Taste of success sweet for Creek House Honey Farm, with CEDC donating $100K

The taste of success is getting even sweeter at Creek House Honey Farm, mainly due to the fact that they’re sitting on top of a gold mine, which in their case is honey beehives. To sweeten the deal even more, Creek House was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from Canyon Economic Development Corporation to assist in their growth.

The popular, growing business began as just a hobby for George and Paige Nester, who came by it quite naturally. George is a pharmacist and Paige is an educator, both of which complimented each other’s talents and the business. The couple live in a home built on George’s grandfather’s land. They were able to purchase adjoining land to expand their enterprise. Down the hill, northeast of the business is the original “Creek House,” where George played as a child. They named their business after that area, which is still being used by his sister to make honey-based skincare products.

In 2011, the couple decided to learn the art of making honey. They purchased two beehives and began making small batches of honey and beeswax-based skin care products and giving them to their family. As it turned out, there was a big desire for their product in the community, and they made the decision to take the next step, turning it into a business.

George said that they moved from their kitchen and made the first official products from Creek House in a small shop that sits behind their home. At that time, Paige was still teaching and worked out of the shop producing honey-based products for farmer’s markets during the summer. They laughed when he told the story of producing their first honey in the small shop behind their home. They made a few batches, shared it with friends, and soon they had orders coming in. The orders grew, and the industrious couple continued to attend the Canyon Farmers Market. It was there that the couple had a conversation about expanding their small venture into a real brick and mortar business.

Buzz grows quickly about budding business

Word grew quickly, and they realized that they were filling a need in the community. They built a small storefront on their property in 2018 and added a commercial kitchen. The buzz about their products spread across the Panhandle like a swarm of bees. People came out in droves to sample their beeswax skincare line’s effectiveness for healing and repairing skin ailments, and it soon started to outsell the honey.

Not content with just honey and skin products, George, being an entrepreneur and pharmacist, turned his skills toward making mead, a honey-based alcoholic product originating in Crete 8,000 years ago.

Residents in Africa, Europe and Asia were also enjoying mead and writing about it. Celts, Scandinavians and Mayans used mead for mystical or religious qualities. George understood the scientific properties of their product, and in 2019, he quit working as a pharmacist and began using his skills full-time to brew the wine-beer like mixture. Now they own equipment for their brewing and plan to buy more to upscale his production. There are also two sizes of growlers, glass bottles with stoppers, that mead lovers can take with them. And, unlike wine, the drink does not go flat.

“Honey Buzz Winery” officially opened in 2019 (inside of the farm), and now has become not only a place for people to enjoy the foamy, sweet mead in several varieties including a bold Viking Blod, or a glass of Texas wine, but is also a cafe that serves fresh appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and soups and baked goods daily, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other non-alcoholic drinks include fresh tea, coffee and a homemade Root Beer-Honey mixture favorite of kids.

The original building, now the gift shop, was 3,600 square feet. The current building is 7,500 square feet, and the new production area will be 5,000 square feet. There are tables in the front where people can sit and sip or enjoy a sandwich or dessert, and there is even more room in the back of the structure, which includes a grassy play area for kids and adults to play cornhole or stroll around the grounds. Dogs are welcome outside also.

”Everything is made fresh here," George said. “We grill the chicken or pork tenderloin on a grill outside, make our own bread, which includes gluten-free-bread, and make our own sauces."

Sales are currently 100 percent wholesale. The budding company recently made its first international sale to a boutique in France. Currently, the business sells to 40 to 100 retailers, and they are hoping to expand their business to 200 to 250. They definitely want to control their own production and not have to outsource their honey for quality control.

They have received quite an education on pollenization and realized that cotton is one of the best crops for bees, but that means that bees travel south during the warmest season. They grow their own flowers, lavender and other polliator plants, on the property. They move their hives on trailers to the cotton fields in July to Wellington. The beehives are in hive “bodies” or boxes.

According to the couple, both businesses have grown tremendously in the last four years due to budding tourism in the Texas Panhandle, wholesale requests for natural skincare and growing popularity of the food and mead. The business has scaled from the original five employees to its current 42 in a short amount of time and employs even more over the busy summer months. As it did in 2018, Creek House/Honey Buzz were once again experiencing growing pains.

The business is full-time for the couple, and they are open seven days a week. But life is sweet.

George said, “Every day is like a Friday. I never dread work now.” The company has family members as well as students and other local and area people.

Grants boost growing production plans, company's expansion

Recently, the Canyon Economic Development Board along with WT Enterprise awarded Nester Apiary grants to build a production facility. This building will manufacture skincare products, honey and mead that will be sold nationwide. The plan is to hire at least 2-4 full-time employees in addition to the employees the business already has. The business also received a grant from Go Texan to help with advertising and marketing, and their emblem is on every product sold. The Nesters traveled this week to the State Fair in Dallas to give a larger audience a preview of their tasty products.

Stephanie Tucker, Canyon Economic Development Director, said, “Creek House Honey Farm has been a key contributor to the region's agricultural landscape for many years. This grant marks a significant milestone in the company's journey towards further growth and development."

"We are thrilled to support Creek House Honey Farm in their expansion endeavors," said Tucker. "This grant reflects our commitment to fostering economic growth within our community and supporting businesses that contribute to its vitality. Creek House Honey Farm's story started at the local Canyon Farmer’s Market and has now expanded to be one of the area’s sought-after attractions. "

The grant, provided through the CEDC's Small Business Expansion Program, aims to empower local businesses like Creek House Honey Farm to expand their operations, enhance product offerings, and create employment opportunities. The funding will be utilized by Creek House Honey Farm to invest in new equipment, expand their skincare operations, and improve packaging and marketing efforts.

Creek House Honey Farm's expansion project is expected to not only boost their production capacity, but also create 2-4 new jobs in the coming months, providing employment opportunities for residents and contributing to the overall economic well-being of the region.

"Canyon Economic Development has supported our business since 2018. Their belief in our vision has allowed our business to thrive and give back to our local community. This funding is not just an investment in our company, but an investment for the city of Canyon," said George and Paige.

CEDC and Creek House Honey Farm will work collaboratively over the next year to monitor the progress of the expansion project and its impact on the local economy.

For more information about the Canyon Economic Development Corporation and its programs, please visit canyonedc.com To learn more about Creek House Honey Farm and their honey products, visit www.creekhousehoneyfarm.com.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Creek House Honey Farm tastes sweet success, growing buzz