History
Capilano Honey is the market leader of honey in Australia, packing premium quality honey produced by Australian beekeepers. Our company heritage spans over 50 years and generations of Australians have grown up with our trusted brand and quality honey.
Capilano Honey was founded by apiarist J.C. (Tim) Smith MBE and his brother H.A. (Bert) Smith in 1953, who began the business by packing and selling their Capilano brand of honey to grocery stores around Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The name ‘Capilano' has a nostalgic connection. It means ‘rushing water' in the language of the native American Indian tribe, the Squamish, who occupied the Capilano district near Vancouver in Canada. It was here that Tim Smith met his wife, Jill, while stationed in Canada as a RAAF flying instructor in World War II.
In 1956 the business was known as Capilano Apiaries Pty Limited. Interstate expansion and development of export followed as the company prospered, leading to the establishment of a packing plant and distribution centre at St. Marys, near Sydney, in 1968 followed by another in Maryborough, Victoria in 1974.
In 1970 the company became an unlisted public company and in 1974 changed its name to the Honey Corporation of Australia Limited. In 1995 it adopted the name Capilano Honey Limited in recognition of the wide appreciation of the Capilano trademark and brand throughout Australia and overseas.
With global operations in Canada and Argentina, Capilano is now one of the largest honey packers in the world with a capacity to process and pack over 25,000 tonnes of honey per year.
