Honey markup

[SixFooter]

Whats the normal markup for honey. i.e. if a retailer sells it for £4.75 per lb, What does the beek who sweated and toiled and worried and was stung a lot get?

 

[margob99]

Less than cost.

But that's just in my humble opinion.

While it appears to me that beekeepers in general appear to believe end users/consumers should pay an average or approximate price of £5 per lb, that is not my opinion.

Making honey is hard work - both for the bees and the beekeepers. We need to believe that the market will accept that honey should be a premium product. We also need to accept that honey should be marketed differently to the way it always has been - in 1 lb jars. Consumers today are faced with a much wider variety and range of sweet things to keep in their cupboards; thus they prefer to buy smaller containers and keep a wider range of sweet things in little jars on their shelves. I sell smaller jars at a premium, and have encountered very little price resistance from end users/consumers.

But it is important that I qualify my theories above by saying that I'm a newbeek, so I don't know very much.

 

[Eyeman]

We seel 1/2LB jars for £2.00 each and one retailer sells them for £3.14 the other £2.99.
Alec

 

[Mike a]

At a local show at the weekend we were selling honey for :-

1 lb for £4
12 oz for £3.20
8 oz for £2.20
4 oz for £1.20

The next show I will go to sell mine and others honey we will add £1 to each jar and I will have a taster jar again. I may moan about my feisty bees throughout the year but they know how to make beautiful honey and every sting is worth it when the feedback is always so positive and I sell lots of jars.

 

[taff..]

I sell 12oz Hex jars for £4, they retail at between £5.25 and £5.64

 

[Adam]

A colleague of sells to his farm shop, who mark it up by 50%. That sounds a lot, but he charges them £5/lb and they sell at £7.50/lb.

He took 48lbs round last week and they were sold out in 24 hours.

I sell at £4.50/lb to shops, and expect them to place it on for at least £6/lb.

Adam

 

[Somerford]

HI - not been here for a few weeks, new job etc !!!

anyway, £7.50 a lb - are these consumers barking mad or just filthy rich ? I am staggered. Anything over £5 / lb seems pricey, mine retails for £4.25-£4.50/lb, trade £3.30-£3.50/lb. Garden gate £4/lb

The thing is, while people employed have disposable cash, at the moment, people are more price sensitive, and faced with dirt cheap honey in £1 stores and supermarkets, consumers are spoilt for choice. Grab a premium by all means, but I am happy to let a few jars go at cost if it means people get a taste for my honey !

ho hum

Somerford

 

[JamesB]

Less than cost.

But that's just in my humble opinion.

While it appears to me that beekeepers in general appear to believe end users/consumers should pay an average or approximate price of £5 per lb, that is not my opinion.

Making honey is hard work - both for the bees and the beekeepers. We need to believe that the market will accept that honey should be a premium product. We also need to accept that honey should be marketed differently to the way it always has been - in 1 lb jars. Consumers today are faced with a much wider variety and range of sweet things to keep in their cupboards; thus they prefer to buy smaller containers and keep a wider range of sweet things in little jars on their shelves. I sell smaller jars at a premium, and have encountered very little price resistance from end users/consumers.

But it is important that I qualify my theories above by saying that I'm a newbeek, so I don't know very much.

Totally agree, i aim for £5 a llb and i have learnt the hard way it sells better in differant sizes, next year ill be getting some 1/2 llb jars, some smaller test sample jars as well as the 1 llb ones

 

[Arfermo]

Shopshire area going rate for beekeepers is £4/lb at the gate and £5/lb at the Shrewsbury Flower Show (down from £5.50 last year) who take 15% commission. Seems OK to me. A retailer I sell to marks it up from £4 to him to £6.25 and another asks £6.35. Seems a bit steep frankly but one has to bear in mind I think that beeks are going to get less in future due to the huge number of extra beeks going to market.

 

[Rosti]

I think the thing about mark-up is context.

As recreational beeks we have a by-product of keeping to get rid of. As small shops / outlets who will sell our gear they have a living to make.

We have a choice to giveway, feed back, or even sell. Some cost-off set is surely better than none for a hobby that does have costs. A price that keeps a healthy interest is probably also useful if that is your aim. We know how much we have put into keeping our bees (and the enjoyment we have taken back), a stone cold sober punter doesn't know and doesn't care though, they'll compre to what else they can get on the shelf. I was going to do the village fetes and the xmas school bazzars this year, but I can't!

I sold from the house this year at £3.50/lb the lot went in 2 weeks. It sounds like I wouldn't have made any more from teaming up with a shop and less by the time I'd paid for petrol to deliver 6 jars here 6 jars there, week after week, 'cause they are unlikley to say I'll take a 120lb for cash now.

I may have undersold (I guess the sold out in 2 weeks says that), but I think I now have a client base for next year (some are still knocking even though the sign is down). we are lucky being on a high street, but it's worth thinking about removing the middle man.

 

[Adam]

HI - not been here for a few weeks, new job etc !!!

anyway, £7.50 a lb - are these consumers barking mad or just filthy rich ? I am staggered. Anything over £5 / lb seems pricey, mine retails for £4.25-£4.50/lb, trade £3.30-£3.50/lb. Garden gate £4/lb

He refuses to sell it under cost. Most beekeepers I know have never even calculated their annual time, costs such as medicines, syrup, equipment etc and worked out a going rate.

I agree with him. Why should joe-public get something for less than the cost to produce? I sell at £5.50 from the door, and it shall be £6 next year.

Those prices may sound a lot and if it took a long time to sell, it would imply it was too expensive. As it is, there is clearly scope for it being higher.

Asking a different question, who has ever tried to see what the upper price the market can sustain is?

Adam

 

[RoseCottage]

Yes actually I think I have learned this year that context and quality of presentation (including outlet quality) makes all the difference.


I was going to ask who has been unable to shift their honey because they have over priced it?

If you have run into problems can you explain the context, the type of outlet, and the packaging of the honey itself.

All the best,
Sam.