Labels

[beeker]

I've just started supplying a really lovely delicatessen that sends hampers all over at Christmas, and sells throughout the year, and also a small niche gin shop, that uses the honey in manufacture. I was intending to up my game with the labels, and go over to the more professional looking clear ones, and both declined saying the white ones as they were, albeit on a nice polyester label were what they were looking for, more 'local' looking. Might try a few though with same logo just to see what they look like clear

 

[enrico]

I've just started supplying a really lovely delicatessen that sends hampers all over at Christmas, and sells throughout the year, and also a small niche gin shop, that uses the honey in manufacture. I was intending to up my game with the labels, and go over to the more professional looking clear ones, and both declined saying the white ones as they were, albeit on a nice polyester label were what they were looking for, more 'local' looking. Might try a few though with same logo just to see what they look like clear

Actually I find them quite difficult to read

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Use of complementary colours leads to a striking design.
http://www.springleafstudios.com/2015/12/complementary-colors.html?m=1

They may work because they are complementary colours. On the other hand, it might be that leaves are mostly green and flowers are mostly other colours, and that's where our inspiration comes from. Decades ago, when I used to watch gardening programmes, I used to get mightily fed up with being told about what went with what in terms of colour. Then Christopher Lloyd came on and said, Look around you. How can you say that this colour doesn't go with that when nature makes such a success of them all.

Even so, I think some combinations are more successful than others. Sainsbury's knew what they were doing with orange and purple!

 

[bizbuzz]

Just had some labels from West Coast Labels, cheapest I could find and will do print runs starting from only 25 label and with free postage. Label choice may be more limited but at six quid for 50 or £9 per hundred what's not to like
https://www.westcoastlabels.co.uk/honey-labels/#!/c/164709256

 

[drdrday]

I print my own.
Means that I can have a style I actually like (unlike many of the template ones I've seen on Th*rnes etc.), and print however many I need with a particular date/lot no.
I print on 'one label per page' A4 polyester labels using a laser printer, and then kiss cut the labels with a desktop plotter cutter. I print and cut my own tamper proof labels too.
The polyester labels are great because they allow me to apply labels straight after jarring, and give the reassurance that if they don't sell before they start to crystallise (doesn't really happen any more!) they can be warmed in a preserving cooker without any issues for the labels at all.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I print my own.
Means that I can have a style I actually like (unlike many of the template ones I've seen on Th*rnes etc.), and print however many I need with a particular date/lot no.
I print on 'one label per page' A4 polyester labels using a laser printer, and then kiss cut the labels with a desktop plotter cutter. I print and cut my own tamper proof labels too.
The polyester labels are great because they allow me to apply labels straight after jarring, and give the reassurance that if they don't sell before they start to crystallise (doesn't really happen any more!) they can be warmed in a preserving cooker without any issues for the labels at all.

I use polyester labels because I sell many jars from external shelves. When I used to use paper labels they used to get damp and slugs and snails used to nibble them.
Polyester is an expensive option but as you say you can warm the jars easily.

 

[lindsay s]

If you want your label to stand out then a modern, clean design is needed. But people will buy the jars for the contents anyway even if it's a hackneyed label.

I give far too much of my honey away and it’s getting to be more and more each year. It has to stop sometime!!!
I sell some directly to friends and private customers who I’ve built up over the years. Some only want a couple of jars and at the other end of the scale I’ve one who takes 25 to 30 jars and never quibbles about the price.
Once the above have been taken care of the rest goes to retail. It can be anything from a few dozen to a few hundred jars, it varies every year. At one time there were only about a handful of us supplying local honey to the retailers here. We quietly went about our business and remained below the radar.
A few years ago the number of suppliers had increased and so did the variety of labels on our jars. The wording or lack of it on a few of them was suspect to say the least. So suspect that our trading standards became involved and they made it a mission for all of us to become compliant. My labels were always compliant by the way. Not to miss a trick our environmental health joined in as well and we now have to be registered with them. I got a phone call from them in the early summer asking a lot of details about my honey processing. It must have been ok because they haven’t gotten back to me since.
Back to labels.
My honey labels don’t have to stand out next cheap supermarket honey because I only supply to a local grocery store and a chemists shop so they don’t have to be flashy. A four year old could scribble on bits of paper and if I was to stick them on my jars people would still buy them even if trading standards didn’t approve! As you said “people will buy the jars for the contents anyway”.
We are lucky up here that demand for local honey far outstrips supply and our retailers often dedicate a shelf or table to display it on. It’s usually all gone by Christmas unless we keep some back.
Modern clean designs certainly have their place if you’re competing in a crowded market or you want to emphasise a premium product. They might even help to bump up the price.
Me, I’ll just stick with my HACKNEYED labels

