Mike's Hot Honey is an American food company that specializes in honey infused with chili peppers. The company was founded in 2010 by Mike Kurtz in Brooklyn, New York. The leading brand of hot honey in the United States, Mike's Hot Honey has been described as a "cult favorite".[1][2]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Honey |
| Founded | 2010 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Founder | Mike Kurtz |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Key people | Matt Beaton (CEO) |
| Revenue | $40 million (2024) |
| Website | mikeshothoney |
History
editMike Kurtz was first inspired to pursue hot honey in 2004 while studying abroad in Brazil, where he and his friends encountered a pizzeria stocked with jars of honey infused with chili peppers; as Kurtz recounted, "It was so delicious that I realized I wanted to try to make it for myself."[3] While in college at the University of Massachusetts,[4] Kurtz began making his own hot honey from his apartment.[3][5] After experimenting with several different types of peppers and honey, Kurtz landed on the recipe for Mike's Hot Honey, which he says is "a lot hotter, more chili forward and has a much stronger kick than what I tasted in Brazil".[3]
Initially, Kurtz made hot honey for his own personal consumption, offering some to his family and friends as gifts.[3] Upon moving to Brooklyn after graduating college, he began working at Paulie Gee's pizzeria in Greenpoint in 2010.[3][5] After Kurtz introduced Paulie Gee to his hot honey, Gee was immediately hooked, and the pizzeria began offering "The Hellboy", a soppressata pizza drizzled with Mike's Hot Honey, which has remained a best-seller at Paulie Gee's ever since its introduction.[3][6]
Kurtz launched a distribution center in 2011 and landed Mike's Hot Honey in Whole Foods, the first grocery store to carry the product, in 2014.[3] After hiring Matt Beaton as CEO in 2015, the company raised three rounds of funding totaling $12 million.[3] As of 2024, Mike's Hot Honey was carried in over 3,000 restaurants and 30,000 retail establishments in the United States, with an estimated annual revenue of $40 million.[5]
Mike's Hot Honey is projecting revenue of approximately $40 million in 2024, up from 80% in 2023.[7] The company is backed by Fifth Down Capital and Piper Sandler Merchant Banking.[8]
In 2024, former WNBA basketball player Candace Parker joined Mike's Hot Honey's board of directors.[9]
Marketing
editIn April 2023, Mike's Hot Honey collaborated with shoe brand Ewing Athletics, the signature brand of former basketball player Patrick Ewing, to release a line of Mike's Hot Honey–branded cross-training high-top sneakers, which are sold alongside jars of hot honey.[1][10]
In 2023 and 2024, Mike's Hot Honey partnered with several restaurant chains to offer various hot honey dishes, including hot honey doughnuts at New York City chain Dough Doughnuts,[11] hot honey deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's,[12] hot honey ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery,[13] and hot honey cookies at Insomnia Cookies.[14] Mike's Hot Honey has also partnered with DiGiorno and California Pizza Kitchen to release frozen pizza with hot honey.[2][15]
In 2024, Mike's Hot Honey created a pizza-themed arcade game called Slice Hunter, which is available on the iOS App Store and as a one-off physical arcade cabinet at Scarr's Pizza in Manhattan.[16][17] Kurtz said, "The idea behind Slice Hunter was to connect people back to memories of playing classic arcade games in their childhood pizzerias."[17]
Mike's Hot Honey also launched a new advertising campaign, "You'll Love It With Mike's" in 2024. This was Mike's Hot Honey's second campgaign, and was based on the previous campaign centered around its pizza heritage. The new campaign was developed in collaboration with New York-based Chase Design Group and highlights more than 27 different food pairings.[18]
Collaborations
editMike's Hot Honey's recent food service collaborations include a hot honey bacon breakfast sandwich at Dunkin' Donuts,[19] movie theater snacks and drinks at Cinemark,[20] sauce offering at Moe's Cantina,[21] a Nashville-style hot honey pizza at California Pizza Kitchen[22] and a return of the Million Dollar Breakfast Sandwich at First Watch.[23]
On the retail side, Mike's Hot Honey recently partnered with Utz Brands[24] for a mini hot honey pretzels,[25] as well as a hot honey potato chip with Mike's Hot Honey Extra Hot flavor. The hot honey potato chip follows a successful Utz potato chip with the original Mike's Hot Honey, Kellanova Club Crisps[26] for a hot honey cracker, Saputo Cheese[27] for a hot honey-infused Montchevre goat cheese and Bush's Baked Beans[28] for new Hot Honey Grilling Beans. The brand has also partnered with sports companies, including a Mike's Hot Honey branded burgundy Starter Jacket[29] and sneakers from Ewing Athletics. [30]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Li, Nicolaus (12 April 2023). "Ewing Athletics and Mike's Hot Honey Collide for Sport Lite Release". Hypebeast. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ a b Rickman, Catherine (14 March 2023). "California Pizza Kitchen & Mike's Hot Honey Team Up For New Frozen Pizzas". Tasting Table. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Vega, Nicolas; Paul, Raffi (6 November 2023). "How Mike's Hot Honey built a $40 million a year business with a single product". CNBC. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ Michael Kurtz. LinkedIn.
