Bee Free Honee

Bee Free Honee (often spelled Bee Free Honey) was an apple-based vegan alternative to honey. Made from apples, lemon juice, and cane sugar, it was designed to pour, taste, and bake like the real thing so vegans and anyone avoiding animal products could use it as a one-to-one honey swap.

The Bee Free Honee Shark Tank pitch landed in Season 7, which aired in early 2016. Founders Melissa Elms and Katie Sanchez brought their apple-based honey substitute to the Tank, and unlike a lot of niche food pitches, this one closed a deal. People still search for the bee free Shark Tank story because the product was unusual enough to stick in viewers' memory.

The deal was $210,000 for 30% of the company, split three ways among Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, and guest shark Chris Sacca, with each shark putting in $70,000 for 10%. On paper it was a strong outcome: three sharks, a clean split, and a product with real shelf appeal.

Bee Free Honee went out of business in 2019. The brand had genuine reach, landing on shelves at retailers like Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Natural Grocers, but demand for a vegan honey substitute stayed thin. Co-founder Katie Sanchez pointed to limited consumer adoption and the challenge of getting shoppers to swap honey for an apple-based alternative as the reasons the company wound down.

So whether you search for Bee Free Honee or the common misspelling Bee Free Honey, the answer today is the same: the product is no longer sold through official channels. The company has closed, and any jars still floating around are leftover stock rather than current production.