Natural Disruption - with David "Bee" Lolis | Epi.23 | Active Action Podcast

In this episode of the Active Action Podcast, Dr. Nazif hosts entrepreneur David Lolis, founder of Hive2O, who shares how responsible honey harvesting can protect bees and provide real honey in a market flooded with fake products. David explains the intelligence and importance of bees to our ecosystem and discusses the deceptive practices in the honey industry today. The conversation covers the challenges of offering genuinely natural products, the importance of clean labeling, and the mission behind Hive2O's honey-based beverages. Listeners will gain insights into how to make informed choices about natural products and the broader implications for health and sustainability.

What You’ll Learn:

How David’s journey into honey-based beverages began from meeting passionate beekeepers
Why bees are essential to our ecosystem and how they inspired Hive 2 0
The difference between real and fake honey—and why 1 in 3 jars of honey is counterfeit
What the term “natural” really means (and doesn’t mean) in today’s food industry
How Hive 2.0 controls the entire supply chain to ensure quality and transparency
Why “naturally occurring” ingredients are better than vague “natural” labels
How consumers can spot fake health products by understanding ingredients
A vision for flipping the consumer packaged goods market for the better
David’s favorite quote on honeybees vs. flies that’ll stick with you!

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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 We can help the bees, which we can. We can protect
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 the bees by harvesting responsibly. We can harvest
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 great for you product or ingredient in this case,
00:00:08 --> 00:00:13 which is honey. So the bees really, for me, once
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 I learned how important they were to the earth,
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 to crops, then I really dove in and grabbed everything
00:00:18 --> 00:00:22 I could with regards to literature, to understand
00:00:22 --> 00:00:26 the bee. And once I understood how important,
00:00:26 --> 00:00:31 how smart, intelligent. The B is I fell in love.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:35 You trust that this product is going to be real
00:00:35 --> 00:00:40 honey. Well, it's not. And until you go into
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 the rabbit hole and find out, well, why isn't
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 it? We're not growing fast. And that's not important
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 to me. What's most important is that we're growing
00:00:46 --> 00:00:51 correctly. I like to call it an inch wide and
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 a mile deep. If honey now in one in three jars
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 is fake, oh my gosh, then what's it going to
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 be like in 10 years, in 100 years? brick by brick,
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 hive by hives. We're going to create that awareness
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00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 Hello, welcome back to another episode of the
00:01:55 --> 00:01:59 Activation Podcast. It's me, Dr. Nazeev, your
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 host back again with another amazing episode
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 and with another amazing guest. Today, we have
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 a very interesting topic, but before diving into
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 that, I really want to take this moment to appreciate
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 all our audiences. Apart from that, just want
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00:02:40 --> 00:02:44 at activeaction .shop dear audience today we
00:02:44 --> 00:02:49 have with us david and david was born
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 From modest beginnings in Canada, his rise to
00:02:53 --> 00:02:57 entrepreneurial success began in the late 1990s
00:02:57 --> 00:03:01 with tech startups opening doors to the world.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 By the dawn of the millennium, David was immersing
00:03:04 --> 00:03:09 himself in uncharted waters, the realm of functional
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 beverages, long before the market knew it needed
00:03:12 --> 00:03:16 them. Nearly a decade ago, passion was sparked
00:03:16 --> 00:03:21 in time for Honeybees. An audacious new frontier
00:03:21 --> 00:03:27 coined Hype 2 .0, the neologism for honey water,
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 a product as pure as vision behind it. Since
00:03:30 --> 00:03:35 2007, David has been silently building his operations
00:03:35 --> 00:03:39 from a single hype to four thriving facilities
00:03:39 --> 00:03:43 across the United States. It's the future of
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 clean refreshment, carefully designed by a man.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 who sees beyond the trends of what the world
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 will crave tomorrow. Very excited to learn about
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 you, Davis, and your ventures. I want to ask
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 you, David, introduce to our audience who you
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 are and a little bit about yourself. First of
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 all, thank you for having me. I truly appreciate
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 it. And thank you to Christine and all for putting
00:04:08 --> 00:04:12 such a great piece of work, describing the work
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 that I've done and the work that I continue to
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 do. in trying to help the bees and to make a
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 sustainable product in the market. So really
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 at the end of the day, that's what we're trying
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 to do. The why, which is probably going to be
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 one of your next questions, is I really wanted
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 to create something that would really benefit
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 everyone, really, at the end of the day. I can
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 expand from that box and I can say by harvesting
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 honey, we can help the bees, which we can, but
