For the past year, I have been seeing information about Yes Honey, a small business near me in Norwood, Missouri, that offers honey-based, healthy alternatives to soda and sugary drizzles. Heather Mincer is the powerhouse behind this brand, and I just knew I’d have to meet her and find out more about her.
And then, one of my favorite magazines, “Rural Missouri,” landed in the mail and lo and behold, there was a feature story about Heather and her sweet business. But I felt, even after reading the interesting article, that there was more to this entrepreneur than what the article reveals … and I was right.
We met at The American Cup, a coffee shop in Mountain Grove, Missouri, one of many local businesses in this area that sell Heather’s honey-infused sodas – all six flavors (peach, strawberry, ginger ale, berry, sweet apple and watermelon).
The Move and Alpha-Gal
Heather, her husband, Marty, and two of their four children moved to Missouri from upstate New York in January 2022. That summer, Heather started having symptoms that made her think she had Lyme disease. “One of the ways to combat Lyme disease naturally is to eat a carnivore diet,” said Heather. “That’s what I was doing and I was getting sicker and sicker. Finally, I went to the doctor and did a blood test and it came back alpha-gal … that helped, but it was an adjustment period because now I had to add back in carbs, just to get my calories.”
By that time, she had started Naked Chicks Pasture, a meat chicken farm. Heather said, “I think it’s a year-long process with alpha-gal, of researching, testing, researching some more, trying some things and talking to some people.”
Yes Honey is Born
In 2023, she was already selling chickens and other natural products at local farmers’ markets, and she wanted to add more. She launched the honey-based drinks. “The drinks exceeded far beyond what I was expecting,” she said.
After six months, and having the drinks listed under “Naked Chicks Pasture” – the name of her chicken business – she realized that people who wanted to find the drinks couldn’t. At this point, she knew she would need to rebrand for the drinks. During her discovery phase with alpha-gal, she learned that natural flavors could have mammal additives, and sugar can be processed with bone char. “I had removed so much from diet, because I was so afraid … my reactions were so severe. It was not the time to be testing things out right away. It’s a slow process.”
Heather’s son also has been diagnosed with alpha-gal, and she said, “The reaction varies so much from person to person. There are things that he can do that I can do, and vice versa.”
At first, when she went shopping after being diagnosed with alpha-gal, she found that Hy-Vee in Springfield would label products “alpha-gal friendly.” She said, “That was incredibly helpful, and she started working with the dieticians there, and that’s why she had the idea to label her drinks and drizzles “alpha-gal safe.”
She said, “It was close to my heart, wanting to help myself and other people … going through my struggles and hearing other people have the same struggles, it hit me to label the drinks ‘alpha-gal safe.’ For example, if a food item states it has ‘natural flavors,’ that doesn’t mean it is alpha-gal safe.”
“The honeys,” said Heather, “are a good syrup alternative, because so many sauces have carrageenan.” There are five Drizzler flavors, including apple cinnamon, chocolate, garlic, peach habanero and raspberry jalapeno.
It’s a God Thing
Heather said she realized that the honey-based business was the path the Lord was showing her to take. “At that point, I started talking to the Lord more about it.” The drinks and (later) Drizzlers business replaced the chicken business. “We raised chickens from the spring to the fall … raising about 300 chickens a year.”
Heather recalled that raising chickens and caring for them, as they did, took a lot of work and energy. After the death of a family member in Florida, she realized she couldn’t leave the farm during chicken season: “It’s like dairy farming. You’re locked in.”
“I never had any intention to starting a brand or being an entrepreneur,” stated Heather. “I tell everybody, I’m on a tandem bike with God and he’s leisurely pedaling and enjoying the ride, and the pedals in my spot are spinning and somedays I can’t keep up. I think that’s the only way these types of things work: God is in it, and he’s directing the ship or the bike or whatever it is, and we’re following around behind Him, wherever He leads.”
She continued, “There’s nothing in me that would make me successful in building a soda brand.” She went on to explain that she earlier focused on homeschooling their four children, and before that she worked as an EMT, and in a memory care facility. “But, I had a lot of customer care experience, and making something really great for the customer,” and as far as being a homeschool mom, her past teaching experiences helped her to educate people on alpha-gal and the benefits of honey.
Branding Means Not Being Shy
With the new branding, it’s evident that Heather is associated with Yes Honey, and she is part of the marketing – you’ll see her face on Instagram and Facebook, and even TikTok. “That’s one of the things that we decided – my marketing team – that it has to have a face. Especially with the alpha-gal component, because I have it, I can speak to people who have it. It’s much easier to help or minister to people who struggle with the same thing that you do.”
