-Photos courtesy of Sioux Honey Association Co-op
Sioux Honey Association Co-op has more than 185 members coast to coast, and is the only honey co-op in the nation. All the Co-op's honey is received from its members, and Sioux Honey does the processing and marketing for them, so their beekeepers can focus more on gathering their honey crop and keeping their bees healthy.

SIOUX CITY — Sioux Honey Association Co-op of Sioux City and American Farmland Trust (AFT) have announced the joint launch of U.S. Farmed certified honey.

U.S. Farmed is a standard for consumer-packaged goods proven to contain at least 95 percent of its ingredients grown in the U.S.

Sioux Honey Association Co-op’s brands of Sue Bee and Aunt Sue’s now become the first honey brand in the nation to earn U.S. Farmed certification, with all of their products coming from U.S. beekeepers.

Aimee Sandman, director of marketing for Sioux Honey Association Co-op, said there are other honey processors in the U.S., but Sioux Honey Association Co-op has remained the only honey co-op in the U.S., with most of its members being in the U.S.

“This symbol is important to us because it makes (our brand) stand out,” she said. “You have to go through a certification to make sure the ingredients are from the U.S.A., so this isn’t just us telling consumers that this is U.S. honey, but it’s us showing that this is U.S. honey and it’s a U.S. product.”

The certification process began last October with an audit and more intensive tracking of the co-op’s bees. The certification came through from AFT last January. Sioux Honey will make the announcement larger this fall, once the certification can be added to their labeling.

Sandman said Sioux Honey Association Co-op is getting positive feedback from their retail outlets regarding the U.S Farmed certification in a time when consumers are more concerned about the origins of their food.

She said Sioux Honey Association Co-op has more than 185 members coast to coast, and is the only honey co-op in the nation. Sandman said they receive all the honey from their members and do the processing and marketing for them, so their beekeepers can focus more on gathering their honey crop and keeping their bees healthy.

“The beekeepers have their own businesses/companies they run in collecting the honey. They send it to us, and we do all the rest, like finding a home for it with our brands like Sue Bee and Aunt Sue’s,” said Sandman.

Sioux Honey Association Co-op members produce and send to them around 20 to 25 percent of the U.S. honey crop, which pencils out to approximately 25 million to 35 million pounds of honey per year that the co-op sources, depending on weather conditions and other factors.

All of the company’s honey is processed in Sioux City by its more than 100 employees, most of whom work on the processing/bottling line.

“We are proud to be an Iowa company and are also proud to be able to employ that many people for the Sioux City region,” said Sandman.

Sioux Honey Association Co-op has just launched their new sea salt honey and a hot honey flavor. The Co-op highlights their Midwestern beekeepers with a Midwestern-style honey, and also highlights their southern California beekeepers with a flavor that carries that flair as well.

“We can be a little more regionalized with those honeys because people like to feel like they’re getting something that’s close to home,” said Sandman, adding that they strive to be innovative with ways to use their honey.

“We do ingredient honey and food service honey, too — so you can find us across the country,” she said.

Sandman said honey is becoming more prevalent on restaurant menus and in home kitchens, being paired with meats and vegetables as glazes or during the cooking process. Various health benefits are associated with honey and Sandman said its uses are many-fold, including using honey as a healthier replacement for sugar.

How it began

Sandman said five Sioux City beekeepers got together in 1921 and pooled their resources to help each other stay sound in the ways of equipment and finances. The company grew, and today the corporate office is in Sioux City. (There is another smaller location in Anaheim, California.)

Honey from Sioux Honey Association Co-op is shipped worldwide, especially their brands of Sue Bee and Aunt Sue’s. Most of the Co-op’s products are shipped domestically.

She said Anheuser Busch was the first company in the U.S. to obtain the U.S. Farmed certification, with Sioux Honey Association Co-op being the second in the nation.

“We are so excited and honored to have this symbol and be certified for U.S. honey,” said Sandman. “It’s such an impact for our membership — they are so proud to have this on our label to showcase their U.S. honey, but it really shows what our brands here stand for — that U.S. Farmed is important … and that we’re supporting our U.S. beekeepers. We are overjoyed about this. It really explains to consumers what’s in that bottle and just know it’s a U.S. product.”

Sandman said Co-op beekeeper members not only provide honey for their processing facility, but those bees also travel across the country to pollinate almonds around the nation, helping the U.S. ecosystem.

Kevin Heuser, Sioux Honey Association Co-op president and CEO, said the U.S. Farmed certification is an important milestone in their dedication to honesty and integrity.

“From the beehive to the household, you can be sure our honey is harvested and packaged within the United States. Sioux Honey Co-op and AFT commit to increase demand for American-grown products, invest in the future by encouraging domestic production and to help preserve farmland.”

AFT created the U.S. Farmed standard because they say America’s farmland is under threat — that 2,000 acres are paved, fragmented or converted daily, and that millions more acres will be lost by 2040 if those trends continue. They backed that statement by saying one-third of the nation’s farm and ranch land (300 million acres) will change hands in the next 20 years as aging farmers exit the field, making the land vulnerable to development.

“U.S. Farmed directly supports AFT’s mission to save the land that sustains us by protecting farmland, keeping farmers on the land and promoting forward-looking farming practices,” said AFT President and CEO John Piotti. “Businesses can market their support for U.S. farms by getting certified and proudly placing the U.S. Farmed seal on their products. Americans can support farmers by choosing U.S. Farmed certified products.”