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 we can protect the bees by harvesting responsibly.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 We can harvest great for you product or ingredient
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 in this case, which is honey, and we can replenish
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 it. So that to me is one of the most important
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 whys. First number one is, am I bringing something
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 to the world that really helps people? Can change
00:04:56 --> 00:05:00 what I call game changer, more disruptive. Now
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 you would think something so simple as honey
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 and good water, you would think, oh, that shouldn't
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 be so difficult. But in the world that we live
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 in, it can be difficult. So that's the why for
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 me. Thank you so much, David, for that wonderful
00:05:14 --> 00:05:18 introduction. When I first read about you and
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 your work, one thing that really stuck to my
00:05:20 --> 00:05:24 mind is why bees? People have many passions,
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 but how did you find this connection with you
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 and Among Bees? And how did that relationship
00:05:29 --> 00:05:33 grow? So I'm sure our audience would be thrilled
00:05:33 --> 00:05:37 to know that. So it was back in 2000, a little
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 bit before 2017. I met several beekeepers who
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 were very passionate. about protecting the bees.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 And it was then that I learned how important
00:05:45 --> 00:05:50 bees were for growing our crops, foraging, pollinating.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 I really didn't know much then other than the
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 importance of the bee from protecting our crops
00:05:55 --> 00:05:59 or growing our crops. It was from there that
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 I realized there isn't that many products. I
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 mean, you've got Burt's Bees and there are honey
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 -based products in the market, but there really
00:06:06 --> 00:06:10 wasn't anything that was honey -based as a beverage.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:14 And as a beverage person, I take a lot of interest
00:06:14 --> 00:06:18 in formulations and really trying to create things
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 that are unique and different and disruptive
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 in a way that's simple. Which is not so simple,
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 by the way. It's actually quite difficult. Like,
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 for example, you use honey, you want to make
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 a honey -based drink. And most people, if you've
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 never tried a honey -based drink, you think,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 oh, it must be sweet. Not the case. If you figure
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 out the formulations and you try to make something
00:06:38 --> 00:06:42 that's different. The bees really, for me, once
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 I learned how important they were to the earth,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 to crops, then I really dove in and grabbed everything
00:06:47 --> 00:06:51 I could with regards to literature to understand
00:06:51 --> 00:06:55 the bee. And once I understood how important,
00:06:55 --> 00:07:00 how smart, intelligent the bee is, I fell in
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 love. That was it. I realized how a hive works
00:07:03 --> 00:07:08 is incredible. I'm a big fan of biomimicry. So
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 if you're familiar with biomimicry, that is creating
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 a product as humans. We create products or learn
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 from nature how we get ourselves improved on
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 a product or a service based on what a mammal
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 might do. And so when you look at the bee and
00:07:23 --> 00:07:27 you say, okay, well, what does a bee do? Obviously,
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 it creates honeycombs. It creates a tome. It's
00:07:30 --> 00:07:34 one of the few, if not the only animal that produces
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 and eats what it produces. So that to me was
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 fascinating. And then the why. Why did they do
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 that? And then when you realize how in tune they
00:07:42 --> 00:07:46 are with the earth, the vibrations, their directional
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 ability to leave the hive and fly 10 kilometers
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 away and find their way back easily, how intelligent
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 they are. They have the ability to do facial
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 biometrics. They can count. I don't know if you
00:07:58 --> 00:08:02 know, but bees can actually count. So I looked
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 into all of the data and the science, which continues
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 to evolve. There are a lot of doctors like yourself
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 that continue to look into bees and not just
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 how important they are, but how intelligent they
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 continue to evolve. And then I said, you know,
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 the best way to support the bee would be to make
00:08:18 --> 00:08:25 a product. A doesn't exist. B is again, game
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 changer and innovative, but simple. And so that's
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 how I came to get into the honey water business.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 That's wonderful. And thank you so much for that.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 valuable perspective on bees, David. And I know
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 bees are a creature of fascination on how the
