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Down the aisle that holds the exquisitely delicious and exotic treats at stores such as: Hiller’s Market, Papa Joe’s, Randazzo’s and Cantoro, you can find a

beautiful box of honey cakes with a young girl’s face on it. Marlenka is her name, and the savory honey cakes named after her have a rich and extraordinary history of their own.

For anyone who frequents local quality markets and bakeries around the Metro Detroit area, the name Marlenka is familiar to you. Although they have been widely celebrated

MARLENKA 844.627.5365 | usmarlenka.com

The Honey Miracle By Mary Meldrum

throughout Europe for ten years, Marlenka honey cakes have been available in the United States for less than a year. Their rapid rise to fame is justified. You just need to taste a Marlenka honey cake to understand its universal appeal. The taste is exceptional. Served with coffee or tea, or even a nice liquor, the taste is ultimate bliss.

Aside from the flavor, part of the strong consumer attraction to Marlenka has also been its ingredients. Made using an old Armenian family recipe, the honey cakes boast a short list of ingredients. There are no preservatives or artificial colors used in the production of these delicious treats. Additionally, to ensure consistent consumer

satisfaction, the flour, milk, nuts, and, of course, the honey used in Marlenka products must meet stringent standards for dependable quality and flavor. The result is a divine treat with a distinctly homemade taste.

Commonly found now at events like family gatherings, holidays, weddings, and birthdays, the standard size Marlenka cake can feed up to 12 people. All Marlenka products are packaged in beautiful, ecologically friendly boxes that make them great ready-to-go gifts.

The captivating story behind this delightful treat is one of an incredible journey that started with a family a long time ago, at the foot of a Mount Ararat. The Armenian people

have baked a honey cake delicacy for many years to eat with their coffee and tea. The cakes were made with milk, flour, nuts, and honey. Because of its outstanding taste and longevity, it was dubbed “The Honey Miracle”.

It was 1995 when Gevorg Avetisyan came from Armenia to the Czech Republic with his family. He and his sister began to make the honey treats for his family and friends, and it didn’t take long for word to spread about the family’s delicious honey cakes. In need of a way to support his family, Gevorg began to sell the cakes to local bakeries and shops. It quickly became a favorite in the Czech Republic. In just a few short years, Marlenka’s popularity spread from the local small towns and villages as demand for the product increased. The first Marlenka factory was established in the Czech Republic in 2002 with one employee. By 2008, there were 186 employees, and the sales territory had spread to cover Europe. Today, they produce over 100,000 cakes a month.

The incredible story of this baked honey treat started in a humble immigrant family kitchen in the late 1990s, and quickly grew to a factory operation in 2002. Word of these treats spread, and the honey cakes’ popularity grew so quickly that a bigger facility was quickly being planned.

In order to satisfy the growing demand for Marlenka and, at the same time, update hygienic standards while maintaining the same family bakery flavor that rocketed the Marlenka honey cakes to success, the family decided to modernize their operations. Another new, fully automated, 10,000 square foot, certified hygienic factory needed to be constructed to increase capacity. After just six years in the first facility, they broke ground on a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in 2008. Not even a year passed between laying the cornerstone for the new facility and completing construction.

The sweet aroma of the production line fills the entire hall, and four continuous lines of dough produce four honey cakes at a time. The finishing line comes next, where cream is applied to the dough layers, and then the layers are stacked on top of one another. Finally the entire cake is garnished with crumbs, nuts, and icing. Marlenka is constantly seeking to improve the quality of its ingredients by holding suppliers to high standards and regularly fine tuning the production process to ensure the Marlenka cakes and other products best represent the traditional recipes and flavors they are based on, and, at the same

time, conform to modern quality conditions. Regular quality testing is completed and certified, and Marlenka has received national awards for longevity. Due to the fact that honey is nature’s natural preservative, Marlenka cakes can stay fresh for 90 days at room temperature with no change to its quality or taste.

Modern technology has increased the ability to provide Marlenka cakes and treats to customers around the globe, but it has not completely displaced the handmade operations for some of the other Marlenka products. The production line for the honey cakes has enabled Marlenka to focus on creating other traditional Armenian treats that are also gaining wide acclaim from consumers. There are Lemon Honey Cakes, Napoleon, Paklava, three flavors of Honey Nuggets, and Marlenka snack bars as well.

Marlenka’s traditional honey cake is five layers of smooth dough baked until golden brown. Honey holds the cake layers together, and it is the only cake in the Czech Republic to be designated as a natural product. Marlenka’s superior taste and exceptional standards of production have earned great respect and many outstanding awards in several countries. Since 2010, Marlenka honey cakes have been regularly delivered to the Prague Castle for the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus. Available in over 40 countries worldwide, Marlenka products have become international favorites.

Marlenka USA’s mission is simple: “We strive to provide our customers with the freshest and most flavorful honey cakes possible.” With North American distribution in place, Americans and Canadians can now share in the enjoyment of the wonderful variety of these “Miracles from Honey”, made possible by Marlenka USA.