Hello David,
Rule number one is to not bottle to far ahead of your market. Applies to you
and also to myself. 250 jars with only friends for a market will leave you
with jars starting to crystallize.
I would look around for a Church Christmas sale in December or maybe even
ask a merchant to sell your honey until gone.
If the market knows your honey is local and not over processed around five
dollars a pound is not too high. You may have to give the merchant a cut for
selling. Put a Christmas bow on the jars and go higher.
I have walked into restaurants and had restaurants sell honey for me. All
they
need do is sit a couple jars on the counter with a price on the jar. One
restaurant started using the jars on their tables and ended up buying a
couple cases a month for their customers. After all they buy ketchup and
mustard so why not honey for their customers?
Honey these days sells best in squeeze jars which will sit upside down for
future reference.
You need to stay away from stores needing a bar code unless you plan to go
large sideline producer.
You might get a call from the health department to see if you have a food
approved processing area but I would bet will not happen. Even so all they
do is ask you to stop selling until you get the proper area.
Sitting in the parking lot of a plant at shift change sells plenty of jars
in a short period of time. At the auto plant in kc i used to sell a couple
cases at shift change in a matter of minutes. I used to bring a friend to
pretend he was buying a jar to break the ice. People do not want to be the
first to buy but are always curious when they see a person buying a product
which makes people stop.
Just a few ideas to help you.
If you do not move the 250 jars over the next couple months you might need
to make a hot box to keep the jars clear. I did an article for Bee Culture
years ago with plans with part numbers from Walter Kelley,
Simple to make.
Good luck with honey sales.
bob
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