The Future for Yes Honey
So far, Heather has built the brand of Yes Honey to 20 states in a wide range of stores. The largest store network includes Hy-Vee, Azure Standard and Town and Country. You can also find Yes Honey in beekeeping stores, health food stores, convenience stores and coffee shops.
Heather explained what sparked the interest in distributing in the first place: “How I started was when I was at the Homesteading Expo in Marshfield in 2023. Heather always gives samples of Yes Honey. “Every time I’m at an event, I’m handing out samples,” said Heather. “That is an amazing form of marketing! Probably about 90 percent of the people who try it, buy it.”
She continued, “Someone – whose husband was a manager of a store – came to the booth and tried it and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to get my husband over here so that he can try it.’”
The man from the above-mentioned scenario took his wife’s advice, sampled the product and said he’d like to buy the product for their store. Heather said he asked her about UPCs and insurance. “Markets and festivals … that’s all I was doing. That sparked in me, ‘Oh my gosh, a store wants this!’” She realized she needed more education.
Heather said that event was eye opening, and during this time, her husband suggested that she should go to the TA in Norwood and inquire about selling. She said, “This doesn’t belong in a gas station, it belongs in Whole Foods.” Her husband said, “So, when we go to a gas station, what do you buy?” She said, “Uh, water.” It clicked that other people were looking for a healthier beverage in a gas station.
She then “marched on down to the TA, they tried it and liked it and put my products in the cooler in the center.” She admits it’s amazing placement for her product. And that experience opened her eyes to the possibilities of other, larger places wanting to sell her products.
With the success of the TA experience, she then approached a woman at customer service at Hy-Vee in Springfield, and the employee gave Heather an email. Heather sent emails to both locations in Springfield, met with them and in January 2024, the product launched in two of Springfield’s largest grocery stores. One good thing about the Hy-Vee store structure, as compared to other national chains, is that the stores are autonomous and can make decisions for their own local areas on what to include on the shelves.
Since that launch, Heather, with the help of a graphic artist, also redesigned the look of the labeling on the products, which includes a honey flow at the top and “Drinks as God intended” on the back. She credits her co-packer in Bolivar for advancement of the products, who came to her by word of mouth. The co-packer also does formulations for the products. She appreciates that the co-packer can grow with her, and said he is interested in keeping the partnership expanding. Heather said, “I would love for the partnership to expand to the coasts … I would not have been able to do this business without them.”
Heading to Hawaii
When she was at the Dallas Market last year, she realized that opportunities existed to open up sales to other states, in flower shops and gift shops. At that time, Heather was doing all the shipping from her basement. “My husband built amazing shelving to keep everything saved. We had a flow going, and we would ship product. If it was Springfield, I was delivering. Eventually we got into Mama Jean’s and Country Mart (Mountain Grove), and so I was knocking on doors and finding buyers.”
Last February, she noticed on the RangeMe platform (a B2B supplier platform), that Yes Honey received #2 for “Top Brands” in January. As a result, Times Market – a Hawaiian-based, 28-store brand – reached out to her with interest. She said, “It was another God-thing, placing people into my path at the right time. This buyer at Times Market is unbelievable.”
The Honey Mobile and Deliveries
When she delivers products, she drives the Yes Honey Mobile, a colorfully wrapped, branded truck. She said, “That was the best marketing money I’ve spent. We’ve got our QR code on the back, so that we can know who’s going to the website from the QR code.”
Presently, she manages all the deliveries with several distributors nationwide and she has moved from her basement “shipping department” to a 3PL (third party logistics) fulfillment center for online and wholesale orders. Eventually, she’d like to grow the business so that someday she has warehouses and distributors across the country.
Yes Honey’s Mission
At the heart of her business, which Heather hopes will be nationwide someday, is this attitude: “I want people to realize how much I care about them having products that are healthy for them, and make them feel better. I’ve met so many people that are so sad, or so discouraged that they’ve been diagnosed with alpha-gal, that to have a product that is labeled ‘alpha-gal friendly,’ it seems like so many people have been blessed by that.”
Heather said that a customer who has alpha-gal told her it gave him the opportunity to have self-control. She said, “I thought, that is a great way to look at it. You must have self-control for things that you really love, and that can spill over in a positive way to the rest of your life. It’s all in the way you look at it, and for some reason, this is what God has chosen for my life … I wanted to turn what was a negative into a positive and a blessing to bless other people.”
She continued, “It’s what God wants us to do – glorify him and love other people. That’s my goal with this company, to do those two things.”
And another goal? She’d like to be featured on the “How I Built This Podcast” someday.
Learn more about Yes Honey.
