

Product: Raw Honey

Owners: Carl and Karin Hampson

So firstly, how did you and Carl get into honey? What was it about honey that attracted you to start your own honey business?

It happened quite accidentally really! Carl started off with a hobby hive in our backyard as he has always been a farmer and an entrepreneur at heart, even when he was a child. It was a natural fit for him. He met another beekeeper through a mutual friend and spent the day learning from him and after that, he was hooked! For me, I took a little more time to get used to the idea of having a live beehive in my backyard! I’m more of an office jock, so we work well together in that I do all the paperwork side of things, and Carl focuses more on the beekeeping. Our decision to make it into a career also has a bit of an environmental aspect to it too. We were concerned about the declining bee population due to mono-cropping, spraying, and deforestation, and so really, if it wasn’t for beekeepers, the future would look very bleak for bees, and in turn, for us. So this really fuels our drive to keep doing what we are doing every day.

How does Australian honey differ from other honeys around the world?

Australia is lucky in that it has a lot of natural bushlands filled with native Australian eucalypt trees that produces a world class honey. Overseas buyers are falling over their feet to obtain 100% Australian raw honey. Australian honey has been found to be really good for gut health as it is a great source of prebiotics when consumed in its raw form. Honey producers from other parts of the world do not have the same stringent regulations as beekeepers have in Australia so often you’ll find they get away with a lot more for example using carcinogenic antibiotics to treat bees (which is illegal in Australia).  

What are the health benefits of raw honey?

The health benefits of consuming raw honey are endless! I noticed the massive difference it has made in my family’s life just by switching all sugars to honey. For starters, honey is low GI, which means your body releases the energy slowly so you don’t get the sugar highs and lows. You will find you have a lot more energy throughout the day. Just eliminating sugar alone and switching to honey, I went from a very tired mom of 5 month old twins that was always in need of a nap, to being full of energy and managing well throughout the day even with broken sleep at night!

Raw honey has been found to be more effective than antibiotics at treating common ailments. This is due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-mycobacterial) properties. It’s also an excellent source of antioxidants so it really helps boost your immune system. We have raw honey all the time and I’m amazed at how little we get sick and if we do, how quickly we recover. It’s definitely kept my family healthy this winter and makes for an excellent cough syrup if anyone does end up getting a cold.

There are many other health benefits such as aiding weight loss, promoting restful sleep, counters pollen allergies, its excellent for wound healing or treating burns, improves digestion, relieves nausea, lowers cholesterol, improves circulation and treats acne. It’s just a great all-rounder health product for such a long list of ailments that it’s a definite must have in every household!

Can you explain the difference between Manuka honey, royal jelly and normal honey?

Manuka honey has been quite the buzz lately because it has been found to have a high level of activity (which is the level of methoglyoxal present in the honey). Basically if you get a high MGO rating (I’m talking 500+), it has great healing properties. Manuka honey is just honey that has been produced by the bees while foraging from the Manuka bush (or better known in Australia as Jellybush). Each batch is then tested to determine its level of activity because it would greatly vary depending on multiple factors such as the type of manuka bush, how much bees foraged off of this bush versus others in the area, etc. It’s really hard to produce because it’s not a good pollen or nectar source for bees, so usually they will only forage from the manuka bush if there was nothing else on offer in the vicinity. It also produces a jelly like honey in small quantities. At times it requires special extraction equipment to get the jelly-like honey out of the frames and this coupled with the high demand for the product has led to prices soaring for Manuka honey.

Royal jelly is what the bees feed their little grubs in early development and queen bees before they hatch. A beehive usually only produces a small amount of this and it’s vital in the hive. Hampson Honey does not produce royal jelly as our philosophy is a bit alternative. We believe in keeping a healthy, happy hive and when the bees produce excess honey, we only remove the excess. We don’t take vital parts of the hive such as royal jelly or pollen as this could weaken the hive. Royal jelly is used more as a supplement for people with specific health ailments, but it also treats a lot of the same ailments as raw honey would treat.

Normal raw honey in is what we all know and love. It can range greatly in colour, viscosity, taste and odour depending on which floral variety it is. In Australia, the most popular honeys are from the variety of eucalypt trees such as blue gum, red gum, stringy bark, paper bark, etc. We keep our bees on national park and state forest sites which are surrounded by these beautiful untouched bushlands and it produces a fantastic honey. What is the difference between raw honey and store bought honey?

Raw honey is the beautiful healthy honey that bees create. It’s just extracted, strained and bottled. That’s it. It contains all the health properties that you want like the natural enzymes, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients such as pollen and propolis. Store bought honey is usually heated and filtered, which is great for packing honey in a quick timeframe, but not great at giving the customers a high quality, healthy honey. Store-bought honey is also often a blend of Australian and international honey. As mentioned earlier, other countries have lower standards when it comes to producing their honey and some may even be blended with other sugar syrups to bring down the cost. If you’re after a great tasting honey with all the health benefits mentioned earlier, you have to buy 100% Australian raw honey. It’s always best to support your local beekeeper so you know you get what you are paying for.Why do you think people should support local honey producers over the big supermarket brands?

I think it’s more important than ever to vote with your dollar. We want to keep jobs in Australia and we want to keep the high-quality Australian honeys in Australia. By supporting your local beekeeper, you can ensure its 100% honey (not adulterated) and you can make sure it’s raw so you have all the health benefits of raw honey.

What roadblocks and challenges have you encountered while creating Hampson honey?

Probably the biggest challenge is distribution. We are trying to get our product to market at a decent price, but the retailers demand such high margins, so we are looking at ways to get our customers to buy from us directly – possibly online.

How have you juggled mum life and working on the business at the same time?

I don’t really know to be honest! I have a kid hanging off my leg as we speak! It’s definitely challenging trying to do it all, and as mum, we tend to put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect and do it all at the expense of our own sanity. I try to take every day as it comes and just accept the fact that I am not going to be great at everything every single day and that’s ok. I just prioritize and go from there.

What’s your biggest motivation for continuing to work on Hampson honey?

I know we are building something special that we could pass down to our 3 boys one day while doing our bit to better the environment. I really hope to leave behind a legacy of changing the world in a small way (as cheesy as that sounds!). We’re structuring our business around our core values and beliefs, so we feel the work we do is important for the environment and the community alike in many different ways. The flexibility of doing your own thing is also just something money can’t buy. I’m able to be a mom and a wife first and an employee second. It’s also so rewarding putting the hours into something that is ultimately yours.