Honey As A Sweetener, Jerky As A Protein Source

As many CPG brands function-wash their products, others are speaking to the consumer in a more practical way. Expo West 2025 demonstrated that brands are becoming more artisanal by tweaking and elevating basic products like honey and beef.

For example, Manuka honey, naturally rich in functional benefits, was very prevalent as a beneficial sweetener for ‘no sugar added’ products. Honey in general helps brands imply that they align with consumer values of using more natural ingredients. It applies to jerky too in the context of the recent exploitation of protein pandering. Consumers want and need protein, but the exponential presence of jerky and other forms of dried meat may indicate that people care where their macros come from and would prefer a more natural source rather than synthetic ones.

Honey Becomes A More Popular Sugar Alternative

1770

Launched at Expo West 2025, 1770 tastes as fresh as the manuka honey it sources to sweeten this artisanal soda. While she was on the path to becoming an agriculture venture capitalist in Australia, founder Summer Jun was frustrated with the high costs of manuka honey and wanted to make it more affordable and approachable so that more consumers could benefit from its healing properties. “I thought, what if I pack it in packaging that’s convenient and pretty? It would sell itself,” Jun tells me. She started 1770 by selling sticks of the manuka, and is now looking for distributors to help introduce her new line of sodas throughout the US. Also sweetened with some monk fruit, 1770’s flavors include pineapple, lemon and Korean pear–all of which you can taste the real fruit, intentionally sourced from regions around the world, inside each can. What makes 1770 particularly innovative is its approach to packaging. The cans are engineered with a full-open top, as opposed to a flip-top, resembling a cup when it’s open, and allows you to reseal it. “I love the US because customers here are so curious, like to try new things and are very conscious about what they eat,” Jun says. “The US has great buying power.”

Drizzle

Drizzling Drizzle’s honey on yogurt, toast or quite literally anything, will add more than a sweet honey flavor, but a thick and creamy texture that’s a result of this ultra-whipped condiment. The honey, sourced from Northern Alberta, Canada, is never pasteurized. This lack of heat allows the raw honey to maintain its superior creamy consistency rather than becoming more of the typical liquidy stuff. Drizzle sells jars of raw white and raw golden honey, although its major selling point is its superfood varieties, including Turmeric Gold, Berry Bliss (whipped primarily with fresh acai berries and blueberries), and Cacao Luxe (made with Fair Trade cacao). Others include Cinnamon Spice and a hot honey made with real chili peppers. Recently acquired by Sweetleaf, Drizzle retains its brand identity as it works to gain more retail distribution across the country.

Fresh Fizz Soda

While the functional soda category becomes exploited, there are a select handful of beverage brands that aren’t claiming any functional benefits, but rather just formulate their products with simple ingredients so that consumers can freely enjoy something they have always loved. Husband and wife business partners Yoni and Rebecca Schwartz sweeten Fresh Fizz Soda with nothing but honey and date syrup. The Long Island, NY couple initially began creating a hard seltzer but decided not to go through with the alcohol route. They had all the equipment already, so went forward with nostalgic sodas. “I like soda but my wife loves healthy foods, so this is something she would let in the house,” Yoni tells me. “These are clean-label sodas made out of real food ingredients. There are a lot of healthy sodas but it doesn’t always need to be full of probiotics.” Flavors lean into the world of nostalgic cocktails, including a sparkling Jalapeño Lemonade, Mint Lemonade, Hibiscus Ginger Ale, Black Cherry and Date Cola–which is made with real orange peel and nutmeg, resembling authentic cola. Fresh Fizz Soda retails at chains like Sprouts, Erewhon, Mom’s Organic and Gelson’s and is nationally distributed through Kehe.

Honey Mama’s

Launched at the Portland State Farmers Market 12 years ago, Honey Mama’s understands what people want when they bite into a dreamy brick of soft chocolate. These chocolate truffle bars are sweetened with raw organic honey, something rarely seen at scale, sourced from both Brazil and Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Varieties include Chocolate Cake, Peanut Butter Cup, Peanut Butter Cookie, and a new Thin Mint collaboration with the Girl Scouts, rolling out this summer. You won’t find Honey Mama’s in your favorite grocery store’s chocolate section, but rather in the dairy dessert aisle, because Honey Mama’s is refrigerated, and the cold temperature of these packaged truffles elevates the luxurious texture. At Expo West, Honey Mama’s debuted its new line of protein bars, which are sweetened with dates in addition to honey, launching with Chocolate Cookie, Peanut Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Brownie flavors. These have less sweetener and contain a protein crisp that’s designed for a more on-the-go occasion. “We really think about this component of indulgence and how the whole world is full of indulgence that’s not good for you,” CEO Jared Schartz tells me. “This was designed with food as medicine as the foundation–specifically choosing each ingredient to support your vitality…but we don’t want to get lost in the nutrition side.“

Ice Cream For Bears

This french ice cream brand that celebrates honey as a sweetener created a makeshift ice cream shop at Expo West, showing the industry that raw and unfiltered honey can be a sweetener used in a successful CPG product. Distributed in more than 1,000 stores nationwide including Sprouts, Ice Cream For Bears founder Tim Berg is making some of the simplest ice cream on the market while keeping it extremely creamy and practically homemade. He wanted to create a completely unprocessed product that would still satisfy his sweet tooth. The brand is a nod to eating foods that actually come from nature. New flavor Roar-ange Cream just got added to the lineup which also includes Mint to Be, Honey Honey, and Chocturnal. Ice Cream For Bears won a Nexty Award at Expo West in the frozen dessert category.