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 whole process goes. They're collecting honey,
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 building their home, the honeycomb. All this
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 process is just wonderful and amazes. And I'm
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 really glad that you took on this opportunity
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 to create something very beautiful, a very wonderful
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 product out of this very beautiful creature.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 I'm very excited to learn about this product.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 But before going into that, David, we know today's
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 topic for the podcast is natural disruption.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:14 So when we say natural disruption, automatically
00:09:14 --> 00:09:18 it comes to our mind. What is how the nature
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 or how the nature is being disrupted? Can you
00:09:20 --> 00:09:24 tell me, like, what does the word natural mean
00:09:24 --> 00:09:29 in today's context? Absolutely. So fantastic
00:09:29 --> 00:09:33 question. So it's first of all, it's not what
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 you may think. The word natural. is to me and
00:09:36 --> 00:09:40 the research and the constant R &D and then just
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 the data that you learn from the market. The
00:09:43 --> 00:09:47 word natural no longer means natural. It's been
00:09:47 --> 00:09:51 overused. It's primarily used by manufacturers,
00:09:51 --> 00:09:55 whether it's food or beverage or both, to capture
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 someone's interest to say that this product is
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 natural or naturally made. Well, if you dig into
00:10:01 --> 00:10:05 the word natural, like natural flavors. Natural
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 flavors are not natural. It has become a masking
00:10:08 --> 00:10:12 device to cover up unnatural ingredients, actually.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 So when I learned this, and this has been in
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 the last five years, once I learned this, I chose
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 honey. I don't know if you know this, but honey
00:10:21 --> 00:10:25 is the third largest fake product in the world.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:29 Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yes. So that means
00:10:29 --> 00:10:34 one out of three jars of honey is fake. And how
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 do you tell? How do you know? Well, there's tests
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 you can do and you can go to a lab, et cetera.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 I started to learn about honey and I started
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 to source more honey outside of our own hives.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 We have to use other hives, other producers,
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 go to other apiaries. I found out there's this
00:10:47 --> 00:10:51 huge, huge problem of even raw natural honey.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 This is a big problem because most consumers
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 are going to go into a supermarket like a Whole
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 Foods or a Trader Joe's or the places where you
00:10:59 --> 00:11:03 go to buy a product that you trust. You trust
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 that this product is going to be real honey.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:11 Well, it's not. And until you go into the rabbit
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 hole and find out, well, why isn't it? Well,
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 because you realize the amount of consumption
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 that's happening and the amount that you want
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 to produce. And if you're a big company, you
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 want to create big profits. It's very difficult.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:26 So you have to do mixing of high fructose corn
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 syrup and other things. You no longer get real
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 honey. The problem with that, to me, in my opinion,
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 Is that when you're told you believe you're getting
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 something and then you find out you don't even
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 know that you're not until years and years down
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 the road. That to me is a problem because the
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 benefits of honey outweigh and perform. Even
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 mainstream knows honey is better for you than
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 sugar and corn syrup. It has a low glycemic index.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 I mean, you could probably talk for days about
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 the benefits of honey. So if you're a consumer
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 and you go to the store and you say, okay, well,
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 I'm going to buy this honey. And if it says organic
00:11:59 --> 00:12:03 raw honey, only to find out. through podcasts
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 like this and science or articles, wherever you
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 get your information from, that that's actually
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 not raw honey, that to me is a big problem. So
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 that became the catalyst for me to say, well,
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 listen, first of all, I need to source really
00:12:17 --> 00:12:21 raw honey, real honey, and not dilute it and
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 not mix it with other things. So that was the
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 first choice that I made. Our products obviously
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 do that, but there's a much bigger problem creating
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 a brand that uses real ingredients, real fruit,
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 real honey. Spring water versus purified water,
