Honey Bar (on-the-go healthy snack)

Honey Bar Details

If you are looking for an on-the-go healthy snack, look no further than Honey Bar.  These bars are gluten-free, and all contain lots of good fibre, protein and carbohydrates. 

Humble Beginnings

After retiring in 1987, Frank Sardelis, a baker by trade, decided to use his baking experience to create a new snack bar. Recalling the snacks from his boyhood days in Greece, a traditional treat made with sesame seeds, honey and sugar, Frank developed the first HoneyBar. But instead of using sugar, he sweetened the bar with only honey, creating a better and healthier bar – a HoneyBar! The ingredients were Sesame & ONLY honey.

Expansion

HoneyBars soon became a success and, unable to produce them fast enough and having been chased from the kitchen by his wife, Frank moved to his basement and expanded production. He came up with a new bar. It was made up of peanuts & ONLY honey. Sales started to climb & it was time to invest in equipment, but where would he be able to put it? Frank made the decision that if he was to grow the business & keep up with the demand, he needed to move out of the house. He rented a warehouse, bought a wrapping machine & new production equipment. The customer base doubled and then tripled.

Making HoneyBars

Then suddenly, Frank got sick and his daughter Mary decided to take a sabbatical from university to help out her dad. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Mary had to completely take over from her now an ailing father. She expanded on her father’s dream, adding a Mixed Nut Bar (today called Trail Mix) and a Mixed Sesame Bar to the product line. In 1995 Mary decided to sell the company, now with a customer base of 100 local stores, a few distributors and 6 different bars. Two couples, the Spalding’s and the Storms, took over and established HoneyBar Products International Inc., stating “We were interested in the company because of the high quality, the incomparable taste, the homemade look and the ready acceptance of HoneyBars by consumers.”

Honey Bar Timeline

In 1999 HoneyBar Products relocated to a larger building and, with the addition of more staff, HoneyBars were flying out the door. In 2004 the Storms sold their interests to a new partner, Helder Lopes, who took on the task of taking the factory to the next level of automation.

Kosher, HACCP and BRC
In 2001 HoneyBar Products received Kosher Pareve Certification. The Pareve means that they contain no meat or dairy derivatives, have not been cooked or mixed with meat or dairy, nor come in contact with equipment that has processed meat or dairy foods. HoneyBars bear the MK Pareve insignia indicating this Kosher Certification.

In 2008, HoneyBar Products received Advantage HACCP Certification. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is an internationally recognized food safety system that is used to help ensure the manufacture of safe food products. At that time, we were 1 of only 26 companies in Ontario certified to this high standard of food safety.

In 2010, HoneyBar received a BRC (British Retail Consortium) certification. The BRC Global Standards are a leading global safety and quality certification program, used throughout the world by over 17,000 certificated suppliers in 90 countries through a network of over 80 accredited and BRC recognized Certification Bodies. The BRC Global Standards are widely used by suppliers and global retailers. They facilitate standardization of quality, safety, operational criteria and manufacturers’ fulfillment of legal obligations. They also help provide protection to the consumer.

In 2014, HoneyBar doubled its size by moving into a new purpose-built state-of-the-art facility to meet sales demand. The added space was a key enabler for HoneyBar to triple capacity over the old facility.

In 2016, HoneyBar has launched new flavours to meet the wishes of our customers. As always, it is our commitment to use only real ingredients, and keep our customers delighted!

In 2017, Jeff Mains joined the HoneyBar Products International team as CEO and shareholder. Mains brings over 30 years of international food industry experience working throughout Asia and North America. Mains will build on the success of HoneyBar Product’s all-natural snack bar business by developing new markets and channels. Mains and the team will also bring new and innovative products to the market. HoneyBar Product’s recent rebranding initiative is beginning to bear fruit as its broker and distributor network expands across North America.

 Benefits

• Cholesterol Free
• Free of Sodium
• Source of Fiber
• Source of Energy
• Wheat & Gluten-Free
• Dairy-Free
• Vegetarian
• Made in Canada
• Kosher
• Source of Iron