This is the second story in our series about the people behind Chahal Agri Farms. Today: the honey, and the family it comes from.
It's not a supplier story. It's a family one.
Most "forest honey" you find in India has passed through a chain of middlemen. We don't have that chain. Our honey comes from family.
Our extended family lives in Sitla village, near Mukteshwar — high in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand. Pine forest. Oak. Wildflowers that change with every season. They have been beekeepers for years. The hives are on their land, behind their homes.
Why this matters
When the honey on your kitchen shelf comes from family, a few things change:
- We know exactly where every drop is from. Same forest, same hives, every batch.
- There is no middleman taking a cut. The money goes straight to the family.
- We still pay 8–10% above the local market rate. They are family, but they are also small beekeepers — and small beekeepers should be able to live well from their work.
- Quality is not negotiable. You don't sell adulterated honey to your own family. And we don't accept anything less from ours.
The drive to Sitla
Sambhal to Sitla is about 380 kilometres. Nine hours through plains, foothills, and the switchback roads of Kumaon. We make that drive ourselves. Family or not, we want to see the hives, see the season, hand-pack the jars.
It is not efficient. A logistics company would tell us to use a supplier in Delhi. But efficiency is not the point. The point is that the people who keep these bees, in this forest, can keep doing this work — and that you receive honey that has not been near a factory or a warehouse.
What you are getting
- Dark, complex, multifloral honey — flavour shifts season to season
- Raw. Never heated. Never blended.
- Will crystallise in cool weather — that is a sign of authenticity. Warm the jar in water; it returns to liquid.
Every spoonful is from one family's hives to your kitchen. No middle layer.