00:12:33 --> 00:12:37 which is a whole other podcast, is really where
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 the passion comes for me. So it's not just about
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 pushing a product into the market. It's about
00:12:41 --> 00:12:46 changing the way that the market is seeing the
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 products that are readily available. That's an
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 important mission to me. Right. Thank you so
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 much for explaining that. And I know, David,
00:12:54 --> 00:12:58 you're on a mission to provide the best nutrient
00:12:58 --> 00:13:02 value and the best. quality of water or beverage
00:13:02 --> 00:13:06 that can come from honey but we know in the actual
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 market today that is not the case like you mentioned
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 that honey is one of the most adulterated beverages
00:13:12 --> 00:13:16 in the world so from your perspective what do
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 we as a consumer actually need to know about
00:13:19 --> 00:13:23 real health products versus taglines that are
00:13:23 --> 00:13:27 taunting health yeah first of all it's very difficult
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 for a consumer to easily be able to tell because
00:13:30 --> 00:13:34 when the label says raw organic honey, you expect
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 to get raw organic honey. But there are little
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 tricks and things that you can do, seeing how
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 it crystallizes, like it's very hard and it's
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 not runny. And that's the first sign. If it's
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 still runny in the fridge and it doesn't crystallize,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 that's a problem. We do want to focus on education.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 For us, it's not just about, obviously you need
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 to sell things to make money so that you can
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 educate. Those things kind of work together.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 Creating those channels, having podcasts like
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 this are really important for the education aspect
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 of what do you look for. The good news is that
00:14:02 --> 00:14:06 many consumers now are reading labels, but if
00:14:06 --> 00:14:11 the labels are not correct, then what do you
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 do? That's really what we're trying to do is
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 create a brand. We're trying to create a trusted
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 brand. We do the work so that you don't have
00:14:20 --> 00:14:24 to, and at the same time, educate. educate and
00:14:24 --> 00:14:25 explain. I mean, we don't want to throw anybody
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 under the bus. We don't want anybody coming after
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 us to say, you said my honey's fake. We don't
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 want to get into that game. We just want to be
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 authentic with our ingredients. We want to keep
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 all the ingredients to be able to count on one
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 hand and be able to read them. Fruit, lemons,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:45 pomegranate, not 10 % juice, not 1 % juice, 100
00:14:45 --> 00:14:50 % fruit. Juice that comes from that fruit. So
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 really simple, clean messaging. that you can
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 trust. And so you're right. In a world of taglines,
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 we do things from the disruption point where
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 rather than say natural, we say naturally occurring
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 because everyone says natural. So we say naturally
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 occurring. Well, what does that mean? Naturally
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 occurring means it naturally occurs and comes
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 from nature and we naturally put it into the
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 can so you can consume it. Another tagline is
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 tasty unreal. People say, wow, that's really
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 strange. There should be nothing unreal. about
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 tasting something that's pure but in our world
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 it's actually inversely true you're tasting something
00:15:27 --> 00:15:31 that's supposed to be natural it's not got preservatives
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 it's got additives things mixed in with it and
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 it's up to the consumer to figure out what glyphosate
00:15:36 --> 00:15:40 means what potassium sorbate means it shouldn't
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 be that way it should not be that way it should
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 be very clear as to what those things are as
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 opposed to these amazing instagramers and youtubers
00:15:48 --> 00:15:52 who are now taking that mission on to teach consumers
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 what to look for and how to make better choices.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 So that's really what we're doing. Sure. Thank
00:15:58 --> 00:16:02 you. That's very inspiring and the amazing work
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 that you're doing for the benefit of the public
00:16:04 --> 00:16:08 and actually serving what's natural, actually
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 the natural product, the public, which is amazing
00:16:11 --> 00:16:15 and wonderful work. Can I ask you one question
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 though? When we are actually presenting beverages
00:16:17 --> 00:16:21 in the market, There is a term called consumer
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 packaged goods. Can I ask you, how do we flip
00:16:24 --> 00:16:28 the narrative on CPG or consumer packaged goods?
