Meet the Mouriki Family and their Raw Honey from Greece

I'm so happy to have you meet the Mouriki Family, a new Zelos Authentic Greek Artisan that brings us their pure raw honey from Greece! I'm a real fan of Greek honey and have been wanting to bring more over since our organic Cretan honey had been so well received. When I moved to the States over 20 years ago, I had the feeling that most people didn't get all the amazing benefits of honey, yet it is the natural sweetener in the Mediterranean Diet! Pure honey has a wonderful taste, plus it's good for you! Honey health benefits are so many: it has antioxidants & minerals and there's nothing like it to soothe a sore throat or an upset stomach. With a lower glycemic index & calorie count than sugar, honey makes an all-natural healthier sugar substitute.

Meeting the Mouriki family introduced me to the fascinating world of nomadic beekeeping. I was amazed to discover that Panagiotis Mourikis spends nearly 250 days a year in his truck, moving the beehives around Greece to find the best flowering areas. Every spring, he loads the family's 2500+ bees onto their two trucks and takes them from their home base in Messinia, in the Peloponnese, up north to different regions - for some, they'll first stop by the flowering peach & apricot orchards of Veria before moving on to the pine forests on the island of Thasos; other beehives are taken to the foothills of  Fokida, near ancient Delphi, for thyme honey, while the bees that produce oak honey summer in the forests of Evrytania, near the mountain town of Karpenissi. The honey is harvested several times during the season and by November it's time for the bees to come home again to Messinia.

Panagiotis likes to say he was born on the mountain, amidst the beehives, accompanying his father on his tour of Greece from a young age. This 34-year old is a true modern-day nomad, as he fiercely holds on to the traditional way of making honey. But he credits his sister Maria with taking the family apiary, founded in 1960, to a new level. She convinced him & his father to develop and promote their own brand, Mouriki Greek Premium Honey, and to invest in a striking pack design that would communicate the outstanding quality of their all-natural raw honey.

The result: a beautifully designed silk-screen printed jar that's even dishwasher-safe! As for what's in the jar? Well, you must taste all of Mouriki's premium honey and see the differences for yourself!