Live music, mead and a wide selection of varietal honey to taste from made up this anniversary celebration
By MATTHEW MCELDOWNEY — city@theaggie.org
It is estimated that over one thousand people came out to celebrate the anniversary and success of The Hive, a tasting room, kitchen and honey production facility, on Nov. 16. Z Speciality Food is a family-run business that has since moved from sharing a warehouse space with a wool factory into The Hive’s state-of-the-art, zero-net-energy production facility and event space that has 20,000 square feet.
Programs at the anniversary celebration took families on tours through this garden and production facility to highlight their commitment to taking care of the climate and bees that in turn take care of them.
The families of Woodland were also given the opportunity to participate in a honey tasting, an interactive bee show and a spelling bee. These free programs were complemented by the event’s farm-to-table menu and a wide selection of mead to purchase.
Shoshana Zeldner, the director of brand strategy and marketing, and her brother Joshua Zeldner, the nectar director who is responsible for the wholesale, food manufacturing and honey processing side of the business, talked about their family business and the sheer amount of support they received during this event.
This was an unprecedented amount of people we have had at The Hive in one day,” Shoshana said. “Having more than one thousand people was an achievement, and we are glad things ran so smoothly with that many people.”
Joshua added onto his sister’s statement and explained what he loves most about the event.
“It showcases how excited the community is that we’re here, and we hear it from people all the time — especially from people living in Woodland — that they are just so happy that we exist,” Joshua said.
At the event, many people were there to participate in tasting each of the over 30 varieties of honey and competed against one another in the bee-themed spelling bee, even coming to the event in bee-themed costumes. This year’s programs had more participation than ever before as families were clamoring to learn more about The Hive’s business at its heart, according to the siblings.
“We showcase very pure products from nature and so a strong connection to the environment as well as pure, simple and high-level ingredients is really core to who we are,” Shoshana said.
Moreover, Shoshana and Joshua emphasized that during the facility tour, this commitment to sustainability is intrinsic to so many aspects of their business and distribution model.
“Josh has also done a lot of work on having our building, our packaging and our shipping to all reflect [our values of] environmental sustainability,” Shoshana said.
Their facility is fully electric, offset with solar panels and their business uses packing and shipping materials that are recyclable or recycled whenever possible. Furthermore, the facility includes a garden that uses drought-tolerant pollinator plants, 100% organic landscaping, emergency-efficient appliances/architectural design and solar heating. This commitment to sustainability was among the major factors in building The Hive from the ground up.
As experts in the honey industry, their business has been consulted by UC Davis in the founding of its Honey Center with Joshua and Shoshana’s mom, Amina Harris, as the founding director. This role is one that Harris feels best aligned with her goals and vision as an educator.
“A big value is education,” Shoshana said. “When our parents started the business, they were really the first company at the time to be talking about varietal honey. And so, educating people about what varietal honeys are, and honey in general, is really central to our identity.”
Joshua then emphasized the importance of making their honey education accessible to a wide range of people.
“We try to assume that each person that walks through the door has never tried varietal honey or mead before,” Joshua said. “So we have a lot of fun educating people.”
For Ailee Mcleod, a third-year psychology major, this was her first time tasting different varieties of honey side-by-side or trying mead at all.
“I didn’t know mead was a thing until I was brought into The Hive,” Mcleod said.
The Hive was a welcoming place that allowed her to try a whole bunch of honey-based products such as honey cider, honey beer and a whole bunch of pure honeys sourced from Northern California, Florida and Hawaii, according to Mcleod.
“[My favorite part was] the honey tasting,” Mcleod said. “I didn’t know there was a wide variety of honeys —- you’d be surprised —- there’s savory honey!”
Each of the native flowers that the honeybees would collect nectar from would produce unique flavors unique to each variety. And as Mcleod tasted The Hive’s wide selection of honeys, she developed her own personal taste.
“My least favorite was the Hawaiian Lehua —- there was no party in my mouth — the one that did give a big party in my mouth was the orange blossom and the sweet clover,” Mcleod said. “I don’t know what was in that, but all I know is that it was really good.”
For this family business, Z Specialty Food, to allow so many people to come back or be introduced to the delectable world of honey through this anniversary event is what made it so meaningful. Overcoming the challenges of both operating and expanding their small business to what it is today was no small feat. However, it is the many precious moments like Mcleod’s first honey tasting that remind them of how far their journey has taken them, according to the Zeldners.
“We’ve put in so much work over the years to get to where we are today, and it is really validating to see this space being used to its fullest potential — to see the band going with the stage and the PA, the bee show, the facility tour, people tasting honey and drinking mead,” Joshua said. “All those things together is such a beautiful picture that brings tears to our eyes, [given that] we have worked so hard to get here.”
Written By: Matthew Mceldowney — city@theaggie.org
