Ivan (Kansas) wrote:

“Asking for any information that readers of Bee-l have that would assist in
the
development of……..”


Ivan and All,

For years during the Christmas season I would give away as presents to my
neighbors, a labeled 16 ounce "classic" glass jar full of my best sourwood
or wildflower honey in hopes that not only that they would truly enjoy it
and want more, but that they would also tell their friends about my honey
and business would mushroom by word of mouth.  Most of these folks kindly
said, “THANKS” upon receipt of their gift, but the awaited responses
of “MORE HONEY, MORE HONEY” from the neighbors and their friends never
came.  After about six (6) years of giving away about 25 pounds of sourwood
honey a season to indifferent neighbors I decided that I would only give my
honey to Family and old friends who lived out of state. In short, it has
been my experience that giving away honey provides very, very little return
except for the joy that I receive from just the gesture of giving.

In about 95 % of the stores where I sell my honey, from country grocery to
specialty and health food stores all over the Piedmont and the eastern Blue
Ridge I have an index card describing my honey and how it is produced from
the apiary to the honey-house as well as the healthy benefits of unfiltered
unheated local honey.  IMHO most young folks who buy my honey in these
various stores know about the benefits of unfiltered unheated local honey;
they are also the ones who tell their friends about the benefits of same.
The older customers want the local honey because they grew up on it during
the War when sugar was rationed and honey was one of the few sources of
sweeteners. The index card really helps to key people in as to both process
and authenticity of my business; and, that results in a greater amount of
sales than my competitors, even though I charge a premium price to my
retailers, and my retailers the same to their customers.

When I sell my honey at local fairs and festivals I always sell it at the
same retail price or higher as the local store which sells my honey; and I
give out on plastic spoons samples for tasting of both my wildflower and my
sourwood Honey.  Very often you will have passer-bys say “I know what honey
tastes like”; that’s when I really have to go to work.  I ask “what brand
of honey do you usually buy? If it is from another local beekeeper, I
usually acknowledge the worthiness of that beekeeper’s honey and give
credit to the prudence of buying locally. If it is from a chain grocery
store “brand” which means blended imported highly filtered and heated, I’ll
take out that same “brand” from under the counter and ask (even dare) the
customer to take a taste test.  First, I give a taste of the
customer’s “favorite”, then my wildflower, then my sourwood. Usually about
four seconds after the wildflower first hits the taste buds there is an
exclamation about “I didn’t know honey tasted like this!” Then, I give a
taste of the sourwood; and, usually I will make a sale of either sourwood
or wildflower honey.  The new customer will go away with a smile on his/her
face and will know the name of the local retailer(s) in order to get more
honey.

During these fairs and festivals I also give out free recipes and the same
index card that’s in the stores where my honey can be purchased, but with
more information on the back of the card. That index card helps to provide
continuity from my honey booth to the retail store; it also acts as a
catalyst in conversations between old and new customers in finding my
products on the retail shelf, “The One With The Index Card”. I also talk
about bees, honey, pollen, enzymes and the published findings about more
antioxidants in darker honey, take my wildflower please! Occasions like
these are also good opportunities to tell folks about what has been
happening to the feral honeybee and how important honeybees are to the
future of America and the world.  Good fortune on your honey sales and
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Chuck Norton
Norton's Nut & Honey Farm
Reidsville, NC

By the way, after I stopped giving away honey to my neighbors, just one
neighbor told me that he missed my Honey, he now gets a quart of my best
every year.

One more thing:  I really wish that the National Honey Board,
http://www.nhb.com would work hard nationally to promote local honey and
its benefits; and, IMHO the imported highly filtered and heated stuff does
have its place: On the grocer’s shelf.