Sourcing Local, Supporting Local: How Elias Honey Supports Sustainabil

Founded in Prince George, BC, Elias Honey believes in supporting sustainable, local sourcing and being proud to bear the BuyBC Certification on many of our products.

Before we get started on the benefits and importance of buying local, what is local?

Let’s define what the definition of local business in Canada means. LOCO BC, a non-profit organization committed to research and improving the enabling environment of independent business in B.C, has developed a researched based definition of local business in BC. This definition is based on economic and other business impacts and is at the centre of the BCBuy Local campaign. When asking ‘what’s local’, follow these guidelines.

Local-owned businesses have to meet these requirements:

Headquartered in BC and or have more of 50% of owners residing in BC
Sourcing and selling locally grown products are either agricultural products grown in BC or manufactured products with >50% materials grown in B.C
Sourcing and selling products which are wholly or largely (>50%) manufactured or processed in B.C..

Similar factors apply to our local honey sourcing practices in Alberta and across the Prairie Provinces.

Using BC as an example, research shows that BC local businesses create more than double the economic impact of their big-box or franchised-chain competitors. That means for every $100 spent with a BC local business, $63 is re-circulated back into our BC economy (vs $14 for multinational or wholly national corporations). Since we pride ourselves on sourcing local and supporting small-scale apiaries and sustainable agriculture, we’re proud to know that our sourcing and selling Elias Honey products:

Allow local retailers to re-circulate 63% of revenues in local communities, compared to 14% for multinational or national franchises
Cause local suppliers to re-circulate 33% of revenues, compared to 19% for multinational and national franchised products

Local businesses have owners who live, work and play in the community, provide more support for local events, sports teams, and charities, and are likely to volunteer on community boards which impact local communities. They are more likely to buy local services and stock local products as well as pending with a local business has ripple effects that contribute to the growth and health of the communities in our province. Find all our research on LOCO BC’s resources page.

Local businesses often source their products from local manufacturers and growers. This helps to reduce long-distance logistics, fossil fuel usage, and even helps to ensure local farms and agriculture thrive. If you’re buying locally produced food, chances are it’s also going to be fresher and tastier… and have a smaller carbon footprint!

When it comes to honey, buying locally it gets especially important to buy local products. One of the main health benefits that honey provides is improving allergy symptoms when consuming honey from local blossoms. Canada is one of the world’s top honey producers… AND, Canadian honey is recognized worldwide for its exceptionally high quality! This shouldn’t come as a surprise though since The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, through the Honey Regulations of the Canada Agricultural Products Act, ensures that Canadian honey producers meet strict federal standards.

Here at Elias, we pride ourselves on our over 40 years of relationships with beekeepers all the way from BC’s Fraser Valley to the vast clover fields of central Manitoba. These long-standing relationships have allowed us to maintain consistent, high-quality standards as we expand our sales across Canada.

Since B.C. has one of the best berry-growing regions in the world, we mainly work with family-owned beekeepers to source our delicious Gourmet Blackberry, Blueberry and Raspberry Honeys – each one has a different flavour profile, and can be used to enhance both sweet and savoury flavours in your favourite food.

Our other Gourmet Honeys – Wildflower and Alfalfa-Clover – are collected from an area along the BC/Alberta border, bringing all the freshness and woody flavours from Canada’s Northern Wilderness straight to your kitchen table.

We are so proud to support a uniquely Canadian network of small, independent apiaries and beekeepers.

So if you are looking for sustainable sourced, locally grown, top-quality honey, you can take a look at www.eliashoney.ca to shop all varieties of honey.

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