It’s dripping onto pizzas, jazzing up chicken wings, and claiming precious real estate on supermarket shelves. Whether you spot it on Everyman Cinema’s halloumi or squirrelled away in the condiments aisle, hot honey has taken the US and UK by storm.
In fact, Everyman’s hot honey halloumi not only helped the agonized entertainment business turn a profit last year, but helped its food and drink revenues rise 59%, to £32.2 million [$40.4 million], accounting for 41% of total revenues.
Only, it seems to have happened overnight. One year we were all happily dipping our beloved beige comfort foods into sriracha mayo, the next, this spicy-sweet concoction surpasses its ubiquity. At the moment, M&S alone is selling a hot honey brie brûlée (yes, you read that right), hot honey caramel popcorn, whole hot honey BBQ chickens, and even–deep breath–hot honey pigs in blanket crisps.
But how did they get there? And why is Britain, in particular, so eager to take a bite?
Before we get to the answer, it’s worth noting that the idea of pairing honey with chili is hardly new. In Brazil, ‘hot honey’ has been used for centuries in both cooking and traditional medicine. The contemporary iteration, in comparison, owes its fame to Mike Kurtz, the Brooklyn-based creator of Mike’s Hot Honey. Back in 2010, Kurtz started shilling his chili-infused honey to the pizzerias of Williamsburg, and ignited something of a local craze.
As food trends so often do, it then spread through farmers’ markets, trendy restaurants, grocery stores and, eventually, social media, where hot honey quietly and quickly became global. Wilderbee, created in 2014 by food truck chef Dan Shearman, soon became the UK’s first hot honey, lacing scotch bonnets and gochujang into its bee-friendly honey, though its appeal still had yet to hit the mainstream.
Then, of course, TikTok came along, marking the UK’s super-sweet embrace of the condiment. While TikTok videos tagged #hothoney have racked up millions of views in the last year, Google searches for “hot honey” have soared to their highest numbers ever–and supermarkets have been quick to respond.
For them, it’s a no-brainer: hot honey is a simple, premium-yet-populist product that not only taps into a trend, but can be consumed at pace. Its sweet-heat balance works on fast and slow food alike; burgers, roasted vegetables, even ice cream. It’s indulgent yet versatile, familiar yet surprising–a rare combination that makes it an easy, repeat sell.
It’s economic genius. Consumers today are willing to pay more for products that feel artisanal or elevated, even if the ingredients are simple. Hot honey fits neatly into this narrative: a seemingly boutique product that has successfully transitioned into mass-market accessibility without losing its craft-like charm.
The success of hot honey isn’t just about flavor, either–it’s emblematic of a broader shift in global eating habits. It aligns with the growing demand for fusion foods that bridge culinary traditions—pairing the natural sweetness of honey, cherished for millennia, with the fiery kick of chili, a cornerstone of cuisines from South America to Asia.
This blend of ancient traditions and modern, experimental tastes makes hot honey feel timeless yet innovative–a key reason it resonates so widely.
As the global food industry leans into these trends, hot honey’s growth potential seems limitless. From restaurants creating bespoke dishes to at-home chefs experimenting with pairings like hot honey-doused pastries or hot honey cocktails (all of which will, naturally, be shared on social media), its versatility ensures its staying power well beyond the new year.
Hot honey is not just a trendy new condiment; it’s a phenomenon, and we’re about to see it everywhere.
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