what did you sell your honey for in 2010?

[RoseCottage]

Hi all,
I was sitting at the dinner table tonight discussing the price of honey. I have been jarring our 10st in the last couple of weeks and have now got round to discussing what to do with it next.

We have split opinions...

So in the pursuit of accuracy I said I would ask our peers what they did with theirs.

Our product is as follows (if you want to offer a suggested price) :
1lb of creamed Hampshire honey (a mix of late OSR and wild flowers) in an Orcio jar with a cloth hat, raffia ties, and a gift style lable.

Sadly pic not available as our daughter has filled the cameras SD card with images of herself...

Our target is to sell through better delis, health shops, and from the garden gate.


All advice welcome, all information on real 2010 prices very welcome too.

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Mike a]

Nothing fancy 1 Lbs of runny / creamed honey in a standard 1 Lb jar with gold lid went for £4.50 locally. I expect this year it will remain the same but I wouldn't be surprised if it sells for £5.

 

[Friar Tuck]

£4.50 / £4.75 / £5 depends how much i like them

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

Very good question, but I would think it depends on where you live.
I have to drive 10 minutes just to buy milk, I have no passing trade in front of my house, what price should I ask. It's all realative!!!

Brian

 

[Heather]

I only sell from my front door -£4 . I know I should put price up but all my regulars know how much each year so each increment has to be 'gentle'
Usually shift 200lb this way so I am happy and so are they.

 

[broandy]

£5 at door for last two years

 

[Rosti]

2010 WAS >>> £3.50 from the front door (for both my early 'OSR' and my main 'Mixed Blossum') - first time with an actual sign up - and I was sold out within 2 weeks of the sign going up - plenty of passing trade since on the main street of a pretty yorkshire village outside of york - but I dont want an extended selling period and price accordingly, but even so I was clearly under priced, even for Yorkshire!
2011 WILL BE >>> £4.00, again, front door.

 

[RoofTops]

If you are selling from the garden gate then £4.50 a pound would be a good start although you might get away with more - but have a look round the local shops and see what local prices are. There are quite a few beekeepers in Hampshire so you may find there is a going rate.

If you are going to sell to shops then they will want their cut so if the local retail price is £4.50 then shops will probably give you about £3.00. Usually there is a shortage of local honey so you should have no problems finding an outlet. However, if you only have 140 pounds then this is probably only enough for one shop I think, if it is also to cover your own use and own direct sales. If you try and cover too many outlets you will not be able to keep up with demand unless you get more colonies going.

On a slightly different note it sounds as if you have put all your crop into jars in one go. I only jar about 25 to 30 pounds of set or runny at a time (I am only supplying one shop at the moment). The problem with set is you risk it crystalising in the jar over time which though this makes no difference to the honey it looks unsightly and these jars may not sell very well. With runny there is the risk of if it setting in the jar after a few months or so.

A well known beekeeper once wrote that you should bottle honey to sell not to store.

 

[Leigh]

1 lb "normal" jar, home grown label. £5 from the gate, £5 in village shop (kind enough not to take commission....but I give her a jar every now and again). There were some jars from another beek in village shop for £4.50 - I thought it wouldn't be fair to undercut him, so priced at £5. Very similar looking honey. Mine sold whilst his sat on the shelves....people are weird sometimes....more expensive=better?!

Further afield, have been selling to 2 shops, still at £5 per jar. 1 marks up to £6.25, the other to £5.75 - no probs selling it.

I intend to drop the price to shops next season, as I'll hopefully have much more to shift....might even drop to £4.50 at the gate. Trying to eke out the stuff I have until the new crop is in.

 

[For want of a better word]

£5 to £9

We've got a grokkle trap set....... but the price of hay has rocketed !


I quote from an old bee book.............
"A swarm of bees in May is worth a rick of hay
A swarm of bees in June is wort a silver spoon

A swarm of bees in July ... let the bug*ers fly!"

Think I will go and do a bit of fossikin this mornin... Wheal Wealth... site of old silver mine.... probably find a load of misspickle again, knowing my luck!

 

[thurrock bees]

i put my prices up in 2010, and i had no trouble selling my honey, ive got 5 outlets and together they have sold 970lbs, ive only got a 30lb bucket left. All my sales are tho word of mouth, prices range in the shops between £4 and £4.99 per 1 lb jar, mostly runny honey tho, sold about 40 soft set.
They just place it on their counters and it soon goes.

 

[Rosti]

£5 to £9

We've got a grokkle trap set.......

How Bist?

Sounds like yo'm got a right proper job sorted, but what have you'm got my luvver, I reck'n if you'm souaff o' the Tamar tha' yo'm got an 'emmet' trap you 'as. Emmets in Cornwall (Cornish for ants), grokkles Devon across to Dorset and up through to Somerset / Wilts - well unless you are on 'our' side of the Tamar. Either way I envy you your tourist trap and the gulf stream .....

I'm starved of people speakin proper up yer. Also starved of yorkshire folk who will pay £9 for a lb of honey - and you are going to rub it in and say "no I sell 300g hex jars" for that price!

 

[Adam]

I sell at £5.50 from the door. A friend of mine sells wholesale, at £5/lb. His local farm shop retails it at £7.50. I thought that was high until he said they cleared all 48 lbs in 24 hours.

Adam

 

[Tim1606]

What happens this year if there is a poor summer? Some of us may not get any surplus to take from the bees.

Would that mean the price will have to be higher than 2010 as supply could be lower?

 

[Chris B]

I do sell through farm shops. They shift about 500 jars a year on average so my price is £2.75 for a 12oz jar and they sell for anything from £3.75 up to £4.75.
I do find a much greater demand from January when they can't get it from anyone else.

I've just noticed Rowse English set honey has just gone on sale in Morrisons for £3 for a half pound jar.

 

[Rosti]

What happens this year if there is a poor summer? Some of us may not get any surplus to take from the bees.

Would that mean the price will have to be higher than 2010 as supply could be lower?

Thats the theory for sure and assumes that there is a significant point of difference from speciality honeys on the shelf in a supermarket. In practice I think it would take longer for the consumer to register the shortage, if at all. The consumers price benchmark would be supermarkets, most of their honey will be foreign and it is unlikely that the harvest would be affected world wide. Our disappointment is unlikely to translate into their sympathy or support of a price rise me thinks!

Would a consumer pay more for a mixed local honey than a flash jar of Manuka?

 

[Skyhook]

I sell at £5.50 from the door. A friend of mine sells wholesale, at £5/lb. His local farm shop retails it at £7.50. I thought that was high until he said they cleared all 48 lbs in 24 hours.

Adam

Where are you, and where is he? Can you update your location?

 

[goodbobby]

£4.50 for a pretty 340 g hex jar i.e £6 per lb (through my golf club). I took up the last 30 jars in September and the lot was sold in 1 day. Golfers suffer a lot from hay-fever!

Frankly, I think a lot of beeks do not appreciate what a unique and sought after product genuine local honey is and under-price as a result! Next time you go to a National Trust shop have a look at their prices and have a sit down afterwards!

 

[victor meldrew]

£3.50 per 454 gram squat jar at the door !
People around here are careful with their brass !

John W.

 

[belinda bee]

I sell my honey for £5.00 per lb to the local shops and they sell it for £7.99 and it flies off the shelves.