A Caersws company is buzzing after supplying honey to create special chocolate truffles for the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.
Raw Welsh Wildflower Honey from Hilltop Honey, based at Caersws, near Newtown, was chosen by Iain Burnett the Highland Chocolatier from Perthshire, Scotland as the Welsh ingredient to make The Sandringham Velvet Truffle, a delicious blackcurrant and cream truffle.
Blackcurrants from the royal gardens at Sandringham Estate, Scottish cream from a single Perthshire herd, butter from Northern Ireland and Welsh Wildflower Honey were used to create the dark chocolate treat, which was presented to the Queen on her birthday on Thursday last week.
“It was a massive honour to be asked to supply the Welsh ingredient for the Queen’s birthday truffles,” said Hilltop Honey’s managing director Scott Davies. “The international publicity associated with the truffles can only be good for business and I hope the Queen enjoyed them.”
It’s not the first time that Welsh honey form Hilltop Honey - www.hilltop-honey.com - has tantalised the tastebuds of VIPs. In 2014, the company supplied honey for world leaders at the NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport.
Scott presented pots of Welsh honey to Prime Minister David Cameron, American President Barack Obama and French president, Francois Hollande at a reception for Welsh food producers during the summit.
He was taken aback when Mr Cameron asked him jokingly: “Will it make me better in bed?” Scott replied: ‘It can do whatever you want it to, mate.”
Beekeeper Scott, 28, started the business in his parents’ kitchen with a £5,000 overdraft in 2011.
Five years later, he is employing 10 full time staff, has a turnover of £1.5 million and supplies honey, comb honey and bee pollen to customers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Holland & Barrett, online supermarket Ocado, Selfridges and Whole Foods.
He doubled his business after winning the Tesco contract last August and now sells his raw wildflower and creamed honey in 650 stores across the UK. With more big orders in the pipeline this summer, he is having to consider moving to larger premises to cope with growing demand for natural honey products.
“Five years ago I walked into Newtown to sell my first four jars of honey and now I’m supplying thousands of jars to customers across the UK and even as far away as New York,” said Scott. “It’s incredible.
“There is huge demand for organic honey, comb honey and bee pollen, which is very nutritious. Consumers want to eat honey in its rawest form and don’t want their food to be messed with.”
Picture captions:
Scott Davies, managing director of Hilltop Honey.
