Harvey Gussow said:
> The other side of the coin is interesting too. Super Market chains demand
> the product that would last into the next century on the shelf...
Then why would you want YOUR honey on that shelf?
I certainly would not want our honey on that shelf.
It would do nothing but tarnish the image of our honey.
> We should know that the demand for honey by the same "Supermarket Chains"
> have nothing to do with quality of the product but the lovengevity of the
> product on the shelf.
Then go elsewhere, don't pay the slotting fees, and find smaller retailers
that LIKE the idea of carrying a "local" or "gourmet" product.
> Can the producers of honey products turn down the best possible
> exposure to the public. This answer is no.
But is a supermarket the BEST exposure? I'd say no, since it does
nothing but position your product as "more expensive" than both the
well-known national brands and the store brand. Your product
becomes the "straw man" in a game of "low price".
The only way to win is to not play the game.
Perhaps supermarkets are a good outlet for the low-end, mass-produced,
generic honey, since they can hope for no more than "mass appeal".
Good. Let them have that market. If you can't beat 'em, seek greener
pastures.
> While most of us are in the business to work with honeybees the
> bottlers are in it for survival of there business.
Bottlers? BOTTLERS?!!!???
To misquote the Bogart movie "The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre":
"We don't need no stinking bottlers!"
If you feel that you are too large to do you own bottling, but
not large enough to invest in a "bottling line" of your own, then
you need to contract out the bottling, where, for a fee, the
bottler handles your honey as YOU see fit, applies your
label, and delivers cases of bottles to your warehouse.
Yep, you pay him. You take the risks. But you also take
the profits.
I dunno how the concept of "contract bottling", common in
all other businesses, somehow got twisted around into a deal
where the "bottler" buys the beekeeper's crop as "raw materials",
and sells "finished goods". Even if one goes through every step
in the "bottler's" process, one sees nothing overly complicated.
You need clean, you need stainless steel, you need some
square footage. It is clearly not rocket science.
If you want to invest in some capital equipment, there are many
small-scale (and very high-tech) bottling lines available. A team
of 2 or 3 local dairy farmers just bought one, and started marketing
their own brand of milk. They are selling milk for MUCH higher prices
than the grocery stores, and they are selling only through convenience
stores and smaller neighborhood stores. They went "retro", right down
to the glass bottles and the bottle deposit. They even reconditioned
an old 1950s milk truck to do the deliveries. People loved the idea.
A mere six months later, they offer cream, half-and-half, butter, and
ice cream. All of it is expensive. All of it is good. Better ice cream
than Ben and Jerry's? Maybe not, but people sure seen to THINK it is.
So, fire your "packer" and employ a "bottler" who actually bottles,
rather than trying to play middleman.
> I have yet to see any "section honey" of any worth on the shelves.
Exactly. Mine never sits on a shelf. I start getting phone calls
in early June. I tell them to check the local newspaper for my
announcement in the classifieds. I print the world's shortest ad -
"Comb Honey!" and my phone number. People take this as
their cue, and start arriving. The smart ones bring coolers with ice.
We load them up straight from the freezer, they pay, and the comb
honey is soon "gone", except for my private stash. Like we say
on the label:
"We eat all we can, and sell the rest".
> Those "customers" are now "consumers" or "End Users" they have
> turned into "Cattle" being lead by there herds men...
You clearly have never visited a trendy bakery. Sure, those folks could
buy bread at the supermarket, but they pay more than double for good
bread. They also make a special trip to get it. (Gee, I wonder who's
honey is for sale at the trendy bakeries near you?)
Look at Starbucks! Starbucks appears to be a long-term psychology
research program designed to find out just how high a price an
otherwise rational person will pay for a simple cup of coffee. But I
will say this for all the coffee shops - they consistently have honey
to put in the coffee, right next to the cream. I wonder who's honey
your local coffee shops use and sell?
> Advertising is a rough road for small producers and small retailers...
"We don't need no stinking advertising", either!!
You want to sell LOTS of honey in an afternoon? Sleep late,
avoid the farmer's market, and follow the example of the roadside
fruit & veggie peddlers, who put up a few signs, and sell out of the
back of their trucks. They sell ABOVE retail, and most do not
grow what they sell. They simply buy it at the farmer's market!
For best effect, make handpainted signs, and make them look
as amateurish as possible. I'd suggest "Hunny - 1/4 Mile Ahead".
Dress the part. Faded clothes are good. Extra points for a
straw hat. Double bonus points for a 1930s, 40s, or 50s pickup
truck that is NOT restored to showroom condition. Leave the
wristwatch, Walkman, laptop, and the Palm Pilot at home.
Make change with a wad of $1 bills pulled from a bib pocket,
(of COURSE you will wear bib coveralls, suitably dirty) keeping
the larger bills in another pocket, never to be shown
> Surplus honey isn't a good thing for anyone
I'm sorry, I don't understand the term. Please explain what
"surplus honey" is. How can one have a "surplus" when one
sells out every year? Did you run out of bottles?
If you did not buy enough bottles, you can make mead, and
sell honey at a 4000% markup. Find your local chapter of
the "Society For Creative Anachronism" (the folks that put
on jousting tournaments and such) and offer them a deal
where they pay laughably outrageous prices for honey, and get a
bottle of mead with every jar of honey as your "Christmas present".
Write down names and addresses, so you can "prove" that
you gave away all your mead to "friends" if you are ever visited by
those polite, clean-cut, and heavily armed young men of the
US Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agency.
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms? Sounds like a good plan
for the weekend to me! (You know why this is such a great
county when you realize that they even put the booze, smokes,
and guns together in ONE department!)
If you don't like "drinking", you can make baklava, which is
nothing more than philo dough (which you can buy, pre-made,
for pennies) honey, and nuts. Greek restaurants will buy all
you can make, and scream into the phone at you for more.
If you have read this far, you have now earned 3 credit hours
towards an MBA, and should now go buy a blue pinstripe suit.
jim
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