Speciality-Food-Magazine-March-2025

19 specialityfoodmagazine.com Honey-sweetened soft drinks unveiled by Hive Mind Hive MindMead & Brew Co has launched Honeyade – a blend of 100% British honey, sparkling water and natural flavours. There are two flavours currently available – Lime &Mint and Just Honey – and two more variants, Strawberry & Basil and Rhubarb & Ginger, are set to join the range this spring. The drinks contain no refined sugar or artificial sweeteners, and are being launched in sleek 330ml cans packaged using a carbon neutral canning line. Kit Newell, co-founder of Hive MindMead & Brew Co, said, “Honeyade is a proudly ‘ultra un-processed’ drink showcasing the flavours of real honey. We’ve been looking to expand our customer offer beyond our mead and honey beer. This is our first non-alcoholic drink launch and we’ve focused onmaking something that can appeal to all ages in terms of great flavour, and is also a very natural product. These products were developed around the push back against artificial sweeteners, but also the desire to avoid processed ingredients and refined sugar. As with all our products, we’re putting the honey front and centre – and we know that our customers appreciate the positive impact of our mission to boost bee numbers, and that we buy directly from other British bee-keepers as well as using honey from our own bees in the Wye Valley.” hivemindmead.com The Norwich-based chocolatier’s popular range of chocolate buttons have had a packaging refresh in line with the business’s sustainable approach. The new eco-friendly pouches are made usign EvoPak RCM, a 100% recyclable paper wrapper which unlike many other recyclable paper wrappers contains no polyethylene. The move sits alongside Gnaw’s other sustainability efforts, including investing in solar energy which provides 70% of its manufacturing needs, not using irresponsibly farmed palm oil, and using compostable or recyclable wrappers and vegetable inks in its range of chocolate products. Mike Navarro, MD of Gnaw, said, “EvoPak offers a significant step-change in planet- responsible snacking and confectionery wrappers as a result of significant advances in lightweight multi-layer structures that preserve shelf-life whilst producing none of the harmful microplastics historically associated with snacking wrappers that unwittingly release harmful microplastics as they break down. Our sublime buttons remain a leading light within our ever-expanding premium chocolate portfolio, providing the perfect vehicle for our next sustainable initiative, championing awareness for cutting-edge wrapper technology that helps to address the catastrophic clogging up of seas and rivers with unwelcome micro-plastics.” gnawchocolate.co.uk Gnaw trials new 100% recyclable paper wrappers Organic food supplier Biona has announced a new Ginger & Turmeric paste which will be available for retailers to stock fromMarch. The new ready-to-use paste caters for shoppers who are seeking convenience and foods with health credentials, and is made using organic ginger and turmeric. The ingredients have been prepared so that shoppers do not need to spend time peeling and chopping; this simplifies the preparation of dishes such as Indian and Malaysian curries. Carmen Ferguson, brand manager at Biona’s parent company Windmill Organics, said, “With recent data from Nielsen once again confirming the positive growth trajectory for organic food sales, which are now outperforming non- organic, we’re excited to bring another sought-after and healthy organic option to market. Scratch cooking continues to grow in popularity, and particularly South-East Asian-inspired scratch cooking, so we expect this new launch to be well-received by consumers. biona.co.uk Biona creates new paste for health-conscious home cooks