In March 2019, our Ingredient Marketing Team paid a visit to one of the largest independent bread bakeries in the United States. Lewis Bakeries, headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, manufacturers an extensive line of breads, buns and rolls under its own Lewis Bake Shop brand, as well as Healthy Life, Bunny and Butternut brands.
If you grew up in the Midwest, you most likely have had a PB&J sandwich, grilled cheese or hamburger on one of their products. And, you most likely had one of their products sweetened with honey.
In fact, if you look at the company’s product line, you’ll find quite a few products that use honey to deliver flavor and marketing benefits. The company produces seven products with honey in the ingredient listing as well as in the name of the product, including:
- Lewis Bake Shop 12oz Honey Wheat ½ Loaf Bread
- Lewis Bake Shop 20oz Honey Wheat Bread
- Lewis Bake Shop Honey Wheat ½ Pack Burger Buns
- Lewis Bake Shop Honey Oat ½ Pack Burger Buns
- Healthy Life 16oz Honey Wheat Bread
- Bunny 20oz Honey Wheat Bread
- Butternut 20oz Honey Wheat Bread
In addition, the company also uses honey in all of its 100% whole wheat breads. We recently sat down with Tracy Wingo, Lewis Bakeries’ Marketing Director, and asked her why the company used honey in so many breads and buns.
“High-quality ingredients are important to us, and our products made with honey are typically some of our best-selling items because people love the flavor,” Wingo says. “The natural sweetness of honey blends perfectly with the grains and definitely enhances the flavor of our breads and buns.”
After meeting with Lewis Bakeries earlier this year, we decided to work together during National Honey Month to promote the value of made with honey products and the importance of honey bees. We launched this website with the goal of educating consumers about the importance of choosing products with honey.
Thank you to Lewis Bakeries for using honey to craft exceptional breads and buns, and for understanding the importance of honey bees to our food chain.