Bloom Honey

What’s sweeter than local, raw, and certified Kosher honey? Honey from a family owned business. Thankfully, Bloom Honey checks all the boxes! 

David Jefferson spent his childhood hiking and exploring the natural world, and deepened his understanding at Brown University, where he earned a Bachelors in Economics (emphasis in Ecological Economics & Sustainable Development). He studied plant biology and sustainable agriculture, and spent a summer on the picking crew at an organic blueberry farm in Maine, which stoked his passion for healthy whole foods. Later, David began working with his father, Dr. Ed Jefferson, at their family-owned agricultural business, where mandarin orange and avocado trees led him to honey. One year, the beekeeper who came with his bees to pollinate the avocado farm dropped off his bees and left - while the pollination that year wasn’t very good, it led Dr. Jefferson to buy 100 hives as a way to ensure pollination in the future. Over time, the Jeffersons slowly increased the number of beehives and expanded their operation to include pollination of other crops, such as California almonds, local blueberries, and the production of the most amazing pure raw honey varietals.  Today, they have about 2,500 colonies (more than 7 million bees) that are field managed by a fourth generation beekeeper. Much of the honey that Bloom offers comes directly from their own beehives, but they also partner with carefully selected, artisanal beekeepers to offer specialty varietals. 

The Jeffersons - David, his wife Kelly, and their sons Levi and Riley - are the face of Bloom Honey, and eager to spread word of the benefits of their raw, unpasteurized, and unfiltered honey. Raw honey is a functional superfood: with a lower glycemic index than sugar, it is packed with antioxidants, phytonutrients, minerals, amino acids, live digestive enzymes, and pre- and probiotics. Antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial, honey has been used on wounds and lasts for a long time - the honey found in 3000 year old Egyptian tombs by archeologists was still perfectly edible! By gently heating the honey just enough to facilitate bottling (and filtering out some matter while allowing all the pollen grains, propolis, and nutrients to pass through), Bloom Honey retains its nutritional integrity. Consuming local raw honey that contains local pollens and propolis can even help relieve the symptoms of seasonal allergies. 

Of course, it’s all about the bees who work so hard to produce it: to get a single 16oz jar of Bloom Honey, bees collect nectar from over 2 million flowers, flying more than 55,000 miles in the process. “All we do is stay out of the way - we let the bees do their thing!” says David. “We’ll move the bees around to different types of flowers during the one part of the year where they’re flowering, and that’s how we produce all these unique honeys.” By facilitating the bees’ access to a single floral source at a time, Bloom Honey and their partners are able to produce varietals with unique flavors, textures, and colors, from lightly floral Orange Blossom Honey to strong, earthy Avocado Honey, which has a molasses-like flavor without bitterness. 

Bloom Honey has won several prestigious awards for the taste, packaging, and responsible production of their raw honeys, and is a member of True Source Certified, an organization whose members certify 100% of their honey is produced in the United States. They’re also a member of the California State Beekeepers Association, the American Bee Federation, and the American Honey Producer’s Association and donate a portion of every bottle we sell to Project Apis m., a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustaining the health of honeybees and researching Colony Collapse Disorder.

Whether you try Bloom Honey with apples for a sweet new year or add it to your skincare route as a potent beauty mask, we hope you’ll enjoy supporting this local, family-owned producer - stop by the Co-op to pick up some Bloom Honey today!