00:16:30 --> 00:16:34 Very difficult question. We have to break down
00:16:34 --> 00:16:38 the wall of the word natural for it to actually
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 mean natural. So a ton of education. Number two
00:16:41 --> 00:16:46 is removing all the fodder or the masking that's
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 going on in the market. That's critical. We walk
00:16:49 --> 00:16:53 into supermarkets and the supermarket today has,
00:16:54 --> 00:16:58 let's pick an arbitrary number, 20 aisles of
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 food, right? 20 aisles of food and beverage.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:05 As a consumer today, 19 of those aisles, maybe
00:17:05 --> 00:17:10 18, I'll be generous, are packaged CPG food,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:14 beverages filled. with preservatives and additives
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 and things that are not good for us long -term.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 This is the reality. And then there's these one
00:17:18 --> 00:17:23 or two aisles that is health food. And that health
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 food is actually not health food. It's protein
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 bars that are pretending to be a good for you
00:17:29 --> 00:17:33 product. And that makes up for 50 % of that aisle.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:39 And that to me is crazy. So what if we changed,
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 like you said, flip the narrative. On creating
00:17:43 --> 00:17:48 a supermarket that is all healthy. All the aisles
00:17:48 --> 00:17:52 are truly natural or natural occurring. I don't
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 like to use the word natural. Somebody who's
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 naturally occurring. They're naturally occurring.
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 And if you decide that you want to buy something
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 that is bad for you, you have to go to the bad
00:18:01 --> 00:18:05 for you aisle. So we have 18 aisles of naturally
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 occurring foods. And then we have two aisles
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 of this is all the bad stuff for you. And it's
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 clearly visible. And there's no words of natural
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 and good for you and all of these taglines that
00:18:18 --> 00:18:22 are being overused. What is that? And so that's
00:18:22 --> 00:18:26 a BHAG, call it BHAG, to try to achieve that.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 But one bee at a time, one jar of honey at a
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 time, one can of Hive 2 .0 at a time, we can
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 start to change the narrative on that. And then
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 as I become active, as we become active, our
00:18:36 --> 00:18:41 team becomes active, our apiaries become. stronger
00:18:41 --> 00:18:45 together, we can start to change that. We can
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 move away from high fructose corn syrup into
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 honey. How great would that be? But I've been
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 to the natural food show in California, and I'm
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 currently at the bar and restaurant show in Las
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 Vegas. And everything still says on the side
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 of the package, high fructose corn syrup in 95
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 % of the beverages. Shocking. So we can do it
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 bit by bit. I don't want to stand on a soapbox.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 Let's talk about, oh, you guys are doing this
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 all wrong. We just want to do the right thing,
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 the right way, and build our customer loyalty
00:19:14 --> 00:19:19 and our brand to the best that we can. That's
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 wonderful and very inspiring to know, David.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:25 And I know you have a company, Hive 2 .0, actually
00:19:25 --> 00:19:28 in the market doing exactly that. I wanted to
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 ask you, can you tell us, tell our audience a
00:19:30 --> 00:19:34 bit about Hive 2 .0 and how does Hive 2 .0 flip
00:19:34 --> 00:19:38 the script? for the CPG market at this time.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:42 Yeah. So one of the most important things for
00:19:42 --> 00:19:47 us as Hive 2 .0 first started is controlling
00:19:47 --> 00:19:51 all of the pieces. So sourcing the honey, starting
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 with our own hives, working with other apiaries,
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 honey farmers, to ensure that the quality of
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 the products, quality of the ingredient first,
00:19:59 --> 00:20:03 is premium. That's number one. And then it goes
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 from there. Using sustainable packaging, aluminum
00:20:06 --> 00:20:11 versus plastic, 100 % aluminum, fully recyclable,
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 very important. And then we're vertically integrated.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 So what that means is we don't sub out the work
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 for someone else to make our product for us.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:25 And then people ask, well, why not? Why wouldn't
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 you? The problem with that is that you get this
