The municipality of Estarreja highlighted our project in their official website, in recognition of the entrepreneurial capacity and innovation of Beesweet.
The grandfather’s passion for bees inspired these citizens of Estarreja, Ana Pais and Carla Pereira, founders of the Beesweet, who will launch on the market, this year, new flavours of honey and blueberry honey. With a few days left for embarking to China, where they will presenting this project, these two entrepreneurs have a decisive crowdfunding campaign for the advancement of the manufacturing of the packaging mold. This will be a decisive year for Beesweet and for the honey market.
Based on the results of the campaign, Beesweet will initiate the production of the molds, the purchase of honey, the execution of the packaging and the beginning of the product placement in Gourmet & Premium shops.
It was the unwanted unemployment that triggered the happy recent history of Beesweet, of Ana Pais, 31 years, licensed in tourism and specialized in translation, and Carla Pereira, 28 years, professional quality technic. “When we saw ourselves unemployed we decided to resort to our roots, to the culture of our family and the experience of my grandfather as a beekeeper”, who had already tried to create different flavors with honey. The inheritance that transitioned from generation to generation left the two cousins “passionate about bees and honey” and today “our heads are full of innovative ideas,” they affirm. “We just rolled up our sleeves and started working”, says Ana Pais, revealing the dynamics of this entrepreneurial duo.
They represent a breath of fresh air in the “obsolete” honey market by creating “something different” with impact and “different” flavors. Ana Pais explains the concept. “The goal is to pick up the monofloral honey, and based on this family tradition put a flavor, from the freshest as the citrus, to the most intense.” They do not intend to be beekeepers, “but to take the quality honey that Portugal possesses and give it a completely different and innovative renovation and put it in this niche market”.
To the consumer will come “much more than honey”, they promise. As if “a rare perfume” was made “with various flavors, smells, textures and colours”. Ana clarifies that this “line of flavors has a fresh range and a warm, more intense range, for consumers to be able to utilize it in different situations” and gastronomic applications, in order to satisfy all tastes.
Blueberry honey is rare
In addition to the variety of honey with differentiated flavours, Beesweet produces the Beeblue, a rare honey, specifically made of blueberry flowering. “The bee goes to the blueberry flowering” and in that way to attend this necessity, BeeSweet has developed three fundamental partnerships, with the Bioberry, from Avanca, Casa Milos, of S. Pedro do Sul, and the Quinta da Remolha, from Sever do Vouga. With “great features”, Blueberry honey “does not exist in Portugal, only in Canada”.
We ensure a new, distinguished and quality product, reinforces Ana Pais, having allied with the Faculty of Nutritional Science of Porto, with a goal of characterizing the honey and studying its antibacterial properties, as well as its healing activity; With the University of Aveiro, who will also study this specific honey; And with the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, in order to evaluate the antioxidant capacity and determine the profile on polyphenols. “We want to do so in a certified and assured manner that it has different benefits in comparison to other kinds of honey,” highlights Ana Pais.
Elegant and practical packaging
These new products are aimed to be at the Premium market and they present a new feature, a lightweight, ergonomic, clean and practical to use packaging. “The packaging differentiates us, it’s totally different, it’s not just a glass jar. It’s ergonomic, with zero waste and it’s glamorous. Innovating also represents an increased effort to overcome certain barriers, such as the design of the packaging, for which it was necessary to develop “the whole project and create an own mold”, which fits in this theme of “flavour innovation and specific blueberry flowering”.
For sale later this year, approximation to China already this month
With a rigorously defined strategy, Beesweet aims to put the product in the market until July. At this stage, “We have the aim of placing 7000 packages on the market in these specific shops”, which are already identified 100 shops , which six of them are abroad.
But the first contact with the international market is going to happen next Sunday and in one of the world’s greatest niches. Beesweet will integrate along with the Association of Young Entrepreneurs Portugal-China in an important 10-day mission to Macau, Hong Kong, Jiangmen and Zhuhai and will participate in the International Interwine Fair in Guangzhou, for the purpose of promoting “honey tasting to experience and feel the Chinese consumers feedback, which is demanding and trying to discover a possible distributor of this type of products”.
Successful entrepreneurs
The Participation in entrepreneurial courses and the presentation of candidatures to entrepreneurial programs has been a constant in the path of these two young people who hope to “receive the best possible tools to be successful entrepreneurs.” The support that we have been receiving from formers and mentors has been a big asset to us, “says Ana Pais.
Regarding to business management, “We had no experience, but in the last year we have made a long learning whose evidence is the premiums achieved”, such as the passport for entrepreneurship of the IAPMEI, 1st place in the Startup Pirates – ISCAC (Coimbra), the 5th stage – Top 15% – in the Acredita Portugal or the highlight achieved in the Aveiro Empreendedor and in the Creative industries Program – The Next Big Idea. Most recently Beesweet won the 1st prize of OAZ YouthBusiness, however, what’s more important than monetary compensation is the “established contacts that have been very helpful and this project arises greatly from the partnerships that are created,” testifies the pardilhoense.
