IRVING, Texas – Bimbo Bakeries USA is bringing the hot honey trend to the bread aisle. Its Sara Lee brand has partnered with Mike’s Hot Honey on the Sara Lee Mike’s Hot Honey Half Loaf, a limited-time item now shipping to grocery retailers nationwide.
The 12-ounce, 12-slice half loaf carries a suggested retail price of $2.69. Each slice combines Sara Lee’s soft white bread with the sweet, chili-pepper heat of Mike’s Hot Honey, positioning the product as a way for shoppers to add the flavor to grilled cheese, breakfast sandwiches and lunch meat sandwiches without a separate condiment.
“We know our consumers are always looking for new ways to bring exciting flavors into the foods they already know and love, and this collaboration does exactly that,” said Jon Watts, VP of brand marketing at Bimbo Bakeries USA. “By pairing the soft, delicious bread Sara Lee is known for with the unmistakable sweet heat of Mike’s Hot Honey, we’re giving consumers an unexpected new way to turn up the flavor on everything from breakfast sandwiches to lunchtime favorites.”
Riding a cross-category trend
Hot honey has moved well beyond its pizza-shop origins. It now appears on restaurant menus and in center store, snack, meat and frozen sets, and Mike’s Hot Honey has licensed its name to a growing list of co-branded products. The Sara Lee loaf extends that strategy to a pantry staple, giving bakery departments a trend-driven SKU in a category that sees limited flavor innovation.
The half-loaf format itself is drawing interest. On a Sara Lee Bread social media post announcing the product, one shopper asked the brand to make half packages of hamburger and hot dog buns as well. Sara Lee replied, “Maybe one of these days!”
West Coast extension
The collaboration also extends to Bimbo’s Nature’s Harvest brand. The Nature’s Harvest Mike’s Hot Honey Half Loaf is available exclusively in California for a limited time, also in a 12-ounce, 12-slice format at a $2.69 SRP.
Both products launched in October 2026.
Bimbo Bakeries USA, a subsidiary of Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo, employs more than 20,000 U.S. associates and operates more than 50 manufacturing locations. Its brands include Artesano, Ball Park, Bimbo, Boboli, Entenmann’s, Little Bites, Marinela, Mrs Baird’s, Oroweat, Sara Lee, Stroehmann and Thomas’.
Mike’s Hot Honey launched in 2010 after founder Mike Kurtz began drizzling his chili-infused honey on pizza at Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn. The product is now sold in thousands of restaurants and retail stores nationwide.