If you asked Sarah Scarlet if she wanted to be an entrepreneur, the answer would be ‘no.’ But, for the New Zealand native, the idea of helping others heal with the benefits of her family’s Manuka honey was far too appealing to deny the push to market.
Manuka honey is harvested in Australia and New Zealand from bees that pollinate from the islands’ native Manuka tree. The honey that results has natural antibacterial and skin cell regenerative properties that is favored by doctors to treat wounds and burns.
Sarah’s family was already producing Manuka honey and shipping it to burn units and hospitals when she and her husband, Jono, left New Zealand for Nashville to pursue careers in music. While they were in Tennessee, Sarah saw an opportunity in the consumer market for their product.
With the idea of Manuka honey being in every first aid kit across the country, she and her husband started First Honey and launched their business in the Amazon store.
“I understood that to make this brand and this product work, you would have to be able to tell a story. You have to figure out how to educate people and bring them into the journey of Manuka,” said Sarah. “Amazon has been so amazing for bringing our story to life.”
First Honey started selling their flagship ointment, which is sterile, medical-grade Manuka honey, but quickly began developing more products. Bandages and an eczema cream came next, all three products launched first on Amazon.
“Amazon was a no-brainer for us,” said Sarah. “The vision that we’ve got for new products, the ease and accessibility of people being able to get those products is really vital. We are essentially a first aid product. People need it urgently. They need to be able to get it quickly.”
First Honey chooses to use Fulfillment by Amazon to help pick, pack and ship their products across the United States and now the world. They’re using Amazon Ads to educate consumers on the healing benefits of Manuka honey and their products.
Sarah and Jono have now developed 9 products and are looking at launching a Manuka honey pet brand this year. A storefront in the Amazon store is being planned already. “It’s an incredibly powerful tool for an emerging brand like ourselves,” said Sarah.
The Scarlets said Amazon is the foundation of First Honey’s multichannel strategy, which now includes more than 10,000 retailers across the country, a number they continue to grow. Without Amazon, Jono said they were facing an uphill battle of trying to get their ointment into retailers without a way to provide proof their product had marketability. Amazon, he said, gave them their footing and now, they’re using that foundation to build the future of healing, with their story front and center.