# HONEY vs RAW HONEY



## crofter (May 5, 2011)

For the right customer the raw factor can demand a higher price. If the customer only wants sweet you cant compete with super store honey prices. I think I have seen stats that say about 40% or more of supermarket honey is adulterated some way. Looks like the store owner is looking to double her money. It is a good business model but you dont need to be the one to satisfy her needs.


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

I do not sell to stores yet, requires an FDA inspected processing facility to do so here in VA, but I still have an opinion based on what I see in my area. Forget the supermarkets and such. Look for outlets that cater to home produced goods. Our local Tru Value hardware store has a shelf of local canned goods including honey that sell at premium prices. I would expect about $6 per pound as the merchant has to be able to make a profit too. Better yet is to sell online through Facebook or a community webite. Once you develop a customer base, you should be able to sell all you produce at the higher farmer's market pricing without having to set up a stand and man it. Or consider an honor stand if your home is not far off the beaten path. Many beeks here report good results and theft is not nearly as big of a concern as one might imagine. People are inherently honest, at least in rural America.


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## Sickdog5 (Jun 8, 2016)

Thanks for all the great advice. Just trying to get my product out there. Put up ads on Marketplace,Craigslist. Not much luck. Got offered a table at a artisan group farmers market on the 4 th of July. But because I do raw honey and I have a lot of product left it’s already starting to crystallize. Will people still buy it if it’s crystallized? Don’t want to heat it up. because that means it’s not Raw.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Sickdog5 said:


> Thanks for all the great advice. Just trying to get my product out there. Put up ads on Marketplace,Craigslist. Not much luck. Got offered a table at a artisan group farmers market on the 4 th of July. But because I do raw honey and I have a lot of product left it’s already starting to crystallize. Will people still buy it if it’s crystallized? Don’t want to heat it up. because that means it’s not Raw.


Some honey crystallizes very fast. Some people will convert it into creamed honey or spreadable honey. Look up the Dyce Process. Once converted it does not go to the grainy gritty texture that is a hard product to move. It takes some effort to do but so does reheating to bring crystallized honey back to saleable. Selling Raw can be an issue unless you can move it quick. People will buy spreadable but not many will buy crystallized.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Regardless of anything else, if a fellow beekeeper has already established a relationship in that store I would not want to crowd in.
The same goes for holiday bizarres and other annual events.
The ones that we participate in allow only one honey booth.

It is disappointing that the shop keeper agreed to allow you in. Then what? Will there be 3, 4 10 people selling there?
Each additional person just erodes the venue's potential for the original beekeeper.
Most of us in Oregon respect each others turf in these matters.
The ones that don't don't have a lot of friends.......


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## Akademee (Apr 5, 2020)

Direct selling your own honey is definitely the most profit per pound of honey you can make, but it requires more effort on your part as you are no longer just the producer, but the marketer and seller as well. I sell to family, friends, my coworkers, and coworkers of friends and family. I don't make enough to make it my job or anything, but I always manage to sell our by the next season! 

Also, I would market it as local honey more so than raw. Many of those words (like raw, natural, and even organic) simply don't mean anything when it comes to honey, as they are not regulated terms. A lot of people want to support local agriculture, I would capitalize more on that if I was in your position.


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