Honey Shines at Flavor Experience 2016

Seeded honey

The National Honey Board (NHB) served as a proud sponsor and participant in Flavor Experience 2016, held in Newport Beach in early August. Flavor Experience is a leading annual foodservice industry conference, highlighting top food and beverage trends and attended by chefs from the nation's leading restaurant chains.

For the second year, the NHB served as a Pinnacle sponsor, affording the team the opportunity to host a dedicated station at the conference's Tuesday night Premier Sponsor Showcase. There, NHB proved a stand-out for the second year in a row, with its creative and compelling honey-inspired food and beverage offerings. 

The NHB's culinary partner at Flavor Experience 2016, Kathy Casey Food Studios, showcased two hugely popular food items at the Premier Showcase. The first item, a sweet and savory Honey Jar Cake, was layered with bold flavored Seeded Honey, and topped with a housemade farmers cheese. Also creating a stir at the Premier Showcase was the NHB's Smoking Honey Jar, featuring scallop crudo, pickled onions, honey whiskey lemon drizzle, spiralized beets and harissa rice crispies. The jar was "smoked to order" and was the buzz of the evening!

Honey cocktails created a buzz, alongside the delicious small bites. The honey team, including Master Mixologist Kim Haasarud of Liquid Architecture and NHB CEO Margaret Lombard, served up a Honey Orange Crush Spritzer and a Honey Coconut Colada from beehive-like beverage containers to swarms of thirsty attendees.

The NHB enjoyed great visibility throughout the multi-day event, starting with its thirst-quenching "Care Bear Arnold Palmers" at registration in support of the Flavor Experience's CORE philanthropy, which supports children and families of restaurant employees. That night, at the opening reception, attendees sampled three delectable honey varietals -- Alfalfa, Orange Blossom and Wildflower -- served alongside a selection of specialty nuts and cheeses. Honey could be found throughout the conference menu, as in the breakfast hit: Savory Honey Corn Cake with Bacon and Pepper Jack Cheese - topped with Honey Basil Tomato Jam, right through the closing event, where the NHB's Honeybee Mai Tai struck the perfect chord among poolside party attendees. 

This year's Flavor Experience was another sweet success, showcasing honey's versatility among a highly receptive and influential audience of food and beverage industry professionals. At the same time, we had the privilege of attending presentations by some of the industry's top thought leaders, sharing their visions for "what's next" in flavor innovation and menu trends. All of this serves to inspire the development of new, on-trend NHB honey recipes, which in turn hopefully inspire you.