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 mixture and contamination of all these other
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 ingredients and products. They use cleaners that
00:20:33 --> 00:20:37 approved. You get one part or 10 parts or 100
00:20:37 --> 00:20:41 parts per million of the liquid. And so we control
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 all of that. And so we started with, you said
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 in the beginning, humble beginnings with one
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 facility. We partnered with a winery. And from
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 there, we got a canning line. We have our own
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 canning line in our own tank. So we know what
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 goes in the tank. We know what goes on the canning
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 line. We control that quality. So quality control,
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 of course. So that's key. And then as we've expanded,
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 we're not growing fast. And that's not important
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 to me. Growing fast is not important to me. What's
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 most important is that we're growing correctly.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:14 I like to call it an inch wide and a mile deep.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 Or if you look at an iceberg, you see the nice
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 tip of the iceberg, but you don't see how far
00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 and deep it goes. Same thing for us. It's really
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 important that it's not so much about, even though
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 we have no reason to conceal the iceberg, but
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 we want to be solid. We want to make sure that
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 we control. all the ingredients to ensure no
00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 contamination, sustainable packaging, harvesting
00:21:35 --> 00:21:37 responsibly. And then of course, helping the
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 bees so they can continue to be around so that
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 in a hundred years, in a thousand years, people
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 can enjoy honey, not fake honey. If honey now
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 in one in three jars is fake, oh my gosh, then
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 what's it going to be like in 10 years, in a
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 hundred years? Brick by brick, hive by hives.
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 We're going to create that awareness through
00:21:56 --> 00:22:00 CPG and CPG is important. I mean, it's what the
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 market wants today. They want something that's
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 available right now. They want it to be good.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 They expect it to be what it reads on the label
00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 and the market's getting smarter. That's the
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 good news. The market's getting smarter. They
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 want to be healthy. They just want to be like,
00:22:16 --> 00:22:18 who's telling the truth? Like who's doing this
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 for real? That's what people want to know. So
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 we're going to keep doing it and we'll do it
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 at the size that we're doing it. We'll grow at
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 the size that we can and we'll educate. And that's
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 the best that we can do. Thank you so much, David,
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 for that wonderful perspective. And I just wanted
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 to know from you for the benefit of our audiences,
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 how can they acquire or where can they get hands
00:22:38 --> 00:22:41 on this delicious beverage? Thanks for asking.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 So right now we do a lot of direct to consumer
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 DTC. We have partners for online. So we work
00:22:47 --> 00:22:51 with Amazon for all of our alcohol free. We have
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 our websites, hardhoney .com. We have Hive20
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 .com. So a lot of different online availability.
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 And then we're working with retailers. Depending
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 on the state, we're slowly growing in. We're
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 in some Whole Foods, but we're not in national
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 Whole Foods yet. The retail market is a very
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 difficult market. All of the giants who control
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 that space. But as you become popular, as you
00:23:12 --> 00:23:15 become trusted as a brand, then the retailers
00:23:15 --> 00:23:18 become much more involved and interested in promoting
00:23:18 --> 00:23:21 you. And then by listeners that are here and
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 see the product and taste the product. We hope
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 that we'll be able to gain their trust and go
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 from there. That's all we can ask for. For sure.
