honey price update

[oakbeckbees]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and have been reading through these posts. I see the same type of comments repeatedly and I know it's the same where I am too. Each year I put my honey prices up a little bit, just to keep ahead and thankfully my regulars still come back. I work on the basis that when sales slow down I'll look at my pricing but so far I sell out and wish I'd had more to sell! We all know it's never guaranteed and we really do have to 'make honey while the sun shines'

This year, depending on type of honey (summer/moorland/chunk/cutcomb) etc.) I sold my 8oz jars/packs at between £5 and £8; 12oz jars were £7 - £8.50; 1lb jars £8 - £12.50
There are beekeepers near me selling 12 oz jars for £5 a jar, and one selling lb jars for £5!

I don't sell to local shops or advertise; I sell from my doorstep, at shows and local craft/seasonal fairs. I also do educational talks and take a honey tasting kit along, with my own honeys (available to purchase on the evening) and a jar of 'cheap and nasty' [insert supermarket brand here] honey as a comparison. I try to educate people about the wonderful flavours, aromas, health benefits etc. of 'proper' honey and encourage them to support their local beekeepers. So many think supermarket stuff is the real thing and that's a shame. There is the current BBKA petition to get the Govt to look at the issue of UK honey labelling, and how imported honey from countries where honey adulteration happens on 'an industrial scale' gives an unfair advantage over UK honey producers but it has only reached 7,000+ signatures so far.

Sorry! I wasn't going to write much and I've gone a bit off topic, so I'll stop now.

 

[enrico]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and have been reading through these posts. I see the same type of comments repeatedly and I know it's the same where I am too. Each year I put my honey prices up a little bit, just to keep ahead and thankfully my regulars still come back. I work on the basis that when sales slow down I'll look at my pricing but so far I sell out and wish I'd had more to sell! We all know it's never guaranteed and we really do have to 'make honey while the sun shines'

This year, depending on type of honey (summer/moorland/chunk/cutcomb) etc.) I sold my 8oz jars/packs at between £5 and £8; 12oz jars were £7 - £8.50; 1lb jars £8 - £12.50
There are beekeepers near me selling 12 oz jars for £5 a jar, and one selling lb jars for £5!

I don't sell to local shops or advertise; I sell from my doorstep, at shows and local craft/seasonal fairs. I also do educational talks and take a honey tasting kit along, with my own honeys (available to purchase on the evening) and a jar of 'cheap and nasty' [insert supermarket brand here] honey as a comparison. I try to educate people about the wonderful flavours, aromas, health benefits etc. of 'proper' honey and encourage them to support their local beekeepers. So many think supermarket stuff is the real thing and that's a shame. There is the current BBKA petition to get the Govt to look at the issue of UK honey labelling, and how imported honey from countries where honey adulteration happens on 'an industrial scale' gives an unfair advantage over UK honey producers but it has only reached 7,000+ signatures so far.

Sorry! I wasn't going to write much and I've gone a bit off topic, so I'll stop now.

Welcome to the forum. The secret is, as you say, to know your market and what they are prepared to spend!

 

[Newbeeneil]

I think my sales have slowed generally this year from off my shelf outside the house but I’m finding quite a few regulars are buying 10 or 20 jars at a time.
I’m not really worried as last year I was over 2 months without any honey to sell so a slow down should mean my supply lasts until the next harvest.

 

[Sunflower123]

Lovely to see replies. Gut instict, told me that it was not just us noticing a change. Also, our wholesale shops are not asking for as many jars. I suspect they've found cheaper suppliers.
Oakbecbees, please don't appologise for a detailed response. I like your idea of a honey taste comparision.
We're in the East Sussex and sell our honey at 8oz £4.50 and 12oz for £7.50. We briefly considered lowering prices, but it's a fair price.

 

[Skinfaxi]

Welcome to the forum. The secret is, as you say, to know your market and what they are prepared to spend!

Ya i live in an area of peaple flying helicopters to our local pub for lunches. Roles royce bentleys etc common sight. honey price retail 12 ounce £5.50 to £8.50.. yes it does not make sense

 

[oakbeckbees]

I think my sales have slowed generally this year from off my shelf outside the house but I’m finding quite a few regulars are buying 10 or 20 jars at a time.
I’m not really worried as last year I was over 2 months without any honey to sell so a slow down should mean my supply lasts until the next harvest.

Good regulars are worth their weight in... honey?!!

 

[MrGroundControl]

£6 per pound sets b u m s twitching around here , where they know how many blue beads make five !

 

[JamezF]

I do wonder how many people are selling at below the cost of production, as it were. I've never really worked it out myself, so at the weekend I began writing a list of every possible outlay involved this year and after I finish extracting I'll work out what the cost to me per pound is.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I do wonder how many people are selling at below the cost of production, as it were. I've never really worked it out myself, so at the weekend I began writing a list of every possible outlay involved this year and after I finish extracting I'll work out what the cost to me per pound is.

