The brand teaching South Africans to experience honey differently.
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
If you didn’t know – now you do. Where food products are often consumed without much thought for origin or process, few brands invite you to slow down and truly understand what you are tasting. Swarm & Co is one of those rare exceptions. Built not only around honey, but around curiosity, education, and conservation, the brand is reshaping how people perceive one of nature’s most familiar foods.
At the heart of it are founders Kyle and Amy-Skye-Lee, whose journey into beekeeping began long before Swarm & Co officially existed. “Swarm & Co was founded by Kyle and Amy-Skye-Lee,” they explain, “and our journey really started with Kyle’s work in beekeeping back in 2021.” At the time, Kyle was working alongside a mentor specialising in bee removals, slowly developing what would become a lifelong connection to bees.
When the two met in 2023, that early passion became a shared mission. But it was a moment in 2024 that truly shifted everything. “We attended a honey and bee show hosted by the Eastern Highveld Beekeeping Association and realised that most honey on the market felt the same,” they recall. “Everything looked the same, tasted the same, there wasn’t much space for people to learn or explore.” That observation planted the seed for Swarm & Co.
By 2024, the brand was officially established, driven by a question that still sits at its core - what if honey wasn’t treated as a single product, but as a spectrum of experiences?
The answer came from both fieldwork and frustration. While working in the Northern Cape, Kyle saw firsthand how local beekeepers struggled to sell their honey. “A big reason for this was the lack of variety,” the founders explain. “Most beekeepers were producing the same type of honey.”
That insight was reinforced at industry events where, as they put it, “nearly every stall offered similar honey with very little focus on educating people about how different honey can actually be.” So they experimented, bringing in litchi honey and swarthaak honey to test whether variety would shift perception. It did.
“We realised that the issue wasn’t a lack of interest; it was a lack of awareness,” they say. “People simply didn’t know honey can vary so much in taste, colour, and origin.”
That realisation became Swarm & Co’s foundation: honey as discovery, not just consumption.
Beyond product, the brand is deeply rooted in education and conservation. “Swarm & Co is about changing how people see honey,” they explain. “Our mission is to educate the public on different honey types while supporting smaller beekeeping operations and practising sustainable beekeeping.”
At their stall at the Harkerville Saturday Market, this philosophy comes alive. “People don’t just buy honey from us; they ask questions and learn,” they say. “That curiosity and connection are part of what drives us.”
What sets Swarm & Co apart is not only its storytelling, but its approach to honey itself. Their range includes raw, monofloral, and infused varieties, each designed to highlight different aspects of flavour and function. “The honey is raw and minimally processed, which means it retains its natural enzymes and flavours,” they explain.
Monofloral honeys offer a deeper tasting experience, while infused blends bring a creative twist. “It’s about enhancing, not masking,” they say, pointing to blends like Immune Boost Honey, which combines turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and raw honey, ingredients already used in many households.
But Swarm & Co goes far beyond the jar. Bee removals and beekeeping courses form a critical part of their ecosystem. “Bee removals aren’t just about relocating bees,” they explain. “They’re about shifting perception.” Each removal becomes a teaching moment, showing communities that bees are not threats, but essential parts of the environment.
Their courses extend that mission. “When people learn about bees properly, they stop fearing them and start respecting them,” they say. It is education designed not just for knowledge, but for behavioural change.
The journey, however, has not been without difficulty. Moving to Plettenberg Bay meant starting from scratch. “We didn’t have a network, a customer base, or familiarity,” they reflect. Add to those environmental pressures like deforestation and unpredictable seasons, and the work becomes even more complex.
Yet perhaps the biggest challenge remains education. “For many people, honey has always been a uniform product,” they explain. “Changing that mindset takes patience.”
Still, progress is visible. At their market stall, conversations now stretch far beyond sales. “Someone will come for a tasting and end up staying for a full conversation about bees,” they say with pride.
Looking ahead, their advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple but grounded, “Focus on your passion first, not the profits. When the purpose is strong, the results follow.”
And in that philosophy, Swarm & Co reveals itself not just as a honey brand, but as something more enduring, a reminder that even the smallest natural systems can teach us something bigger about patience, diversity, and care.
For more, visit: Swarm & Co
Comments