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 And thank you so much, David. It's a wonderful
00:23:29 --> 00:23:32 initiative that what you're doing. And I really
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35 like when you say that you're not going fast,
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 but you're not worried about it because you're
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 ensuring that the people are getting the quality
00:23:40 --> 00:23:43 products. And we can just see from the amazing
00:23:43 --> 00:23:48 testimonials that the customers provide and ensuring
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 the quality and whereas you're working with a
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 very delicate. piece of beverages we're ensuring
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 the purity is very very important and i'm so
00:23:56 --> 00:24:00 glad that you guys are doing that through hive2o
00:24:00 --> 00:24:03 and i really encourage our listeners to check
00:24:03 --> 00:24:08 out www .hearthoney .com or hive2o and even checking
00:24:08 --> 00:24:14 out in amazon and other platforms and do share
00:24:14 --> 00:24:17 your review and let us know your feedback and
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 help us to spread the word as well Please follow
00:24:20 --> 00:24:24 us on Instagram at Hive2Hand. I do a lot of postings.
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 I have a personal Instagram, which I talk about
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 honey and education and water. Quality of water
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 is very, very important. We need water and you
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 need good water. On Instagram, I talk about water,
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 quality of water, why it's important to use spring
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40 water versus filtered water or purified water,
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 which is again in the market. I strongly urge,
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 even if you don't drink our water, to drink spring
00:24:46 --> 00:24:50 water. Very, very important. Follow me on Instagram.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 I would appreciate it very much. And anyone has
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 any questions, I do respond very quickly on Instagram
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 at Hive2Hand. Thank you. Thank you, David. And
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 also, we just want to let you guys know, dear
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 audiences, if you do want to know about David
00:25:04 --> 00:25:08 and also his work and also want to get connected
00:25:08 --> 00:25:11 to him, you can do that by going into our website,
00:25:11 --> 00:25:15 activeaction .fm slash person slash David B.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:19 Lawless. So here you will find his David's bio
00:25:19 --> 00:25:22 and also some quick links, links to his Instagram
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 and email where you can get in touch with him.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 And if you have any questions, do let him know.
00:25:27 --> 00:25:32 But above all, I really encourage you to visit
00:25:32 --> 00:25:35 hardhoney .com. And I really, really like that
00:25:35 --> 00:25:39 URL though. Yeah, wonderful one. So easy to remember.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 So hardhoney .com, go there and check out the
00:25:43 --> 00:25:46 wonderful and amazing. Pure honey -based beverages,
00:25:46 --> 00:25:50 Hive 2 .0 and David offers. Thank you so much,
00:25:50 --> 00:25:54 David, for your wonderful time and joining this
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 podcast. I just want to ask you one last question
00:25:56 --> 00:26:01 before we depart. In this era of beverages and
00:26:01 --> 00:26:04 purity and natural products alteration, for us
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 consumers, it's really difficult to make the
00:26:06 --> 00:26:10 right choices or to understand how should we
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 stay informed. Make good choices about buying
00:26:13 --> 00:26:18 pure beverages. Do what you're doing already,
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 which is to read the ingredients. When you see
00:26:20 --> 00:26:24 1 % or 10 % juice of anything, or you see potassium,
00:26:24 --> 00:26:27 sherbet, fillers, additives, things that don't
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 make sense, don't buy them at the end of the
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 day. For example, when I go to a restaurant,
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 I don't drink the water that they pour in. I
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 just don't do that. So unless they have a spring
00:26:36 --> 00:26:41 water, I'll be thirsty that day. So really. That's
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 what it comes down to. I also recommend that
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 if you like honey as much as I do, buy honey
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 from your local beekeeper. And there's lots of
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 bee farms around. If you drive just on the outskirts
00:26:51 --> 00:26:54 of wherever you live, you'll always see honeybee
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 farms. I strongly urge, this is the best place
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 to buy the really good products. And listen,
00:26:59 --> 00:27:02 everything we do is not necessarily ideal for
