Join our FREE Honey Lovers Club for our Kids Treats recipe eBook

Bee Tomorrow

For our bees, and their home

As one of Australia’s most loved food brands, we understand that we have a responsibility to make changes to the way we do things, for the better of our environment, and our bees – for today and tomorrow!

Discover the changes...

Honey on toast, or in your morning cuppa is just a part of everyday life and we’ve been busy behind the scenes improving our packaging and use of natural resources. Read on to discover some of our initiatives and come back soon for the latest updates.

Packaging Improvements

Alongside packaging innovations, we are regularly working with our packaging material suppliers to improve our recycling credentials. This work spans each component of our packaging, so you can recycle with ease.

Towards 100% recycled plastic

We are also changing the materials of our plastic bottles so that they are made with recycled plastic.

As of December 2022, our 250g and 340g squeeze packs, including the sleeve, are made with 30% recycled material and we hope soon to increase this quantity. We will update this page as we have more good news to share.

Water Recycling Program

Drought impacts our bees and beekeepers regularly, so conversation of water is of great significance to the team here at Capilano. On average we recycle 240,000 litres of water each year and redirect this to farming use. We’re actively looking for better ways to work that improve our water efficiencies, and further water recycling opportunities.

Towards Renewable Energy

Two out of three of our sites in Australia have solar panels, which is used to partially power our honey packing facilities. We are currently working on ways to further reduce our emissions and seek more sources of renewable energy for our sites.

Carbon Plantation Partnerships

Further helping to reduce the impact of carbon emissions on the environment, together with our parent company Hive and Wellness Australia, we’ve partnered with carbon sink organisation CO2 Group to place 20 apiary sites across their forests of native Blue Mallee trees in Western Australia. Our bees pollinate these native Australian gums that help to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and offset emissions.

Flourishing National Parks

Bees play a critical role in promoting biodiversity and sustainability of bushlands, so we’ve been working with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) to help Capilano beekeepers access remote and pristine national parks to support pollination of our native plants.

Hive Aid

Our partnership with Rural Aid to create the Hive Aid program is dear to our hearts. Without bees and beekeepers, our food supply and biodiversity would be significantly impacted. We set up Hive Aid in 2019 in partnership with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC), in response to the severe droughts and bushfire crisis our beekeepers experienced. To date the campaign has raised over half a million dollars and these funds are a vital lifeline for the many families impacted by natural disaster.

Researching for today, and tomorrow

We’re proud to support Australia’s leading universities in understanding the health and medicinal properties of Australian honey. With a strong Australian honey industry, Aussie beekeepers are able to thrive and support larger bee populations – further promoting pollination and biodiversity.

To date we’ve funded research projects with University of the Sunshine Coast, The University of Sydney, Curtin University, University of Southern Queensland and Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Honey Bee Products. We have supported research into the antibacterial properties of Australian Manuka Honey as well as the bioactive properties of Australian Eucalypt honey.

We know Australian honey is special and we are actively providing our research partners with honey samples and funding for this important research. Current projects including looking at the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties of Australian Honey.

Stay tuned for more on these exciting projects soon.