Selling honey in bulk

[ROACHMAN]

I am drowning in honey this year and I am going to have difficulty selling it all to my customers.

I therefore am thinking of selling the surplus off in 30lb buckets probably about 500lb in total.

Does anyone know of any packers that would be willing to buy it? Whats the going rate at the moment?

 

[DanBee]

I'd talk to Ged Marshall or put an ad in the next BFA Bulletin.

 

[Into the lions den]

I am drowning in honey this year and I am going to have difficulty selling it all to my customers.

I therefore am thinking of selling the surplus off in 30lb buckets probably about 500lb in total.

Does anyone know of any packers that would be willing to buy it? Whats the going rate at the moment?

For 500lb you will most likely need to go to the smaller beekeeper/packers who have a bigger sales round than their own production supports. These individuals will also generally pay a higher price. FWIW the large scale bulk trade, as in BIG lots, for UK blossom honey this season seems to be settling in the 1.90 to 2.00 mark per pound, traders BUYING price. Small lots direct to other beekeepers and bucket trade rather above that, but buckets to big packers will either be outright declined or a lower offer made due to the costs involved in handling buckets in a barrel geared set up.

The bigger packers are looking for far larger amounts than that to constitute a batch, and because of quality control and traceability requirements they have to analyse every beekeepers honey individually and then the overall batch. The cost is huge for all this work and the traceability very complex. Most of them have a minimum run of 6 tonnes, so a lot of small lots need to be blended just to fill the system with enough honey for a viable run.

An alternative is to sell to a trader in bulk honey, but some of them are now looking at a minimum uplift of half a tonne, and even then only if in the area. These guys take your honey and bulk it themselves, then sell on the appropriate lot size to the packer, who then has a single supplier to deal with and provide analysis and audits on for their due diligence.

The system as it works today makes it hard for the small producer to jump the gap to larger scale.

 

[ROACHMAN]

Thanks for that Murray.

I saw a 30lb bucket sell for £67 on e bay this week - could be an option