Me and My Factory: Hilltop Honey

Take a journey through Hilltop Honey to discover what goes into a bottle of its honey and a glimpse into how founder and owner Scott Davies runs the business in the latest episode of Me and My Factory.

Born from a beekeeping hobby in 2011, Davies started Hilltop from his parents’ kitchen table and has grown to be the second-largest honey brand in the UK.

“I think from inception, the way I started Hilltop was a whole new way of looking at honey to what it was in the marketplace – I found bees interesting and tried to bring that to life with consumers,” said Davies.

“We go honey hunting all over the world trying to find the best suppliers, the best tasting honey while meeting and aligning with our B Corp ethics. I think generally Hilltop is unique in the sense of its ability to find good honey.”

From the ground up

Starting from the ground up, Davies has been involved in every part of the business and still plays an active part of the manufacturer’s day to day operations. He even makes time to visit the beehives that the company still keeps nearby – tended to by his father in his retirement.

“I try to lead from the front, so I bootstrapped Hilltop from the very beginning. I’ve walked pretty much every mile in every shoe through the business,” Davies added. “I think that helps inspire people, that I do understand their position in every part of this business.

“I work super hard so they [the team] can see me working hard. I’m not here, there and everywhere gallivanting while everyone is working really hard – I lead from the front in that sense, try to keep them motivated by making it reasonably fun.”

B Corp

Davies takes his business’s B Corp status very seriously. In his eyes, running the company should be a fair deal for everyone – fair for the suppliers, fair to the workforce and fair for the local community.

“And for our customers,” he concluded. “So, I think I think that’s generally how I try to instil morale, at least.”

To hear the whole story of Davies’ dive into the world of honey, how he runs his business and the people that have inspired him throughout his career, listen to our exclusive podcast where he told us ‘it was the honey or the bees’.

Meanwhile, take a tour around Condimentum’s Norwich site, the home of Colman’s mustard powder, in the previous episode of Me and My Factory.