How The Bee Shed’s Investment In Branding Keeps The Business Buzzing

During the summer months here, our team loves to shop at the Rochester Farmer’s Market for the freshest local goods of the season. We all love supporting small businesses and eating good food, and frankly, the thrill of discovering a great new product with an even better story makes it all that much sweeter. Before Chris and John, co-founders of The Bee Shed, walked in our door, their honey was already in our homes.

“We started the re-branding process in 2020. Up to that point, our home-grown branding was adequate, but it looked, well, home-grown,” says co-founder Chris Schad. “By the time we approached Neighborly, we had developed a product line concept that, if done right, could elevate our business. The new product line had some overlap with our core product line, so developing a brand for the new concept meant we also had to re-brand the core products.”

 

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We were eager to start this project because we were already big fans. Chris and John came prepared. They had spent years thinking, discussing, researching, and preparing for the next stage of their business. Blending their energy for approaching honey to work in harmony with SE Minnesota’s seasons with our experience in branding and package design, this was a perfect partnership. We can still remember hopping on a video call with Chris to color-match the perfect yellow hue for the new release of August Kiss. It was amazing how involved they were in the design process.

 

“Working with the team at Neighborly Creative was a new experience for me – and they made it easy. They somehow took my vague concepts and turned them into beautiful branding. They were patient with my scattered availability, and they tracked down the images that helped tell our brand story, all while meeting the technical requirements of product labels,” says Chris. 

 

   

 

This is a significant investment for small businesses. They come in with a bootstrapping mindset as that is how they have survived the start-up chapter. It is usually around the 3-year mark when we see clients come in our door talking about the success they are seeing and want their brand to reflect the new chapter they are entering. The Bee Shed was on this path and we were excited to give it the time and attention to their ‘baby’ that supported their continued growth. 

 

“We’ve seen phenomenal growth starting in 2021,” explains Chris. “We’ve worked hard, taken some risks, and extended ourselves beyond our comfort zone in approaching new sales channels. But clearly, none of this would be possible without our investment in branding and partnering with Neighborly Creative.”

 

The rebrand’s success inspired The Bee Shed to expand its product line, including August Kiss and Buckwheat Stout products. Then, in 2023, they launched a new concept called Hot Shed Honey—its signature wildflower honey infused with ghost peppers. This product has a different target market, and we needed to approach the branding differently. This is the first product in their family that looks a bit different than the rest, yet it was intentional to maintain similarities that made it feel like it still belongs to the original product line. 

 

   

 

 

The Bee Shed went from 24 retail partners in 2020 to 60 partners in early 2024. 

“More importantly than numbers and figures, we have confidence that our product lines will work in larger markets, enabling us to go from a “local” brand to a regional or even national brand.”

We are proud to have played a small part in The Bee Shed’s journey and look forward to what’s in store for them next. Visit thebeeshed.com to read about what makes their honey-making process unique, and remember to place an order to have the sweetness delivered to your doorstep. 

 

 

Visit the dedicated project pages for this brand:

Bee Shed Project Page     Hot Shed Honey Project Page

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Photography: @ChooChooCaChew

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