Agricultural businesses don’t often have to think about marketing in a traditional commerical way, but we see that slowly changing. The benefits of using these tools to differente yourself, articulate what you do best and give the business more opportunities are definitely making themselves clear. In fact, this topic was the focus of the recent workshop in Brisbane Lindsay attended as a Beekeeper of the Year finalist – so it’s really on the industry’s mind.
For Warral Maldon, we’ve always held a strange place in what you can consider the Australian honey market – too small to go head-to-head with the big supermarket brands (though we’re starting to sit next to them on supermarket shelves!), and larger than the thousands of smaller scale producers (who often sell their raw honey to the big brands).
All of this also means we’re in the uncommon position where we have the bespoke, passionate approach of a small beekeeper with the ability to trace the end-to-end providence of all our honey, alongside the scale, professionalism and product production of a large operation.
We call it ‘from treetop to tabletop’.
It’s our way of showcasing the best of what we do to our customers and the wider industry, and we articulated it last year with a full page in the Daylesford Macedon Life magazine that went out to over 144,000 people.
Here it is below!
A hidden foodie gem within its beautiful namesake town, Warral Maldon is dedicated to quite simply producing
some of the best honey you’ll ever taste. On the planet.
Since 1896, when the great-great grandfather of the current owner Lindsay Callaway fell in love with bees, this one family has spent more than 125 years perfecting the art of apiculture.
Today, every month of the year is spent on the road (and on so-called roads) delivering 3000-plus Warral Maldon hives across the Victorian wilderness. Using his experience and expertise, binoculars and camera drones, his sharp eyes and sense of smell, Lindsay knows where to look, and every year he searches the treetops for the best wildflower flows.
I love the art of beekeeping. To me, it captures a moment in time. Instead of a picture or painting, it is the art of honey and wax.
Lindsay callaway
“I grew up in the bee industry. I love bees, and they love me. Well, most times. Maybe a little sting here and there. But I don’t take it personally.
I inherited my love of bees from my Dad, Roger. For generations, most people had little knowledge or even cared about where honey came from, how it was collected, processed and packaged. And most people had a distant view of bees and beekeeping generally.
But in the last handful of years, the awareness of the role of bees has heightened enormously. Now there’s a lot of interest in bees, in saving bees… and there’s a global awareness of how planet earth needs bees to pollinate one third of our crops. And, of course, we need bees for yummy honey.
I love the art of beekeeping. To me, it captures a moment in time. Instead of a picture or painting, it is the art of honey and wax. My role is to deliver our hives to native forests, helping the bees capture the moment the flowers come into bloom. The matrix of variables at play include the weather, the health of the bees, access to tracks to deliver the bees… so many variables at play to get honey from treetop to tabletop. And I love it. Enjoy!”