Z Specialty Food is a family-owned and operated varietal honey company founded in 1979 and located in Woodland, CA. Operating under the brands Moon Shine Trading Company and Island of the Moon Honey, they offer 35+ true-to-type varietal honeys sourced from across the United States, along with nut butters, honey fruit spreads, and beehive products. They are home to The HIVE, California's largest honey and mead tasting room.

The Beekeeper's Story

Z Specialty Food traces its roots to 1979 when founder Ishai Zeldner — after working as a commercial beekeeper in Israel and California — fell in love with California Yellow Star Thistle Honey and began gifting it to friends and family. That passion led to the founding of Moon Shine Trading Company, which started with 180 pounds of honey bottled in Ishai's front yard in Winters, CA. Ishai's future wife Amina Harris joined in 1981, bringing entrepreneurial experience and helping build the Moon Shine Trading brand into a premier gourmet food business. The family moved operations to Woodland, CA, expanding to 9,000 sq ft, and in 2001 acquired the Island of the Moon Honey brand. The next generation — Joshua and Shoshana Zeldner — have since taken the helm. Ishai was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor in 2017 and passed away in June 2018. In his memory, the family broke ground in 2019 on a 2.77-acre site and built The HIVE, a 20,000 sq ft Zero Net Energy production facility and event space that opened as a tasting room and kitchen in 2022, now recognized as California's largest honey and mead tasting room.