The sweet taste of the Sierra Bermeja, making its way around the world

In 1972, Estepona-born José Quirós decided to start selling the honey from his beehives, which until then he had only used himself. That is how the firm called Miel Sierra Bermeja came into being, and it has now been selling its products on the Costa del Sol and in the Campo de Gibraltar area for 50 years.

Since 2007, the company has been run by the second generation of the family, who have maintained its traditional focus. “The Sierra Bermeja provides unique conditions for producing honey,” says José's son Javier.

Miel Sierra Bermeja sells honey, pollen, royal jelly and other products deriving from bee-keeping. Javier explains that some things have changed over the decades. The hives, for example, used to be made of cork but are now wooden with removable frames.

“What hasn’t changed is the quality of our products, which are as good as they were at the beginning. What comes out of our hives is sweet gold, the result of a completely artisan process carried out with love,” he says.

The company has steadily grown and its products can now be found in shops in Estepona, San Pedro, Marbella, the Genal Valley, Benahavís, Casares, San Roque and La Línea de la Concepción, among other places. And now, there are plans to sell Miel Sierra Bermeja abroad, especially to Arab countries where there is a strong tradition of consuming honey and its derivatives.

What makes their products so special? The proximity of the western Costa del Sol with the Straits of Gibraltar and the sea, the movements of the wind and the vegetation of the Sierra Bermeja, according to Javier.

“It is a very special environment, and unique for producing honey of extraordinary quality,” he says. The geological mineral composition of the area is also very rare: “It means the flora of the mountain is formed almost completely by native species," he explains.

This is reflected in the firm’s ‘thousand-flower’ honey. The diversity of locations of the beehives make this product very special because it combines nectar collected by the bees from such varied plants as heather, lavender, strawberry trees, broom, eucalyptus, thyme and many more.