On this episode we are grateful to have Douglas Raggio. Douglas' journey to becoming a purveyor of fine fresh honeycomb weaves together his entrepreneurial spirit, culinary expertise, and passion for sustainable food systems. After a decade in the fast-paced restaurant industry, where he managed award-winning establishments in New York and Chicago, Douglas found himself increasingly drawn to the origin stories behind exceptional ingredients. His pivot into the world of artisanal honey began during a chance encounter with a third-generation beekeeper in the Hudson Valley.
#eatbetterfoodtoday #longevity #health #localfarmers #artisanalhoney #honeycomb #regenerative
Please visit our website https://eatbetterfoodtoday.com for this week's recipe, interviews, books, research, videos.
Look for information on Douglas at https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasraggio and http://passthehoney.com/
Other websites Douglas mentioned https://www.regenerativeapiculture.org
What's In Season https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/
Cleveland Kitchen: https://www.clevelandkitchen.com/
Segment Notes:
Breakfast 1:33
Journey into Honey 2:00
- civil engineering to marketing
- Venture fund for farmers who lacked access to capital
o But VCs in CPG just sold to larger companies
- Started Private Equity Fund, bought and sold an ingredients commodity business
o Learned about honey fraud – and honeycomb can't be faked
- Lose a beekeeper and you lose our food system
Pass the Honey – The Company 7:37
- Mission – stabilize beekeeping globally
o Create a revenue source to support honeybees, beekeepers, ecological diversity
o 3yrs with UC Davis developing outcome based regenerative standards White Paper
o Created one million acres for research, then gifted to a 501c3
The Regenerative AP Culture Working Group
Honeycomb has Terroir – nuance and flavor based on origin 11:14
- Honey comes from bees that get pollen from flowers, flowers are breathing the air
- How do You know what's in the HoneyComb?
o Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Pollen, Sugar Water Testing
o Pollen content, depending on the flower, ranges from 20% to 90%
o Fundraising for Five Pilots to begin the certification process
Pass the Honey - Products 14:21
- Apiculture is beekeeping, agriculture is crop tending
- Could not find US Honeycomb in Volume in the US without pesticides
o Turkey banned many pesticides decades ago, plus Canada, Mexico, Europe, Middle East
o Each region's honeycomb tastes different
o Like wine, grapes are different, same for honey and the pollen in a region
- Want to be the Next Avocado – Need Market Demand to Stabilize the Bees and Beekeeper
Population
Fraudulent Honey 18:57
- 70% of all liquid honey is fradulaent
- Beekeepers lost 60% of their hives in 2024
o So where is all of this honey coming from to meet demand?
- If you see multiple sources on one container, its been heated and lost all nutritional value
Pass the Honey - Customers 21:23
- Wherever you can use a berry you can use a honeycomb
- Currently in about ten supermarkets and growing
- Restaurateurs – for cocktails, on steak, breakfast pancakes, waffles, yogurt
- Pizza Shops, Charcuterie stores, Gyms
Health Benefits
- Honey is the original healing agent
- Antibacterial, Anti-fungal, Antimicrobial
- Sleep aid
- Type I diabetics – the wax: clinical nutritionists see metabolic lift without the crash (consult your doctor)
Bees and Their Decline 26:41
- Why? Pesticides, antibiotics, trucking bees to pollinate mono-crops, theft
- Starting a Hive – join a beekeeping club
Book for Food Entrepreneurs - So you Wanna Start a Food or Beverage Business 29:37
- The common pitfalls that Founders run into
- Stories of how founders worked through problems
- Know Your End-Game and Build backwards
- Typically need $250K to $2M to start
- Farming: moving to organic – need demand to balance the investment needed
o Costco has worked with farmers transitioning to organic
o Chefs can help drive demand
Honeycomb: look where Avocado's have come in 20yrs, Pistachios 35:36
o Branded Commodities: It takes consumer education
o Create a honeycomb brand, charge enough to keep beekeepers producing
o Sourcing from US regions – hard to do – but want to
Have to look at wind patterns, forage, water, access to collect honeycombs, fires, floods
Talking to people in the south, indigenous areas,
Bees and Food 39:36
- Pollinate about a third of our global food system
- Beekeeper's income has gone down because of the fraudulent honey bringing prices down
o Drives them to doing pollination services
- Thank a beekeeper for pollinating your berries and vegetables
- Chefs get the importance of honeycomb, bees, beekeepers
The Biggest Challenge 43:50
- Demand outpacing supply of good quality honeycomb: it's a new commodity class
Cooking at Home 45:56
- Eating healthy, affordably, can be done, but it takes planning – his wife did a study
- Need a way to show people, easily, how to shop healthy, affordably
- Shop at International Markets
The Recipe: Coconut Cult, Fresh Berries, Granola, Honeycomb 50:22
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