# New member needs help about honey sales



## EngineeringBeek (Mar 4, 2008)

I've never marketed honey before so take this with a grain of salt. But you could bottle it in larger quantities (1 gal or 5 gal) and try to sell to local bakeries and other food service places that you think might be willing to sacrifice cost for local products.


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

You could try your local home brew shops who sell to meadmakers or local food coops that buy in buckets and distribute smaller quantities among their members. But it's more profitable to sell in smaller quantities. If you don't want to retail one pound jars, bears, etc. find a high traffic vendor at a local farmers market and see if they're interested in buying cases of bears at some "discounted price". You move a lot of product with one sale and still make some dough.


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## roger eagles (Apr 18, 2004)

*cactus honey*

I once got some cactus honey from a freind who went threw arizona.Is any one out there could round me up some?


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## CAbeek (May 9, 2008)

We had a similar problem with chicken eggs and ended up landing a commercial account with a local restaurant that takes everything that we produce. While the price they pay is less than what you get selling retail, it is much simpler than having to constantly worry about how & where to move your product.

If you've got large inventory to move, sell to businesses.


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## Moonshae (Jun 7, 2007)

I have to agree with checking out local homebrew clubs. People who like to make mead are always looking for quality honey. Just search for homebrew and your state and you're bound to find plenty of places to sell. You could easily find a few people who'll buy 5 gallon pails at a time.


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

*also bakeries*

you might also try quality small scale bakeries that bake from scratch. The one that I know of goes through about 15lbs every ten days or so. That's not big scale, but if you worked up a customer base you could sell a lot


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

If all you need is more friends to "help you consume" give me your address an I'll consume a lot of it.

You need to decide how to market YOURSELF as that is what will distinguish your quality and price point. Now is seems like a lot but you have a whole year to sell the stuff prior to next harvest. What you have is essentially 83 G, or 55 cases of pints. Read the prices in bee mags for bulk versus retail, decide which you want to get. Then picture who will buy the cheap stuff (restaurants and bakeries) and who will buy the high dollar stuff you have helped the bees make. What is unique about your honey relative to the grocery store? Where do people sell unique products like yours? How can you get your products in the public eye better?

Before you decide on this, take a look at how much money is invested in this endeavor so far. My guess is that if you charge the highest prices in NC and keep track of all expenses you will not make a profit. So why sell cheap?

If you decide to sell in 1 Gallon quantities I have heavy duty buckets I'd sell at cost, meet you half way.


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## beecherri (Apr 23, 2008)

*Thanks for your suggestions*

Thanks a lot for everybody's suggestions here! We have already sold a few hundreds pounds to local meadmakers. They like it very much. One of them had intended to come taste it and for 5 gallons to start with. He ended up taking away 25 gallons. He says he is coming back for more. My father is very happy.  Thanks again to all here who have given us suggestions!


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## Zane (Mar 28, 2008)

*Honey sales*

You might try local health food stores to sell to also.


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## beegee (Jun 3, 2003)

Forsyth County has one of the largest and most active chapters in the NCSBA. Contact them for help. I'm sure someone will guide you in the right dorection.


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## Gabriel123 (Jun 16, 2008)

As a last resort there are bulk honey buyers. Bulk honey buyers usually pay a bulk market price, but take all that you have to sell. These guys easily deal in the 100's of pounds quantity, usually making most of their buys by the 55 Gallon Drum.

Got 55 Gallons yet? Hehehehe

It also helps to find out what Variety of honey you sell. Some more rare varieties can command a higher market price.

Best of Luck

Gabriel
Bees N The Keys


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