Nespresso launches honey range: marking first ever innovation beyond coffee
Nespresso Bloom is a range of honey-based products: including Coffee Blossom Honey and Coffee Blossom Honey Syrup. The honey is produced by bees that pollinate the same coffee plants as Nespresso coffee.
Honey: the sweetest innovation
Honey is having a moment. It’s become a trend on TikTok: featuring in creations such as Honey Whipped Iced Coffee and Honey Greek Frappe.
Coffee shops across the US are also turning to honey as a way to sweeten a morning cup of joe, while consumers are also using it instead of sugar at home. Honey offers a much healthier way to sweeten products, with a lower calorie count for the same amount of sweetness with its winning credentials of being natural and unprocessed as well.
The beans and the bees
But it’s not just about TikTok trends. The honey line is part of Nespresso’s ambitions to transition to regenerative agriculture practices.
Bees play an integral role in the production of coffee cherries. But the threat of climate change and other factors such as the use of pesticides are putting bees – and therefore coffee itself – at risk.
Nespresso decided to focus on the hills of the Andes Mountains in the Caldas-Antioquia region of Colombia.
Coffee Blossom Honey and Coffee Blossom Honey Syrup
Harvested from the same flowers as the coffee of Nespresso Master Origins Colombia capsule, the first two products can be paired with coffee, pastries, breakfast bites and more:
Coffee Blossom Honey is a raw honey with delicate floral flavor and velvety, smooth, caramel and vanilla notes that perfectly complements Nespresso coffee. Coffee Blossom Honey can also be drizzled on affogato, yogurt, whipped ricotta and more.
Coffee Blossom Honey Syrup is the golden blend of the exclusive Coffee Blossom Honey infused with Nespresso coffee, designed to easily enhance customers' favorite recipes. It adds a refined coffee flavor with velvety, smooth, caramel and vanilla notes to macchiatos, espresso martinis and even waffles.
It’s a region where farmers are particularly engaged in exploring regenerative agriculture (the country possesses the highest number of Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program farms that are Rainforest Alliance-certified).
Nespresso has been working with UBEES – an organization that supports farmers and brands worldwide to create bee-friendly environments via a tech backed approach – since 2020.
The collaboration has seen the partners integrate beehives and monitoring tech on the coffee farms in Caldas.
More than 50 Colombian coffee farmers have become involved in the project, caring for more than 43 million bees.
The result? Farmers also become beekeepers, promoting natural pollination of the coffee plants and supporting regenerative agriculture efforts.
And it also increases farmers’ earning potential.
Since UBEES began installing and monitoring beehives on farms, the introduction of colonies has contributed to a coffee yield increase of 10 to 15%.
And the additional income stream from honey and related products equates to around 30 to 40% additional income for farmers.
A taste of honey
The first harvest is small: and only limited quantities of Honey Bloom products will be available as a result.
The products will first be available exclusively in Nespresso Boutiques in New York City (Madison Avenue) and San Francisco (Walnut Creek) starting August 7.
On August 21, Coffee Blossom Honey and Coffee Blossom Honey Syrup will also be available across the US on Nespresso.com.
