>>>> we don't look at labels nor do we seem to care about 
>>>> what goes into our food, for the most part.

>>> And how does that fit with the GMO furor?

>> It fits in.  Let me give you two examples of consumer behavior to mull
over...

> Most food at least in this country, and I suspect in USA, is sold in 
> supermarkets.  As such one has to sell to the supermarket buyer, 
> not their customers.
> I spent 30 yrs selling honey and beeswax products at markets.

Quoting a report from March 2013, supermarkets are seeing their share of
"fresh" food sales shrink:
"Beginning with the original hypermarkets, such as Auchan and Carrefour, in
the 1960s, the large-format stores were designed to serve young, growing
families eager to bulk-buy both foods and non-foods and save money," the
report continued. "They still fulfill this role in growth economies such as
Brazil, China, and the UAE. However, with aging populations, this market
segment is shrinking with older shoppers - who generally dislike large
stores - turning to small store formats."
http://supermarketnews.com/produce/grocery-stores-losing-fresh-market-share
http://tinyurl.com/cw7gyap

But the competition between the lumbering giants of supermarkets, warehouse
clubs, and other mass-market retailers is nothing but background noise to
someone in the business of supplying of artisanal food to a localvore
market.  One certainly does not have to sell to the supermarket buyer, the
economies of scale are such that one never has the chance to sell to any but
a very small chain, with a mere handful of stores.

In the USA, the large supermarket chains will never buy directly from a
honey producer, they buy from packer/importers, to assure a year-round
supply of a consistently packaged, blended and branded product.  The fact
that these products have more in common with motor oil than with artisanal
honey is beside the point - large stores are supplied by large trucks filled
at massive warehouses, and if you aren't able to keep shoveling pallets of
lowest-common-denominator product at the lowest possible price into the
giant gaping maw of the industrial packaged-food complex, they can't even
talk to you.  In NYC,  about 9 million people see "Golden Blossom Honey",
and the apparently married couple, "Sue Bee" and "Billy Bee", sitting
happily side-by-side on the shelves next to the peanut butter.  (
http://goldenblossomhoney.com  http://suebee.com   http://billybee.ca )

This is a big help to the small-scale producer. It is wonderful to have
others justifying such high minimum prices for something that is almost
nearly, but not exactly, entirely UNlike honey.

Golden Blossom actually runs radio ads in the NYC area, replete with a
musical jingle they've been using since the 1950s. "Golden blossom honey -
makes everything taste better".  The kid sings so badly off-key, people have
taken up collections to pay for singing lessons, and then send him to
Antarctica, just to make sure.  It's fingernails on a blackboard.  One can't
avoid it, as they play the ads before the traffic reports, and everyone
needs to check the status of the bridges and tunnels, expressways and
freeways, subways and railroads, airports and ferryboats, and helicopters
and busses, or they won't get home in time for dinner.  

Listen for yourself:
http://rothradiogroup.com/creative.html
Mouse over the play list, and scroll down to "Golden Blossom Honey", but
turn down your volume!

Now, anyone who can't easily compete with two poorly-drawn cartoon bees and
a kid that can't carry a tune in a bucket isn't likely to be a very
successful beekeeper, either.  But it gets even easier:

http://siouxcityjournal.com/business/local/pollen-reports-puts-sue-bee-in-st
icky-spot/article_b9e659dd-84f0-55f0-99d8-42f754760d83.html
http://tinyurl.com/morcp7v

"...Tests were conducted by Vaughn Bryant, a professor at Texas A&M
University, one of the nation's top investigators of pollen in honey...
The results showed pollen had been stripped out of three-quarters of the
samples, making it impossible to tell if it 'came from legitimate and safe
sources'...
According to the Food Safety News story, Sue Bee Honey 'declined repeated
requests for comments on ultra-filtration, what Sue Bee does with its
foreign honey and whether it's ultra-filtered when they buy it.'... 
'Just because pollen isn't in the final product, that does not mean we don't
know where that honey comes from or we're trying to deceive anyone,' the
[suddenly heavily-perspiring] Vice President of Research and Development
said."

No matter how strict their ethics, they've already lost my target
demographic forever.  Any process that removes significant pollen would
disappoint those who are convinced that local honey helps their allergy
symptoms. 

But they missed the entire point a long, long time ago - the fact that a
honey packer even has a "VP of R&D" proves that something very complicated,
something very unnatural is being done to the honey.  

"But doesn't your honey crystalize?" the VP of R&D might look up from his
slide-rule to ask.  "Never!" I'd laugh, "it is all enjoyed long before it
has a chance to crystalize!"

I forgot to mention the first sign of spring.  The Jung Seed catalog arrived
in my mailbox on Dec 23rd. It is comforting to hold such a thing in one's
hands during the coldest and darkest nights, and be able to ward off the
grip of winter by flipping pages and starting to plan one's garden. Now
THAT's marketing!


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