00:27:02 --> 00:27:05 you. I mean, we ferment honey into alcohol. Alcohol's
00:27:05 --> 00:27:08 not good for you. We know people drink and fermenting
00:27:08 --> 00:27:12 honey is a passion. If I do drink, which is not
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 very often, I want something that's better for
00:27:14 --> 00:27:18 me. And so once you start to make those choices,
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 like, okay, if I'm going to drink, I want to
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 drink something that's better for me. Then you
00:27:21 --> 00:27:25 start to gravitate towards that direction. And
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 then you're just looking for brands. And we're
00:27:27 --> 00:27:30 not the only ones out there that really do what
00:27:30 --> 00:27:33 they say they do. And so find out the messaging,
00:27:33 --> 00:27:36 find out the why, find out the mission, not just
00:27:36 --> 00:27:40 the tagline. Dig a little deeper. Because I'll
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 leave with two quotes. One is you can pay a little
00:27:43 --> 00:27:46 bit more now for your health, for longevity,
00:27:47 --> 00:27:51 or you can pay more and not make that longevity.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 So you take care of yourself now and pay and
00:27:54 --> 00:27:57 meet. And I don't just mean pay a premium. I
00:27:57 --> 00:28:00 mean, do the research, do the work, find out
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 what's good for you, as opposed to just saying,
00:28:02 --> 00:28:05 well, it comes in a CPG and there's XYZ company
00:28:05 --> 00:28:09 makes it. It must be good. Not true. Do the work
00:28:09 --> 00:28:12 now so that you can live longer later. That's
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 number one. And my second quote is my favorite.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:20 There's a reason why honeybees don't eat. Can
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 you swear on this podcast? Yeah, for sure. I
00:28:22 --> 00:28:26 wanted to make sure. There's a reason why honeybees.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:28 Well, there's two things. Honeybees don't eat
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31 shit. They eat honey. There must be a reason
00:28:31 --> 00:28:37 for that. Slice eat shit. Right. Right. So honeybees.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:42 Never take the time to explain to flies why honey
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 tastes better than shit. So I'll leave you with
00:28:43 --> 00:28:47 that. Food for thought. With that note, thank
00:28:47 --> 00:28:49 you so much, David, for sharing your words of
00:28:49 --> 00:28:52 wisdom and the amazing work that you do and the
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 wonderful product that you have brought out for
00:28:54 --> 00:28:58 the public to check out. Working with bees, I
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 feel, is a very sacred thing where they're a
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 fascinating creature. And honey is one of the
00:29:03 --> 00:29:06 most wonderful things I've ever tasted, which
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 is as natural as it can get. And you're using
00:29:09 --> 00:29:13 that to create pure beverages and support the
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 bees and the beekeepers. I really commend you.
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 Especially dear listeners, I really urge you
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21 because I know a lot of you come to me and ask
00:29:21 --> 00:29:24 me that, okay, what are some good things for
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 my body? Honey is definitely the best things
00:29:27 --> 00:29:30 for your body. So if you are into honey -like
00:29:30 --> 00:29:33 beverages, I really encourage you to check out
00:29:33 --> 00:29:37 hardhoney .com and the HypeTO natural beverages.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:40 Thank you so much for joining in this podcast
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 and sharing your words of wisdom with my dear
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 audience. Thank you. And thank you for the work
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 you do. Really appreciate to be on the show.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:48 And good luck with everything, really. Dear listeners,
00:29:48 --> 00:29:51 we were talking with David. And if you've enjoyed
00:29:51 --> 00:29:54 the episode, please feel free to share it with
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 your friends and your loved ones. If you have
00:29:57 --> 00:30:00 any questions, please feel free to send me an
00:30:00 --> 00:30:04 email. Apart from that, if you do enjoy our episode
00:30:04 --> 00:30:07 and if you find any value to it, please don't
00:30:07 --> 00:30:12 forget to send us a tip at www .activeaction
00:30:12 --> 00:30:16 .fm slash tip. Take care, stay active, and take
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 action, everyone. I'll meet you in the next episode.
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28 Thank you for joining us on the Active Action
00:30:28 --> 00:30:32 Podcast at activeaction .fm. We hope today's
00:30:32 --> 00:30:35 episode gave you some entertainment, fresh perspectives,
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 and a little extra motivation to take action
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00:30:40 --> 00:30:43 you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed
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Natural Disruption - with David "Bee" Lolis | Epi.23

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