# Finding a Customer



## Gideon (Jan 21, 2007)

A friend of mine is a beekeeper in New Jersey and has 10,000 pounds of honey but has no one to sell it to. He doesn't have the means to put it in jars and would prefer to sell it all at once at a wholesale price. He asked me if I could help...

I'm quite new to the fascinating world of beekeeping but I've done quite a bit of research as of late. Of all the websites out there, including beesource.com, I've found virtually no information regarding how one might find a buyer of such a quantity of honey. 

Is there a market for the sale of 10,000 pounds of honey? How can I go about finding him a customer? Are there certain distributors or manufacturers whom you'd suggest I contact?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated. Thank you!


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

Gideon,
Can you post a contact number or email address. Thanks.


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## Gideon (Jan 21, 2007)

Sure. My email is [email protected] and my number is 917-656-9359.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

10,000 lbs and doesn't know where to sell it?

How many hives does he have? How long has he kept bees? Maybe he doesn't want to sell it at market price offered by the commercial packers?

Dutch Gold of Lancaster, PA maybe the closest packer to your friend. Look them up on the web.

Does he have it in barrels or buckets? How long has he had the honey? 

Maybe the National Honey Board would have a list of small packers who would buy his honey. There are a number of small packers in PA. There maybe some in NJ too. I would think.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

How in the world do you get 10,000 lbs of honey and have no clue on how to sell it? 500 lbs I could understand, but 10,000?? Seems VERY strange to me.....


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## Gideon (Jan 21, 2007)

Thank you for your posts sqkcrk and AstroBee.

He has 45 hives and has kept bees for many years. Until now someone in his family handled selling the honey -- in bulk to a cereal manufacturer -- but the relative suddenly died leaving no records of who my friend's actual customer was. I know it sounds a little crazy, but that's what happened. My friend also does not speak English very well and is not Internet savvy, so he needs some help.

Anyhow, the honey is in 5-gallon (60 lb.) buckets. 20% is from 2005, 80% from 2006. The honey is mainly basswood (Linden tree), and the remainder is black locust honey and "black honey". 

I called Dutch Gold but they said they could not deal with buckets. They would need it in 55-gallon drums.

Thanks for your advice on finding smaller packers. I will give it a try!


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## Garry Forsythe (Dec 4, 2006)

Might try Golden Heritage Foods of Hillsboro, KS.
Know some producers who sell to them. They usually want a sample bottle sent. Their number is
800 530-5827.


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