Mike's Hot Honey is America's leading brand of chili pepper-infused honey, founded in 2010 by Mike Kurtz in Brooklyn, New York. Made with 100% pure wildflower honey, real chili peppers, and vinegar, it delivers a signature one-two punch of sweetness then heat. The brand is credited with creating the hot honey category and is now sold in over 30,000 retail locations and 3,000 restaurants nationwide.

The Beekeeper's Story

Mike Kurtz first encountered honey infused with chili peppers in 2004 while studying abroad in Brazil, where he found jars of the condiment on pizzeria tables. Inspired, he began experimenting with his own recipe in his college apartment at UMass Amherst, eventually landing on a version he called Mike's Hot Honey. After moving to Brooklyn, he began working at Paulie Gee's pizzeria in Greenpoint in 2010, where he introduced his hot honey to the owner, who immediately put it on a soppressata pizza called 'The Hellboy' — an instant bestseller. Customers began requesting bottles to take home, and Kurtz started bottling and selling them off the bar. Kurtz launched a distribution center in 2011 and landed the product in Whole Foods in 2014. After hiring Matt Beaton as CEO in 2015, the company raised multiple rounds of funding totaling over $12 million. As of 2024, Mike's Hot Honey generates an estimated $40 million in annual revenue and is carried in over 30,000 retail establishments and 3,000 restaurants across the US. The brand does not keep its own bees but sources wildflower honey from cooperatives and small farmers committed to ethical and sustainable beekeeping practices.