Ohio

A Black-owned business with an ‘experimental beekeeper’

adminApril 13, 2024

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Brent Wesley, owner of Akron Honey, talks about his operation in Barberton.

The vacant lot around the corner from Brent Wesley’s home in Highland Square wasn’t supposed to spur a new business.

He had a corporate job that paid well. He scratched his creative itch as a musician on the side.

Wesley just liked honey. So in 2013, he bought the lot, set up some hives and figured he’d never have to buy it again.

But there was buzz around the neighborhood. Pretty soon, Wesley had the sweetest product on the block.

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“I wasn’t intending on it being a business,” Wesley said. “But then folks started figuring out what we were doing and saying, ‘Hey, can we get some of that honey? How much you selling it for?’”

Wesley formed a limited liability company, and Akron Honey was hatched.

Nine years later, Wesley has left his corporate gig to work full-time on the bee business.

On Thursday, Akron Honey will be available at area Market District stores.

The business has been on a hot streak as of late, Wesley said. Unlike the “Lemony Snicket” book series, lots of good things have happened one after another.

“This was like a series of long overdue fortunate events,” Wesley said.

In September, the company Wesley worked at for 14 years was restructuring. He could stay, or he could take a severance.

Within an hour or two, he realized this was what he was waiting for. He’d been laying the foundation for his strong side hustle to become a full-time business for years, and now having to clock back in wouldn’t get in the way.

“I can’t tell you guys how many times I’ve had these awesome doors open only to close because I have to go back to work,” he said.

He launched Akron Honey online for the first time mid-pandemic and sold $18,000 of product over a month-and-a-half stretch during the holidays.

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He’s spent about a month working out of Peaceful Fruit in Barberton. But with online sales, launching at Market District and other opportunities in the works, he’s already looking at expansion.

A month ago, Wesley’s goal was to make $60,000 from the business this year. Even in the last few days, he’s realizing the company could blossom into much more.

‘Flavor’ in Akron Honey’s DNA

Wesley said flavor was in Akron Honey’s DNA from early on.

“It was always about flavor with us,” he said. “It was never about having a jar of honey like everyone else is doing.”

Some people have called Wesley an “experimental beekeeper,” he said. He did the millennial thing, using YouTube and Google to to figure out honey harvesting, which led to him driving home with a trunk full of bees.

It wasn’t long until he realized each hive and each harvest had their own taste. Wesley said part of buying another location in Middlebury was to see if the honey tasted different.

Today, most of Akron Honey’s sweet stuff comes from trusted beekeepers around the area. He enjoys taking care of their hives, but bringing in from other hives allows him to focus on the creation process.

Wesley said Akron Honey is about being innovative and trying new things, without cutting any corners. After a brief stint trying to make personal care products, he said he learned that serving people is much more important than making profit.

He said they’re constantly bringing in feedback from customers, but one of the biggest problems is teaching people how to use it.

People will seek out Akron Honey for their tea or their biscuits. Some people are OK with just that, but more doors open once they learn how to use it in stir-frys, ice cream, glazes, on pizza or even Greek yogurt.

“Once you start showing them how, you’re not only giving them a better experience, but then you give them more value from each jar that they buy,” Wesley said.

Part of the process is not doing things just for the sake of it, Wesley said. As more jars of flavored honey products hit the market, he said Akron Honey is staying focused on food experience.

That’s why his Hot Habanero Honey, for example, isn’t just a bunch of peppers loaded into honey. He’s said he’s trying to make something good, not a hot sauce.

“I wanted something that was very respectful to your palate, pleasing, and could give you a little kick at the end, which is why we chose Habaneros,” Wesley said.

(A Beacon Journal reporter with an admittedly low spice tolerance tried the honey. It had a nice, slow burn, rather than trying to scorch your mouth with a high-scoville unit concoction.)

Wesley said the same thought went into the Bourbon Barrel Honey, which is infused with barrels from Cleveland Whiskey. People expecting a bourbon taste are instead greeted by notes of oak and smoke.

Both will hit stores Thursday, along with Raw Wildflower. Wesley said the honey can be found at Market Districts in Green, the Portage Crossings location in Cuyahoga Falls, and in Strongsville, Westlake and Solon.

Not an average beekeeper

Wesley said being a Black beekeeper in a field often thought of as an old white guy thing added wow factor to this company.

“It’s kind of sexy,” Wesley said before correcting himself. “Not even kind of, it’s very sexy to be a Black beekeeper. And then on top of that, a Black beekeeper who’s kind of doing innovative things. That’s creating flavor and not cutting corners and things kind of like that.”

Akron Honey was also doing work to educate in the community. Wesley said there’s a fundamental issue, especially in the city, where kids don’t know where their food comes from.

“A lot of the kids who are Black and Brown, especially in the public school system, showed that they didn’t understand food how a lot of kids who were in the suburbs understood food,” Wesley said.

Wesley brought that knowledge into schools, teaching kids about honey bee culture and showing them where food comes from.

Before his honey ever went national, his story did. Wesley traveled to meet food-company CEOs and do talks around the country. He said the company’s main export was its story, and that built the foundation for his current success.

But some of the attention was bittersweet.

Wesley said even early, when he was just him and his hives, people had doubts. He was helping out in schools, and helping revitalize the neighborhood but beautifying vacant lots and setting up a regular farmers market.

But for some people it wasn’t enough. Some even doubted whether he was harvesting his own honey.

“There’s a lot of people who were celebrating what I do, but then there’s also people who would find your little corners to speak negatively about what I was doing,” Wesley said.

Taking care of the Hive

Wesley said being a Black business owner presents more obstacles and fewer opportunities. The advice he’d give to young Black entrepreneurs is to be ready to create their own thing.

“If they’re not letting you into their football stadium, build your own football stadium,” Wesley said. “Create your own thing, and they’ll come.”

Part of the solution is also creating those opportunities for each other. Wesley said he has his current space because Evan Delahanty, owner of Peaceful Fruits, invited him in.

He tries to do the same thing for the people in his circle and his community. Not only supporting things, but investing in them — whether it’s getting a friend a needed piece of equipment or putting forth his own money when he’s turning vacant lots into community spaces.