L’Atelier Du Miel was founded in 2013 by three urban young men – an architect, an engineer, and a business consultant – as a personal journey to reconnect with nature. They have quickly emerged as a loved startup that wishes to share its discoveries with its customers and to help them immerse themselves in nature, craftsmanship and good taste.
DID YOU KNOW?
Today, L’Atelier Du Miel is a passionate, conscientious, ambitious, and customer-oriented brand that believes in the benefits of environmental and economic sustainability on people’s lives. Its core purpose is to preserve and nurture life in all its activities: from providing healthy products and natural experiences to its customers to preserving biodiversity and supporting local communities.
WHAT’S THE INNOVATION?
As newcomers to beekeeping, L’Atelier du Miel proposed a new approach that focuses on the customer’s aspiration in terms of quality, transparency, and an enriching experience.
Rebuilding trust; Quality assured artisan honey: Being the third most cheated food product in the world, honey was disappearing from kitchens all over the world. When they bought their first hives, their goal was (and still is) to re-establish people’s trust with nature’s purest product.
Honey as a (re)discovery: They started moving their beehives to regions with different altitudes and environments around the seasons. This provided the bees with foraging grounds and natural resources all year. It allowed them to bring a variety of more than 20 types of unique, natural, artisan honeys, with enriching information about their origins, their quality, and health benefits.
Honey as gifting: L’Atelier Du Miel was one of the first to introduce honey as a key gifting product, being a caring and impactful gift. The honey trail was an occasion for them to meet artisans from different trades and create with them exclusive accessories and packages, to name a few: the terracotta from Bkerzai, the honey dippers integrating the ornate firebird of Jezzine or the mosaic wood of Tripoli, as well as their signature wood boxes.
Honey as a service: In their efforts to provide their customers with full transparency and immerse them in nature, L’Atelier du Miel created honey as a service, where customers can host their hives, while L’Atelier du Miel takes care of them until harvest. Last but not least, hosts contribute to increasing pollination and protecting the local flora, they become part of the homegrown movement and reduce food miles and CO2 emissions.
WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE INNOVATION?
At the start, the founders, with their love to nature and aspired to innovate in the agriculture sector, thought of beekeeping as a window to nature: it is not limited to a type of flowers, to a region of even to season. Having bought their first hives, they began their journey of discovery of nature and of the country.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
People have lost trust in honey as it was either branded but industrial, or artisanal but with no liability. This is the gap that L’Atelier du miel found and tried to fill it by offering quality assured artisan honey, from a trustful and caring brand. Additionally, they were able to offer a variety of more than 20 types of honey from different flowers and/or regions
WHO IS BENIFITTING?
L’Atelier Du Miel works closely with communities to source honey, but also to provide beekeeping trainings. In 2019, they trained more than 40 beekeepers including 25 women in remote areas. L’Atelier Du Miel offers summer jobs for young agriculture students in its beekeeping activities. They also work closely with NGOs to help protect biodiversity by planting trees and supporting preservation initiatives. L’Atelier Du Miel promotes eco-awareness by initiating school students to nature and beekeeping and offering sessions and tours to its apiaries.