Sidekick Soda

Fiona Tomlinson and Rogie Tomlinson-Gillies traveled from New Zealand to Anaheim to make their Expo West debut of Sidekick Soda, the soda brand that cans the bounty of New Zealand. Sweetened with multi-floral New Zealand honey, Sidekick Soda does not preach any functional claims, although it uses apple cider vinegar for a tartness that perks you up alongside the otherworldly fruit purees including Pear, Strawberry, Mango and Cherry flavors. Pear and Cherry are the emerging brand’s newer flavors, and they pack a punch never seen in a soda can before. The cherries are all upcycled after being kicked to the curb due to imperfections. It helps to give the can a gentle shake before opening because actual pulp from the fruit settles to the bottom. That last sip is as if you’re biting into a perfectly ripe present. Two years into business, the mother-son duo are working to bring more of their operation over to the States in order to make a more impactful dent in the US market.

The Heightened Presence Of Jerky As A Natural Protein Source

Lorissa’s Kitchen

A new entry into the jerky market, Lorissa’s Kitchen is marketing itself as a protein-rich snack brand that’s free of the top-9 food allergens. “Protein has been important and sought for years, but people are really looking for simple protein coming from real meat,” Sr. Director of Marketing Kyle Peters tells me. Lorissa’s Kitchen, owned by Jack Link’s Protein Snacks, exclusively uses US- and Australian-sourced grass-fed and finished beef and is non-GMO project verified. “85 million people are avoiding one of the top 9 allergens while shopping. When one person has a food allergy, the whole family does,” Peters says. The company rebranded as an allergen-friendly meat snack because of this growing population. The no-sugar-added products also come in chicken and turkey varieties and have a presence in Costco, Walmart, Thrive Market and Erewhon.

Solely

Jerky typically implies a meat-based product, but Solely doesn’t follow the norm. This fruit jerky has no added sugar and is sweet because of the juicy fruits it sources and then presses into a snackable stick. Although this isn’t the source for protein, jerky and dried fruits are becoming a more sought-after means of consuming a functional snack. The way in which you peel the jerky out of the package is almost as if peeling a banana. And before you think Solely is just fruit leather, consider that Solely does not have that typical leathery texture. The texture of Solely slightly varies between each variety because every fruit has its own unique texture, but they’re all a soft yet firm, sweet and spiced on-the-go companion. Founder and CEO Simon Sacal tells me that the company created a patented technology to formulate this particular texture, which starts with the whole fruit that remains at a low heat while it dries, still keeping it full of moisture yet shelf-stable. Solely has direct partnerships with farms in Mexico, Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia, which have since formed cooperatives. The 5-year-old company has grown 70% in just the past year. Solely comes in 11 flavors including Mango Guava, Mango Blueberry and Banana Chocolate and is expanding to lines of gummies and dried fruit.

StarWalker Organic Farms

A 3rd generation family farm, StarWalker Organic Farms is the first and only Regenerative Organic Certified beef and pork producer. Based in Northern California, the farm has pioneered regenerative agriculture in grocery long before it got the official certification. “In terms of taking care of the land, the basis of regenerative, we’ve been doing the last 45 years,” says co-CEO Jason Walker. “Organic was a little green-washed, so we wanted to take it to higher standards. We figured ROC was the next best step.” StarWalker Farms sells 38 total products, including beef and pork cuts, bacon, tallow and jerky snacks. It’s a fully-integrated farm that processes its meats on its premises in a USDA-certified processing facility. Starwalker had been selling direct-to-consumer up until last year, so at Expo West they showcased their business in efforts to gain more of a retail presence. “Cattle are meant to be out there grazing on the ground,” Walker adds. “Its manure gets spread throughout…building carbon and nutrients in the soil–taking a product not consumable for humans–grass–putting it through a cow–then we get the by-product to nourish us in a good, sustainable way.” StarWalker’s jerky has a retail presence at Erewhon and Sprouts and a greater brick-and-mortar rollout is on the horizon. Even the pepper in its jerky is Regenerative Organic Certified. The only ingredients in the beef jerky are beef, salt and pepper. “We’re here showing people that ROC can be done,” says co-CEO, Krista Walker. “We want to share our passion for that.”

Vaquero Bandido

Vaquero Bandido is a textural twist on a traditionally chewy jerky. Described by cofounders Ruben Reyes and Chip Cruea as “like crispy bacon,” this jerky brand slow cooks beef instead of dehydrating it, resulting in a lighter and flakier snack that crunches almost like a potato chip. This type of jerky is known in Mexico as carne seca, born out of when cowboys would leave raw meat out in the desert sun. Vaquero Bandido honors those traditions by leaving the product as natural as possible, with no juices to bulk it up, and an ingredients list showcasing nothing but beef and seasoning. Based in Southern California, the company is not even one year old and is already in about one thousand retailers across the country, but working to target more accounts across the spectrum from convenience to natural. “We’re disruptors and innovators in the category and were excited for people to try the heritage of true carne seca,” Cruea tells me. The company is working to source exclusively grass-fed beef. Each piece of jerky is hand-cut.