MEET THE LONDON HONEY COMPANY TEAM: MARIO LOPEZ
From bio chemistry, to business development, to beekeeping... find out more about our very own warehouse supremo Mario.
What do you do at London Honey Company?
I’m the London Honey Co Warehouse Supervisor! I organise fulfilment and make sure all orders go out in time and in order. I make sure we comply with UK food standards and regulations by having the BBE and a unique batch number on every jar of honey and honeycomb cropped. On a normal day I come into the office, have a briefing with the team about what’s needed in the day ahead and I also go through our web and our wholesale orders. I’m also involved in the beekeeping courses that we run with Hannah.
What did you do before London Honey Company?
I studied Bio Chemistry at Kings College in London. A traveled a bit and came back to London and then studied Business Development. But from the age of 16 and during the time I was studying I worked in health food shops and became very interested in organic foods, natural supplements, microbiotics and vegetarian and vegan diets - and this is a long time ago, back in the 80s! Long before it was a trend.
After studying I continued working in the management team at a different health food shops and health food companies. I then found myself in wholesale as a buyer and dealt with distribution.
Then about 7 years ago me and my partner decided to get into beekeeping and we decided to do a course. And now have an allotment that we keep bees as a hobby. We also became quite involved in the Wimbledon Beekeepers Association and learned a lot through them. We also then became teachers within the association.
And about a year ago I felt like I needed to take a step back from managing and felt like it was time for a bit of a career change… Something a bit less stressful! And then this job came up and it seemed perfect, and I really enjoy it and love the ethos and our product and the team is really great.
Yes, we still have them, we also have some in our garden at home. It is just a hobby for me and my partner and we give away most of the honey we make. We keep it mostly to learn and teach about beekeeping rather than as a financial gain. The only time we sold honey was for a friend that was raising funds for people in refugee camps on the Greek islands, and all proceeds went to that.
As teaching is a passion of mine I have also developed a board game to teach beekeeping for beginners! Just meeting with graphic designers soon and then it’ll be ready.
Lastly, what’s your favourite honey at the moment?
Ling Heather! It's really incredible! It has a deep rich complex flavour and a creamy texture which makes is very versatile to use.
