By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
John Soules Foods has partnered with the nation’s #1 hot honey brand, Mike’s Hot Honey®, to create its new Hot Honey BBQ Chicken Bites.
John Soules Foods is a leading national producer of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook chicken and beef products and is the #1 producer of chicken and beef fajitas in the U.S.
Mike’s Hot Honey is America’s leading brand of hot, spicy honey, and has seen rapid growth since 2010, when its first drizzle on a pizza at Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn sparked a word-of-mouth sensation and created a new category of pizza topping.
By popular demand, Mike started modestly selling his small-batch, hand-labeled hot honey bottles to visitors of the pizzeria, as well as other local restaurants and businesses. Today, Mike’s Hot Honey can be found in thousands of restaurants and retailers across the country, with the same original recipe in the bottle, using only 100% pure honey infused with real chili peppers
Brandgenuity, the licensing agency for Mike’s Hot Honey, brokered the agreement with John Soules Foods and is managing the development of the Mike’s Hot Honey licensing program.
The deal comes during the growth of the ‘sweet heat trend’, which has been growing in popularity across all food categories. John Soules Foods Hot Honey BBQ Chicken Bites pair that delicious, sweet heat flavor with savory thick, juicy chicken to create something special to tantalize the taste buds.
They start with 100% white meat chicken breast bites that are golden breaded to crisp perfection, and then glazed with a hot honey BBQ sauce that is made with Mike’s Hot Honey.
“At Mike’s Hot Honey, we pride ourselves on making everyone’s favorite foods even more enjoyable by adding just the right kick of sweet and heat,” said CEO Matt Beaton. “The John Soules Foods team did an amazing job of incorporating our product into their BBQ sauce for the perfect balance of sweet and heat that people have come to love.
“We’re excited for this collaboration to hit shelves and for everyone to try how well this pairing works together.” Both companies agreed that pairing the flavor with chicken was an ideal next step that would excite shoppers.
“We see consumers looking for ways to put a new spin on familiar foods,” said Michael Pierce, Head of Marketing at John Soules Foods. “We’re excited to partner with Mike’s Hot Honey to do just that, bringing a fresh perspective to the traditional honey BBQ flavored breaded chicken bite.
“We think we’ve combined the best of hot honey with the best of chicken to create a craveable flavor experience consumers are going to love.”
This most recent agreement is just one of several that Mike’s Hot Honey has closed with the help of Brandgenuity. As consumers look to satisfy their taste for sweet heat, the Mike’s Hot Honey flavor continues to appear throughout the grocery aisles from pizza to salty snacks.
John Soules Foods Hot Honey BBQ Chicken Bites are available for purchase now in Kroger stores.