James

probably about £200.00 a pound

 

[Ringlander]

probably about £200.00 a pound

I'm in Norfolk and supply the local farm shop around 24 jars/month at a wholesale of £5.50 for a 340g/12oz jar. They retail it at £6.95. Last time I dropped some off the manager showed me some honey from another local beekeeper which he proudly told he he was only paying £3.50 per jar for and still selling at £6.95. He suggested I reviewed my pricing. Given that the new beekeepers jars are only 200g/7oz (?!) I did and suggested he now gives me £6.00 for a 12 oz jar and sells it at £11.91!! He thought the jars were the same size as mine. Funny, but food for thought...
I think a lot of people see the price but not the weight of the jar. I recently reduced my honesty box sales jars from 12 to 8 oz and kept the price at £5.00, it has made no difference to the sales at all, still selling around 10 jars a week.

 

[Swarm]

I'm in Norfolk and supply the local farm shop around 24 jars/month at a wholesale of £5.50 for a 340g/12oz jar. They retail it at £6.95. Last time I dropped some off the manager showed me some honey from another local beekeeper which he proudly told he he was only paying £3.50 per jar for and still selling at £6.95. He suggested I reviewed my pricing. Given that the new beekeepers jars are only 200g/7oz (?!) I did and suggested he now gives me £6.00 for a 12 oz jar and sells it at £11.91!! He thought the jars were the same size as mine. Funny, but food for thought...
I think a lot of people see the price but not the weight of the jar. I recently reduced my honesty box sales jars from 12 to 8 oz and kept the price at £5.00, it has made no difference to the sales at all, still selling around 10 jars a week.

Similar thing happened to me, unfortunately the jar size was the same. We explained that there was no way we were prepared to 'give our honey away' so we no longer supply and they no longer get a substantial monthly meat order.

 

[mbc]

Similar thing happened to me, unfortunately the jar size was the same. We explained that there was no way we were prepared to 'give our honey away' so we no longer supply and they no longer get a substantial monthly meat order.

I sell to a number of shops and they come and go, most stick and some I've been selling to from last century, no point getting agitated about it, though it is frustrating seeing a substandard product sitting on a shelf not getting sold where once I did good trade.

 

[Swarm]

I sell to a number of shops and they come and go, most stick and some I've been selling to from last century, no point getting agitated about it, though it is frustrating seeing a substandard product sitting on a shelf not getting sold where once I did good trade.

That's just it, Ceri. There were a good supply of regular customers who used to bore the butchers with the fineries of local honey and looked forward to the honey turning up as much as their Sunday joint, the new honey jars were languishing on the shelf, obviously not going that well. Half our monthly take went straight back to cover the meat bill. For a pound a jar was it worth it?

 

[Superneutrino]

I know this may be a 'it varies question' but i would like some advice:

How to price honey for a retailer?
Ive had a local company reach out to me to ask if they could sell some of my honey at their small a small shop they have as part of a cooker school and have asked about pricing/wholesale.

Im planning on selling myself at £5 for an 8oz Jar. (Jar and label cost is 0.59p)

Im not anticipating a huge volume, maybe 10-15 jars total (and its my first honey crop so its not a huge volume ) but would very much like to sell with this particular company.

What is a reasonable 'wholesale price'

I've literally never sold anything or even worked in retail!

 

[MrGroundControl]

I know this may be a 'it varies question' but i would like some advice:

How to price honey for a retailer?
Ive had a local company reach out to me to ask if they could sell some of my honey at their small a small shop they have as part of a cooker school and have asked about pricing/wholesale.

Im planning on selling myself at £5 for an 8oz Jar. (Jar and label cost is 0.59p)

Im not anticipating a huge volume, maybe 10-15 jars total (and its my first honey crop so its not a huge volume ) but would very much like to sell with this particular company.

What is a reasonable 'wholesale price'

I've literally never sold anything or even worked in retail!

we also sell at £5 per 8oz jar
we have agreement with 3 different outlets,
#1 sells the honey at no outlay to themselves & receives 25p per jar.
#2 buys from us at £4 per jar & & sell at the same £5 per jar as we do from the gate.
#3 buys honey from us at £3-50 per lb in 30 or 60lb buckets (catering trade)

 

[Superneutrino]

we also sell at £5 per 8oz jar
we have agreement with 3 different outlets,
#1 sells the honey at no outlay to themselves & receives 25p per jar.
#2 buys from us at £4 per jar & & sell at the same £5 per jar as we do from the gate.
#3 buys honey from us at £3-50 per lb in 30 or 60lb buckets (catering trade)

Thnks for this, really useful!

They will be buying then applying their markup, but i have no idea on margins they would expect or hope to take!

Their customers from their cookery school are also unlikely to be 'direct locals' who would buy from me direct.. atleast initially!

 

[Swarm]

Sell them at the same price and let them apply their own mark up. You don't have a large supply so marking your jars down simply because you are supplying a shop is effectively giving your honey away.
A local beefarmer is supplying 8oz jars at less than three quid and it is marked up to £5.50 at outlets. I have a decent stock of honey but I can't/won't compete with those prices.

 

[robmort]

He thought the jars were the same size as mine. Funny, but food for thought...
I think a lot of people see the price but not the weight of the jar. I recently reduced my honesty box sales jars from 12 to 8 oz and kept the price at £5.00, it has made no difference to the sales at all, still selling around 10 jars a week.

Shrinkflation works, especially for honey.

 

[thorn]

I sell 340g (that's 12oz for the over-85s) jars for £7 from the door and £6 to a couple of local shops. It's up to them what they mark it up to.

 

[ericbeaumont]

up to them what they mark it up to

What do they charge?