Blog — Honey

Are you a family who has had experience in the NICU? Whether you have or you have walked alongside a family in the NICU, you know that it can be a scary place to be, especially during months where sickness and germs are spreading easily. You desperately need to keep your friends and family healthy as you care for your little one, even in the days after you come home. For the past couple years, we have offered our Elderberry Syrup free to NICU families, as a simple way to support them during a difficult season. We have countless stories from our NICU customers about the courage, strength and miracles their families have experienced. It’s a blessing to hear the stories and to be a small part of it!

We are excited to announce that we are relaunching our NICU Family Program! This is a way that NICU families can receive our products FREE in the first year of their baby’s life. Here’s how you can participate:

1. Email us at info@theelderberryco.com with the subject “NICU Family Program”. In the email, tell us a little about your story, including your first name, last name, email, phone number and the date your baby was born.
2. We will send you a gift card for $100 to use throughout the first year of your baby’s life on any of our products in store or online at theelderberryco.com. You can choose from our best selling Elderberry Syrup, Elderberry Gummies, Wellness Tea and more! These products aren’t for baby, but can be used by your immediate family and friends to keep them healthy for lots of baby snuggles. 

Community is so important when you are going through a difficult season and while we may not be in your inner circles to walk with you through your NICU experience, we are blessed to be able to support you through Elderberry Syrup! The peace of mind it gives me as a mom in keeping my family healthy is why I started this small business and why we have our NICU Family Program. We hope it blesses you and your family!

Please share our NICU Family Program with anyone you know who could benefit from it! If you have any questions, please email us at info@theelderberryco.com.

Merry Christmas from The Elderberry Co Team!

One of the many things I LOVE about starting, growing and running this business is giving you guys an inside look into our operations. We may have customers in all 50 states and sell MILLIONS in immune-supporting elderberry products, but we are truly a small business. We have a team of 12 people here in southern Indiana who work SO HARD to make quality products and provide exceptional customer experiences. One of those experiences is our Subscription Program. I created this program almost three years ago to be a convenient way to get our elderberry products on a recurring basis, and it is one of the BEST things about our business. I know you’re busy, so I’ll bullet point everything you need to know:

• Every product you find on our website will have the choice for “one time purchase” or “Subscribe & Save 10%”
• Simply select “Subscribe & Save 10%” which will ask you to choose how often you would like to receive that product.
• After selecting your frequency (i.e. every 2 weeks, one month, etc.), select “Complete Subscription”
• Finish checking out and you are all set! You’ll receive that product on a recurring basis, saving 10% automatically with every order!
• Want to change or cancel your subscription? It’s super easy! You’ll first need to create an account HERE. Once you create and activate your account, you’ll login and see a “Manage Subscription” button which will allow you to change your next order date, skip an order, apply a discount or cancel your subscription altogether. 
• At any point if you need help, someone from our small team of 12 is here to help! Simply email us at info@theelderberryco.com, and we will be there for you :-)

Our subscribers are the reason we are successful and able to continue growing our business. Now through the end of the year, save an extra 15% (for a total of 25%) off your order when you sign up for a subscription with code FIRST15 at checkout! 

Thank you for trusting us to empower your family with a natural and effective way to stay healthy and active. Cheers!

The immune system...it’s a hot topic these days, right? Everyone is talking about staying healthy and safe, especially as we enter the colder months of the year. Our families are the most important things to us, and while we can’t necessarily “see” our immune system, we need to care for it as one of our highest priorities when we think about caring for our family. Don’t let your life get so busy that you forget these 5 easy and natural ways to keep your family healthy this winter:

1. Let them sleep! Aim to give your kiddos, at minimum, 8 hours of sleep...10 is even better. That means to turn off screens at least 1 hour prior to bed and set consistent bedtime and wake up routines. 
2. Limit sugar. I know, this isn’t a popular one. My kids ask for a “special treat” every night and are shocked when I tell them they can’t have one (what makes it special if you get one every day??). But sugar is the enemy to our immune systems. Cutting back on soda, sweets, candy, baked goods and processed foods in general will put your family at a significant advantage when it comes to strong immune systems. Raw honey is a GREAT alternative (in moderation of course). Here’s our entire line of raw and infused flavored honey. They are so so good.
3. Put a whole food on every plate. Ok, I’m not the best at eating 100% whole foods but I guarantee you can’t afford NOT to eat whole this winter, as our bodies need these vital nutrients from plants. So as a busy mom, I make it my daily goal to get at least one whole food on everyone’s plate. Our go-to foods? Apples, bananas, bell peppers (red ones are the best!), carrots, broccoli and strawberries. For an amazing smoothie recipe, check out our blog here. 
4. Take elderberry daily. Ok, I know this may seem like a shameless plug for my own product, but I’m so serious. Taking elderberry syrup or gummies daily can give your family the support their immune systems need, especially when they may be exposed to illness around them. My kids love both our syrup and gummies, but I try my best to keep them taking the syrup because it contains raw honey that contains natural enzymes to help their bodies fight infection. Just 1 teaspoon or 1 gummy daily for kids, 1 tablespoon or 2-3 gummies daily for adults. It’s so easy and so delicious.
5. Get outside and get moving. Our Vitamin D levels tank in the winter so getting at least 30 minutes of direct sunlight can help. Also, a goal to get at least 30 minutes of exercise 3x weekly can significantly support your body’s overall health and wellness. For your kiddos, that means a walk to the park, a game of tag in the front yard...get creative! One of my good friends has an amazing woman-owned small business called OKO Weekly where you can get videos of workouts designed specifically for kids age 3-5 years old. For those cold winter months, it’s the perfect way to make sure your kids are getting regular exercise!