 

[ericbeaumont]

told about what went with what in terms of colour

Years ago we were taught that red and green should never be seen. Where did they get that daft idea?

 

[ericbeaumont]

emphasise a premium product

You are, Lindsay, and so are we all, and the Orkney TS were quite right to encourage you all in that direction. Last week I stopped at a really good farm shop at Albury in rural Surrey (producing watercress since 1854) and of the six local honeys on display, four did not comply with basic label requirements, even though one or two of the designs reflected the quality of the product.

usually all gone by Christmas

This means that either beekeepers' stock is limited or the price is too low.

 

[lindsay s]

[QUOTE="ericbeaumont, post: 918754, member: 3756


This means that either beekeepers' stock is limited or the price is too low.
[/QUOTE]
Our local honey usually starts to appear in our shops by about mid August and increases after that. There’s still plenty of visitors here well into October and some of them are prepared to pay a premium price. Later in the year it’s mostly the locals and the demand picks up in the run up to Christmas.
There’s probably only about 4 or 5 of us who can supply more than 200 jars to the retailers and the rest will be in the dozens or even less!
Earlier this month this appeared on our Facebook page.
“If any members of this group have any honey they'd like to sell, we are extremely keen to replenish our stocks in Kirkness & Gorie. It's a really popular buy for both locals and visitors, and we just can't get enough!”
The above firm by the way did have a Royal Warrant for selling Orkney honey to the Queen Mother.
In the eighties most of the locals bought their honey from one of our chemists shops. The owner kept bees, was my mentor and gave us a good price for our honey. His son still does the same today.
Our honey is now available in quite a verity of retailers here, from grocery stores to tourist shops to delicatessens and the price varies considerably.
Here are some examples of the prices here this year.
£5:00 per 8oz from an honesty box.
£8:50 per 12oz and £10:00 per lb in the same grocery store.
£11:99 per 8oz in a deli and they sold out pretty fast.
The delicatessens and the tourist shops tend to have the biggest mark ups.
I sell my 385g jars for £6:00 to friends and family up £1:00 from last year. To be honest I can get more from one of my retailers but beekeeping is a hobby for me and everything usually balances out in the end.
To sum things up “when it’s gone it’s gone”

 

[robmort]

That doesn't sound underpriced at all, and seems that Orkney islanders are a wealthy lot. Certainly well above the shop prices here.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Orkney islanders

Yes, but: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...per-living-in-london-than-orkney-study-finds/

 

[lindsay s]

That doesn't sound underpriced at all, and seems that Orkney islanders are a wealthy lot. Certainly well above the shop prices here.

Some of us are, but we also have a Tesco and a Lidl selling far cheaper honey starting at 79p per 340g jar. I’m now expecting someone to pipe up with “but that’s not real honey”. So there is plenty of choice out there but a limited amount of local honey available.
It was estimated we had 320,000 visitors here in 2022 and the numbers are going up each year. Lots of them like to take some local produce away with them, so even “in my opinion” the over priced honey is soon snapped up.
I often have debates with a fellow beekeeper about some of the high prices charged here for honey and he says that beekeepers are some of the worst for under valuing their own products.
As far as the cost living is affecting beekeepers here, freight and carriage prices have the highest impact. Free delivery stops well short of here no matter how much we spend and some suppliers won’t deliver to the islands at all! Any heavy items like jars, fondants, and liquid feed’s then become prohibitively expensive. I know of a few beekeepers that use amazon prime to get their jars here carriage free but we aren’t all signed up to that.
Also the price we pay for sugar is whatever the supermarkets are charging because any savings made by trying to bulk order from south are wiped out by the high freight charges.
One small light at the end of the tunnel is we’ve one member who often visits their family near one of the main beekeeping companies and they are happy to take small items back with them.

