# Price for honey



## digdan (May 8, 2009)

I'm sure this has been debated a million times, but what price should I set on my honey?

Its mostly drawn from alfalfa and sage. I'm thinking of selling it in 1 gallon jugs exclusively for mead makers.

And why doesn't supply/demand work with honey? I mean, can't someone make a living at anything of value? I've seen people sell honey for $0.75/lb which destroys everyones gains. For a beek to make a living he would have to sell honey for $3/lb... so why do people sell it so cheap? Do we need to start a union? 

Bonus Question : Can you enrich honeys profile(price) by mixing trapped pollen (as in the antithesis of filtering honey)?


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## tigger (Jan 1, 2009)

digdan said:


> I'm sure this has been debated a million times, but what price should I set on my honey?


At whatever price the market you're selling to will bear.

Its mostly drawn from alfalfa and sage. I'm thinking of selling it in 1 gallon jugs exclusively for mead makers.



> And why doesn't supply/demand work with honey? I mean, can't someone make a living at anything of value? I've seen people sell honey for $0.75/lb which destroys everyones gains. For a beek to make a living he would have to sell honey for $3/lb... so why do people sell it so cheap? Do we need to start a union?


Folks seldom sell a product for less than they can get for it at the time that they need to sell it. 

Seems to me part of pricing depends on what your market is. If you're producing enough that you're selling semi-loads to packers, you're going to get whatever they're willing to pay at the wholesale level, and making up in volume what you're losing on price. If you're packaging and selling at a more retail level, you'll get a better price until you've satisfied demand in the market you're selling to. 

Different scales of production = different acceptable prices...

Edited to add: Adding pollen to honey wouldn't add value for me.


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## DRUR (May 24, 2009)

*Honey Prices*

http://www.honey.com/; Go to ?Honey industry? and click on ?industry statistics?, then click on ?Average Retail Price per pound? or ?Average wholesale case price per pound? or ?National Honey Report?.

My understanding is the average retail price per pound is what the retailer is the ?average? price the retailer is receiving for bottled honey sold from his shelf.

The average wholesale case price per pound is the price that retailers are paying for a case of bottled honey, ready to be sold in single units after the case is broken and displayed in their store. You would therefore pay for the containers and use your labor to bottle and prepare the product for end use, and then sell in a case price.

The National Honey Report give the price:
?HONEY MARKET FOR THE MONTH OF April, 2009
IN VOLUMES OF 10,000 POUNDS OR GREATER UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED
Prices paid to beekeepers for extracted, unprocessed honey in major producing states by packers, handlers & other large users, cents
per pound, f.o.b. or delivered nearby, containers exchanged or returned, prompt delivery & payment unless otherwise stated.
-	REPORT INCLUDES BOTH NEW AND OLD CROP HONEY -?
I hope this helps somewhat
Danny


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