There’s nothing sweeter than honey. Well, unless you count sugar and countless other sweeteners. But it’s arguable that honey is the most natural of sweet treats, and nothing simulates it’s earthy aroma or unctuous slide down the back of your throat. With quite a number of artisanal products on the market, it’s interesting to see an uptick in eye-catching honey packaging design. Designers are opting for simple vessels with minimal adornment which highlights the unique quality of small batch production.
Japan’s Onuma Honey offers a variety of flavors from buckwheat to watermelon. Akaoni Design is responsible for the spare brown paper packaging and petite glass jars which are stamped with muted color motifs depicting the origin of the contents. The Yamagata set box with it’s angular blue mountain range is a personal favorite and stands as a design object all by itself.
Recent design grad, Colin Cummings, did a student rebranding of the ever-popular Savannah Bee Company. Choosing a more modern and industrial approach, his jars are delicately printed and topped with wooden lids. It’s a shame these are only prototypes, though, because they’d make a fantastic limited edition batch.
The London Honey Company began on creator Steve Benbow’s rooftop in Central London. He now has a thriving urban business augmented by Red Stone’s playful branding featuring a cotillion of honey bees in bowler hats. Aside from being able to purchase the honeycomb itself, Benbow also sells honey lip balm and the published story of his beekeeper life. The company’s video is super fun, too.