I’m excited to share a project I’ve been working on for the past year: helping bring wild Maasai honey from Africa into the United States.

This one has been close to my heart from the very beginning.

The Maasai tribes have access to beautiful, organic wild honey with a rich, unique flavor harvested from hives tucked into acacia trees across some of the most pristine, untouched landscapes on earth, but limited access to the U.S. market. That gap between an extraordinary product and the consumers who would love it is exactly the kind of problem that gets me out of bed in the morning.

This project is about more than honey.

It is about helping create a path for families, education, and long-term impact. Tribal leaders asked for help selling their honey so they could send more children to school, and now, after months of planning, coordination, and navigating the layered world of U.S. food import compliance, a shipping container of Maasai honey is on its way by sea to my client in Texas. That sentence alone still gives me chills.

Once it arrives, the honey will be packaged for sale in the U.S., and much of the proceeds will be reinvested to support education and mission work among the Maasai tribes. This isn’t charity, it’s trade with purpose. The Maasai have something genuinely extraordinary to offer the world. They simply needed a bridge to reach it.

What makes this honey special goes beyond its story. Wild and completely organic, never touched by pesticides or industrial processing, it carries the bold, complex flavor of open savanna landscapes that have existed for centuries without interference. It’s the kind of product that food lovers and health-conscious consumers in the U.S. have been searching for without even knowing it existed. Once people taste it, they’ll understand immediately why this project matters.

Of course, getting a food product from the African savanna to American store shelves is no small feat. Importing food into the United States means navigating FDA registration requirements, FSMA compliance, proper labeling, country-of-origin declarations, and in many cases, Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) protocols. Getting those details right isn’t just a legal checkbox, it’s what protects the mission. One compliance misstep can hold a shipment at port and derail everything a community worked toward. That’s not something we were willing to risk.

I love projects like this because they combine food, trade, adventure, and purpose. It’s the kind of work that reminds you why the food industry, at its best, is one of the most powerful vehicles for human connection and economic development on the planet. When supply chains are built with care, when the producer is valued, not just the product, something remarkable happens. Food stops being just a commodity and starts being a lifeline.

It’s amazing.

More updates coming soon as the honey arrives and moves through the U.S. market process. There’s still a lot of road ahead — packaging, distribution, retail placement — and I’ll be sharing every milestone along the way.

Food can change lives. This project is proof of that.

More about Mission Honey at missionhoney.org.

Thinking About Importing Your Food Product to the U.S.?

If you have a product outside the United States and you’re wondering how to successfully navigate FDA regulations, FSMA compliance, labeling requirements, and import logistics, Tim Forrest Consulting (TFC) is here to help. We specialize in guiding international food producers and importers through every step of the U.S. market entry process, from FSVP compliance and facility registration to full label reviews and food safety planning so your product arrives ready to sell, not stuck at the border.

Projects like Mission Honey are exactly why this work matters. Let’s bring your product to American consumers the right way.

📩 Contact Tim Forrest Consulting at https://www.timforrest.com/book-a-call/