National Honey Board’s 2020 Queen’s Choice Award Winners Announced

Queens Choice Awards Graphic

September is National Honey Month, so it’s only fitting that the Queen Bee has her say on the best new products made with honey in the food and beverage industry, aptly dubbed the Queen’s Choice Awards. 

Brands both small and large took home honors for food and beverage products launched from July 2019 to June 2020. All of the winners showcased honey in an exemplary manner, whether it was through flavor, functionality or in packaging that showcased the marketing benefits honey provides. 

2020 Baking and Snack Winners

  • Cereal: Honey Pecan Drizzlers, Creative Snacks Co. 
    Breakfast meets indulgence in these bite-size yogurt Honey Pecan Drizzlers. We loved the combination of honey, granola, nuts and fruit weaved in clusters with a vanilla yogurt drizzle. This versatile product can be a cereal, a stand-alone snack or a yogurt topping.
  • Bread: Whole Grain Thin Sliced Honey Wheat, Pepperidge Farm
    How can consumers eat carbs with less guilt? Cut calories by offering a thinner slice. Pepperidge Farm offered healthful indulgence messaging that is important to us, so this made with honey bread was a great choice. 
  • Bar: LÄRABAR Kids Cinnamon Swirl, LÄRABAR
    With honey as the first sweetener in this kids’ bar, this snack is sure to satisfy parents and kids alike.  LÄRABAR hit a home run with delicious Cinnamon Swirl in a category full of competition. 
  • Snack: Hot Hot Honey Pot Chips, Krakatoa Hot Snacks
    Spicy flavors are hot in more ways than one in 2020. Krakatoa’s Hot Hot Honey Pot Chips conforms to the sweet heat trend and offer a good use of honey. Sources of heat on these chips include scorpion chili and red chili pepper, a truly unique twist on a traditional crunchy snack. 
  • Sweet Goods: Spiced Carrot Cake Soft Baked Almond Flour Bars, Simple Mills
    This line of Simple Mills’ four soft baked bars all feature honey: Chunky Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate Almond, Nutty Banana Bread and Spiced Carrot Cake. They’re made with trending almond flour and include whole food ingredients with nothing artificial. Truly a sweet concept. 
  • Confectionery: Signature Mini Almond & Honey, Godiva
    Named a “Product we Loved at the 2019 ECRM Everyday and Summer Seasonal Session” by Candy Industry in February, we couldn’t help but echo the sentiment. These mini bars by Godiva are wrapped for portion control and easy sharing.
  • General Food: Mixed Berry Hilo, Noosa Yoghurt
    Noosa’s yoghurt line uses honey in the majority of its products, and we love the newest variety: Mixed Berry Hilo. With 12 grams of protein per serving and wildflower honey, we’re sweet on this yoghurt. 
  • Packaging/Design: Kellogg’s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes, Kellogg NA Co.
    We agree: Honey Nut Frosted Flakes are Grrrreeeattt! And, so is this box design. From the cute bee to the honey dipper, to the “made with real honey” tagline, we’re happy to see a product promoting honey as its main sweetener both inside and out. 

2020 Beverage Winners

  • RTD Tea/Juice: Fizzy Black Tea Lemon Raw Honey, Teakoe | Tea Supply Co
    We’re Getting Fizzy with It right along with Teakoe. Multiple teas from this company are made with honey, and we think they taste amazing. This product is downright unique, from the cold brew concept to the organic black sea and the fizzy nature, we love this sweetened with honey RTD tea.
  • Carbonated Drinks: Honeycomb Cider, Green Bee
    There’s something to be said about drinking a carbonated beverage out of a glass bottle. The taste is fresher, and we love Green Bee’s Honey Soda lineup. It was tough to single out a variety in these made with honey drinks, but Honeycomb Cider won us over. 
  • Functional Drink: Pineapple Ginger Shot, Knudsen & Sons, Inc.
    One of the most unique functional drinks we’ve seen this year, Pineapple Ginger Juice Shot comes in a 2.5 oz. juice shot bottle and is made with all organic ingredients. In a year when pick-me-ups are more necessary than ever, we loved the juice shot concept. 
  • Packaging/Design: RedKind Cherry Watermelon Kindness, Sparkling Hunniwater
    Who wouldn’t love a little kindness in their beverage? This cool, refreshing packaging featured a “sparkling honey water” tagline and an eye-catching hive design. Just follow the bee, pop the top and enjoy. 

To learn more about the Queen’s Choice Awards, click here.

We want to hear from you! Which of these made-with-honey products have you tried? Which would you like to try? Tell us in the comments below!