I figure my skills are worth a similar salary as any professional and I
deserve to make 40-60K per year after expenses. Its a typical range of
income in the area I live in the upper midwest.

I charge $7.50 -$15.00/pound retail for varietal honey . We do the
packing and marketing ourselves.  We produce about 20,000 pounds
annually.

This price is inline with high end honey imported from Europe/New
Zealand  and sold locally in specialty stores and places like Whole
Foods. I shun the big box retailers for there is no future there
competing with highly automated packers selling a cheap product.

I see no bright future for commercial honey production in this country
(USA). The cost of labor,  insurance and adhering to government
regulations/taxes is so far out of line as compared to places like
China or South America there is little chance to compete and be
profitable in the long haul. Like what is the strategy... you're going to
count on higher productivity to overcome foreign labor?

You can't blame the big packers for buying foregin honey, its a world
economy and we play that game and count on it for other products we
use daily in our lives.

Given these facts in the market place its no wonder that most of the
commercial honey I have sampled in drums is poor quality, with the
moisture at 18 % or above.  Like whats the incentive to producing a
16% moisture crafted product in a drum? By the time its cooked and
blended its a generic product anyhow that sets the stage for others to
sell a high quality product and have a cleary differentiable product on
the shelf.

I beleive an important factor to succeed in being a small producer and
packer is to have a first class package. Honey bears imply cheap, so
does plastic. Why would I want my products to be associated with a
cheap blended product?

So... for me its not so much the question of what honey should sell for
on the market but how can I differentiate myself in a sea of marginal
offerings. Its really not that hard IF you have a large metropolitan
market with numerous "select" outlets. We turn down business which
might ruin our image as a premium honey producer.

I believe the future for american beekeeping lies with the small artisan
producer similar to the model being pursued by some beekeepers in
Europe. I could care less about the commercial market and their
pricing levels. In fact when the plastic honey bear prices rise at the
retail level it shrinks the gap between that generic product and a
premium product and the "good honey" looks like a better buy.

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