PHOTO: MIKE'S HOT HONEY
50 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com
producer profile
A pizzeria in Brazil was the unlikely
inspiration for this chili pepper-infused
honey, which recently won the
Front Burner Foodservice Pitch Competition
at the Summer Fancy Food Show.
BY MARK HAMSTRA
Mike Kurtz, Mike's Hot Honey
A New Foodservice
and Retail Favorite
T
he founder of Mike's Hot Honey admits he's "more of a
pizza guy than a honey guy," but that turned out to be one
of the key ingredients to his success in the honey business.
Mike Kurtz actually stumbled upon the idea for chili pepper-infused honey at a
pizzeria, in Brazil, but it was years later, at another pizzeria—this time in Brooklyn,
N.Y. where he was working—that he launched Mike's Hot Honey.
The versatile condiment, made using Brazilian chili peppers and wildf lower
honey from upstate New York, has been gaining traction among consumers, chefs,
and mixologists throughout the country. A few months ago, it even won the Front
Burner Foodservice Pitch Competition at the Specialty Food Association's Summer
Fancy Food Show.