I’m a BIG proponent of not overloading our schedules and responsibilities with unnecessary busy-work, so I hope these 5 natural ways to build strong immune systems don’t feel like extra work, but empowering ideas to help your family to experience a healthy winter. As always, feel free to comment below with any other tips you use to keep your family healthy. Happy fall everyone!

Customer service team here!

Getting to work as the customer service representatives is seriously such a fun job. We sincerely are so blessed to get to talk to all of you and hear about how we are able to help in any way possible. We find joy in meeting our customers right where they are and explaining any and everything we can with a clear sense of communication. Communication is huge to us. That’s how many of us work best, knowing the things we need to know before committing ourselves to something.

A ton of you are returning customers, and we are so thankful that you let us help be your support when it comes to keeping your family healthy! We wanted to step into some of these questions and answer them for those of you who are new or are needing a little refresher. Here are some common questions we can answer for you now that we get asked often.

1. Can you use this as a syrup on pancakes/waffles?
No, our Elderberry Syrup is not thick like maple syrup. We do not use any preservatives or glucose; therefore, our syrup is a juice-like consistency. If you were to put it on your pancakes, it would make them a bit soggy and not give your pancakes the ooey gooey sugary syrup consistency we all love! Instead, most of our customers will take their daily serving of elderberry syrup in one of our shot glasses.

2. How do you keep your syrup cold during shipment?
We don’t ship our syrup cold. We take great care in packing each jar, and we ship them at room temperature. We test our batches to ensure they are safe out of the fridge during the 6-7 days of transit. We do recommend getting it in the fridge when it arrives to ensure the longest shelf life.

3. Do you use a canning process?
We don’t use a canning process because we want to keep our honey raw (awesome health benefits from raw honey). We have a lidding machine that screws the lids on tightly, followed by a heat seal band around the top of the jar to ensure it hasn’t been tampered with.

4. Is your honey local?
Our honey is local to the Southern Indiana/Ohio valley area and located about 15 minutes from our shop.

5. Do you have any sugar free products?
Yes! Our Elderberry Syrup Kits are a great way to make a sugar free version of our Elderberry Syrup. Instead of adding honey to your kit, you can add an alternative sweetener or omit the sugar altogether.

6. What if I take too much Elderberry?
The only adverse effect of taking too much Elderberry Syrup is it could take on a mild laxative (think prune juice). Other than that, our syrup is simply a natural blend of berries, spices and honey so feel free to take more or less than our recommended serving size!

7. What do I do with your syrup?
Take one tablespoon (for adults) as a daily immune booster for overall health or you can add it to other recipes to enhance it both with taste and health! We have many customers who add their daily dose to their water, tea, or even coffee!

8. New vs. old gummies, why are they different?
When we first launched our gummies, we quickly learned that because of the extremely high vitamin C content, direct sunlight turned them BRIGHT blue. In order to keep them from turning blue, we needed to either switch to artificial colorants or lower our Vitamin C content. We HATE artificial colorants so we decided to lower the Vitamin C content slightly (it is still much higher than the recommended daily dose). In addition to the change in Vitamin C, we also listened to customer feedback and lowered our sugar content from 3.5g to 1g per gummy. 

9. Is your Wellness tea just as beneficial as your Elderberry Syrup?
Our Wellness tea is a customer favorite! While it has the benefit of elderberries, it is not as concentrated as our syrup. One tablespoon of our syrup would equal out (health benefit wise) to about 3 cups of our tea.

10. How else can you sweeten the kit?
While you can buy our raw honey separately, we have some customers who sweeten it with Stevia, Splenda or other sweeteners. 

Please let us know if you have any other questions as we are ready to answer them! Thank you for letting us serve you as we grow as a small business.

Written by Alex Dean & Kimberly Pavan

Jello is always a fun snack to have for the kids so why not add some Elderberry in there to add some health to the fun. We have found the perfect recipe to enjoy Elderberry Jello snacks for both in the house and on your way out of the house. 

Ingredients

Instructions