- ^ a b c Steinberg, Neil (4 April 2024). "Can hot honey pizza save Chicago?". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
- ^ Odell, Kat (9 October 2014). "Paulie Gee's Sopressata Honey Hellboy Is the Crack Pie of Pizza". Eater. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Paul, Nicolas Vega,Raffi (November 6, 2023). "How Mike's Hot Honey built a $40 million a year business with a single product". CNBC. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Coleman, Alison. "The Entrepreneur Creating A Buzz Around His Hot Honey Brand". Forbes. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Mike's Hot Honey Appoints WNBA Legend Candace Parker to Board of Directors". Food Dive. 2024-08-16. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ Phoon, Mickey (18 April 2023). "Hot Honey-Inspired Sneakers". TrendHunter. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Izzo, Christina (17 August 2023). "Dough, Utz and Mike's Hot Honey collab on a 'sweet heat' doughnut". Time Out. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Lou Malnati's just debuted a new pizza as part of National Deep Dish Pizza Day". NBC Chicago. 5 April 2024. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Straughn, Sarah (26 January 2024). "Slideshow: New menu items from Cold Stone, Baskin-Robbins and Hardee's". Food Business News. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Amick, Brian (9 April 2024). "Insomnia Cookies bakes up special collection for 4/20 | Bake Magazine". Bake. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ O'Hara, Katy (14 April 2024). "DiGiorno Just Introduced a New First-Of-Its-Kind Pizza". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Mike's Hot Honey Launches 80's Inspired Pizza-Themed Arcade Game". Nosh. 18 March 2024. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ a b Wiklund, Jordan (1 April 2024). "The Endless Promise of Pizza". The Food Institute. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Hot 'Love': Mike's Hot Honey Debuts Pairing Campaign". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ Fleming-Montoya, Jessica (June 26, 2024). "Dunkin' Is Teaming Up With Mike's Hot Honey For Its Summer 2024 Menu". The Daily Meal. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Cinemark on bringing Mike's Hot Honey treats to theaters | Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery". www.snackandbakery.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ Coley, Ben (July 17, 2024). "Moe's Adds Mike's Hot Honey to Sauce Lineup". QSR Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "California Pizza Kitchen and Mike's Hot Honey unveil swicy new pizza flavor". MSN. 2024-09-10. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Fall Flavors Arrive at First Watch: With Equal Parts Spicy and Sweet, First Watch's Fall Menu Brings the Heat". www.nosh.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Utz Launches Mike's Hot Honey Extra Hot Potato Chips". Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Utz Unveils New Mixed Minis Pretzels". Yahoo Finance. February 27, 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Club Crackers Has an All-New Flavor You'll Want To Try ASAP". Allrecipes. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Saputo partners with Mike's Hot Honey on new goat cheese | Supermarket Perimeter". www.supermarketperimeter.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Bush's Just Launched a New Baked Beans Flavor That Tastes 100x Better than the Original (Perfect for Fall Football!)". Kitchn. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Mike's Hot Honey Teams with Starter on New Branded Varsity Jacket". Fashion Dive. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Ewing Athletics and Mike's Hot Honey Collide for Sport Lite Release". Hypebeast. April 12, 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2024.