Cox Honey celebrates 90 sweet years in Cache Valley
“Utah’s Gourmet Honey Specialists” are celebrating their 90th year of honey production in Cache Valley this year.
Just south of downtown Logan, a quaint white building with vinyl siding houses Cox Honeyland and Gifts, a family-owned business that sells honey, fudge, and gifts.
Cox Honey is a fifth-generation family-owned business. According to statistics from the Family Business Alliance, only 3% of family businesses survive past the third generation, making Cox Honey truly unique.
A Family Tradition
The Cox family’s beekeeping heritage began over 100 years ago when Henderson Cox and his family settled in St. George, Utah. While there, Cox began beekeeping with his family as a hobby.
Marion, Cox’s third son, settled in Cache Valley at the start of the Great Depression in 1929. After arriving in the valley, Marion decided to start beekeeping and raising livestock to support his family.
The honey business stuck and soon turned into a family affair. As Marion’s children and grandchildren grew older, they began to help with the beekeeping responsibilities of the small business.
The company grew and more family members became involved until the decision was made to create a location to sell honey to the public. In 1989, the gift shop that still stands south of downtown Logan opened to serve locals and visitors. Margene Cox, the wife of one of Marion Cox’s sons, used her expertise in retail to help the store become successful as a honey and gift shop.
A Cache Valley Staple
Since Marion Cox initially started beekeeping in Cache Valley in 1929, the venture has grown with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In 2010, for example, Cox Honeyland was recognized as Utah’s Family-owned Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Cox Honey produces roughly 250,000 to 350,000 pounds of honey per year, collecting from about 8,000 hives throughout the area.
After the honey is harvested, it is turned into a variety of products, including creamed honey in 14 different flavors, caramels, taffy, butter and honeycomb. Beeswax is also transformed into lip balms, candles and scented lotion sticks.
The store also sells a variety of gifts, decorations, homemade fudge and food products from other Cache Valley businesses. One of the notable attractions in the store is a live hive where visitors can watch bees in action through a plexiglass frame.
When asked what a typical day at Cox Honeyland was like, Maleesa Jacobsen, manager at Cox Honeyland and Gifts, jokingly replied, “Sticky.” Jacobsen said her favorite part about the business is “sweetening people’s lives one drop at a time” by developing beneficial relationships with customers and other businesses in the community.
“There are a diverse amount of things that we do on a daily basis. Everyone has different roles in the business,” Jacobsen said. These responsibilities range from packaging honey to shipping out orders to teaching customers about bees and how honey is made.
Mandy, a first-time customer from North Ogden, visited the store with her husband to purchase honey on Dec. 1. They were impressed by how many products there were inside the building.
“There’s a lot of stuff,” she said. “You see it from the outside and think, ‘Oh, it’s a little gift shop,’ but then it keeps going. It’s fun to look around.”
Besides the retail location in Cache Valley, Cox Honey is also sold throughout Utah and the nation in stores like IFA, Seagull Book and Whole Foods. In addition, Cox Honey is sent all around the world on a regular basis via orders on their website.
Despite fluctuations, the honey industry has grown in recent years. According to market research website Statista, the value of honey produced in the U.S. increased from $132.8 million in 2000 to $318.3 million in 2017.
Cox Honey of Utah has contributed to those numbers through its sales and beekeeping over the past nine decades, and it appears that it will continue to bring a little sweetness to the world for the foreseeable future.
—alek.nelson@aggiemail.usu.edu
@nelsonalek