 

[Murox]

Some of us are, but we also have a Tesco and a Lidl selling far cheaper honey starting at 79p per 340g jar. I’m now expecting someone to pipe up with “but that’s not real honey”. So there is plenty of choice out there but a limited amount of local honey available.
It was estimated we had 320,000 visitors here in 2022 and the numbers are going up each year. Lots of them like to take some local produce away with them, so even “in my opinion” the over priced honey is soon snapped up.
I often have debates with a fellow beekeeper about some of the high prices charged here for honey and he says that beekeepers are some of the worst for under valuing their own products.
As far as the cost living is affecting beekeepers here, freight and carriage prices have the highest impact. Free delivery stops well short of here no matter how much we spend and some suppliers won’t deliver to the islands at all! Any heavy items like jars, fondants, and liquid feed’s then become prohibitively expensive. I know of a few beekeepers that use amazon prime to get their jars here carriage free but we aren’t all signed up to that.
Also price we pay for sugar is whatever the supermarkets are charging because any savings made by trying to bulk order from south are wiped out by the high freight charges.
One small light at the end of the tunnel is we’ve one member who often visits their family near one of the main beekeeping companies and they are happy to take small items back with them.

When I started to offer my honey for sale here I made the decision to only ever use 227grm jars and a little comb honey when possible. There are still only less than six of us who actually sell any at all . I didn't realise it but my choice of jar size influenced the others considerably, now the default size of jar in the locality is 227grm. sold at £5 minimum to any shopkeeper who wants it, usually sold on at between £7-£8.50p. and even small boxes of cut cut comb get sold at over £10 by the local shops. Like you the shops want it as a unique local product, as do many locals and its usually all sold out before November. By the way, I get my jars from Amazon and not using Prime; I usually order them for the following season around now when there are often some savings to be had. I don't pay any carriage costs ( that's factored into the charges anyway), this year I managed to find a 30% reduction per box of 72 jars delivered, that made a big difference.
PS. I'm a little envious that you have a Lidl, our nearest one is over two hours driving away.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Thanks for the feedback. My partner says I have absolutely no perception whatsoever when it comes to coordinating colours. Luckily I didn’t choose a black and white label!
As to what’s in the jars Dani it’s honey from three apiaries. Two in the town and one in a rural location. After a good spell in May the weather here was a complete write off in June and I wasn’t expecting much of a harvest at all. Things improved in July and August.
The honey from my rural apiary was mostly white clover and some meadowsweet which had a light colour and mild in flavour. The town honey was a complete mixture with some sycamore in it. It is much darker and has a far stronger flavour. I just blended everything together and tell everyone it’s never the same two years running. Sometimes my honey has set by Xmas, last year’s hasn’t set at all.
I’m often asked what my honey tastes like. To be honest I’m about as clueless about the taste as I am with colours.

I find me retailers like it that I keep my honey batches separate, you don’t have to label each type up as say Hawthorn or lime just use a spring label for spring honey and a summer for the summer batches, the retailer can inform the rest.what works for me might not work for everyone BUT a mentored friend of mine who keeps batches seperate had a first prize at the south staffs honey show with his lime honey from my reared bees he has.
It is more time consuming extracting each super separately and I have 4 different named labels but using the same design I could if I wanted to have more, my point: if you have a good design the type of honey is only changing the words and possibly honey analysis/ honey tasting and knowing what the bees have foraged on.
Mark

 

[Erichalfbee]

It is more time consuming extracting each super separately

How many did you do separately?

 

[SWEET]

hexagons

 

[Erichalfbee]

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Wow. That little shop is gorgeous.
Round here somebody would nick the whole lot.

 

[thorn]

Our label was designed by a former boyfriend of my daughter. My bee buddy prints it and is able to personalise it so each apiary has its own coloured band at the bottom.

 

[JamezF]

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Love the stained glass. Did you do it "in-house"?

James