The last time we wrote about Mikaila Ulmer, she had landed a $60,000 deal on the show Shark Tank for her BeeSweet Lemonade when she was a mere 10 years old. And now that she's practically a veteran in the beverage game, she's brokering even bigger deals.
Mikaila's lemonade, made from her grandmother's recipe for flaxseed lemonade and sweetened with honey, will now be available in 55 Whole Food stores in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. If Mikaila's lemonade does well, it'll eventually be sold nationwide. She's also secured a distribution deal with United Natural Foods.
In an interview with NBC News, Mikaila spoke about how she decided to use honey to sweeten her lemonade instead of sugar.
"I didn’t enjoy the bee stings at all. They scared me. But then something strange happened. I became fascinated with bees. I learned all about what they do for me and our ecosystem. So then I thought, 'What if I make something that helps honeybees and uses my Great-Granny Helen's recipe?' That’s how BeeSweet Lemonade was born. It comes from my Great-Granny Helen's flaxseed recipe and my new love for bees. So that's why we sweeten it with local honey. And today my little idea continues to grow," Mikaila said.
And not only is her business growing, but it's also going to help others. Mikaila donates a portion of the lemonade's profits to organizations that work to save honeybees.
"Last year, beekeepers lost 40 percent of all their hives," Mikaila said. "Bees are dying." And in the words of Albert Einstein, Mikaila continued, "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."
To learn more about BeeSweet Lemonade, visit the company's website.