Lloyd Spear said:

> Consumers 'don't get it' because the foreign stuff doesn't have to be labeled
> as such.  As long as it contains 1% (or perhaps less) of US honey it
> can be labeled as 'honey from USA, Canada and Argentina' (an actual quote
> from a label on my desk).

But if not for the "label law", those who blend honey would not reveal country
of origin at all.  How then is the law not a "good thing"?

Perhaps the minimum print size is too small.  I'd agree, but what do we want?
Would everyone prefer a requirement that such bottles be required to display
a large skull and crossbones?  Get real.

Phrases like "foreign stuff", when applied to honey from places like Canada and
Argentina, say nothing about the relative quality of the honey, but say volumes
about how easy it is for the voice of agrarianism to slide into first into nationalism,
then to protectionism, and then into the cesspool of shrill jingoism.  This is not
only poor manners towards people that bear you no ill will, it is a sign that one
has run out of marketing ideas.

Worse yet, If we don't speak with care, someone will use the phrase
"Axis Of Honey", and before you can say "John Ashcroft", Apache helicopter
gunships will be dropping anti-personnel mines on the fields of Alberta, Canada!  :)

> Every study that has been made on food products show that consumers
> have a very high preference for foods produced in the USA,

Wow, do even Canadian consumers prefer USA honey?  If so, I have been
ignoring a valuable market of known gourmets, gourmands, and "food snobs"
in one of my favorite vacation spots!  Please forward my mail to the Chateau
Frontenac in Montreal!  If you want to look me up, I will be the third vendor
from the left at the Atwater Market along the Lachine Canal, and yes, we
DO take American Express.    :)

Seriously, the actual issue at hand is "local produce", but will anyone willing
to pay a premium for food produced locally?   If so, what's your problem?

One one speaks of produce in general, "Local" is an effective synonym for "fresh".
Signs at farmer's markets saying "Fresh Honey" are common.  While the term is
laughably meaningless, it is an example of very smart marketing.

Lloyd, do you participate in the "Pride Of New York" agricultural promotion?
(Here in Virginia, we have "Virginia's Finest".)  These programs clearly define
your honey as "very local", have minimal requirements, and allow you to use
a recognizable logo.  If one is not doing at least this much, can one really
complain about "competition" with honey blended from hither and yon?

> but the labels as they are do not tell consumers what they need to know
> concerning the % of foreign content for honey

This presumes that "foreign" implies "inferior" in some consistent and
tangible way.  Does it?

Might you be willing to put your money and your taste buds where your mouth is
in a blind taste test of "foreign stuff" versus honey from the USA?  I'll lay out
unlabeled bottles from Canada, USA, Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil.  I pay you
$50 for each you identify correctly, and you pay me $25 for each you don't.
Just like "Five Card Stud", but with honey.  Note that I gave you 2:1 odds.
You gonna raise, call, or fold?

Now that we have dispensed with the fuzzy thinking, let's focus on the
real issue - blending of less-than-excellent honey with excellent honey,
regardless of where each came from.

People willingly pay much more for single-malt whiskey than they do for blended whiskey.
There is no price competition between the two.  There is just as much difference in
the taste of a blended honey and a varietal honey as there is between a blended
whiskey and a single-malt.  The difference is that the makers of single-malts make a
point of explaining the difference.

So, once we get past the emotional baggage and imperialism wrapped up
the flag of patriotism, the tangible issues for consumers are:

1)  The actual product difference is not "country of origin" as much as it is
     blended honey versus unblended.

2)  The blended products tend to be more professionally packaged than
     the local honey.  To be honest, much local honey looks as casually
     packaged as moonshine, and therefore, seems just as dangerous.

3)  Blended honeys have brightly-colored labels, clear graphics, and so on.
     Labels for local honey just don't compare.  Many overprinted labels have
     "muddy" images and black text, and I have seen custom labels that
     made me wonder if any beekeeper was capable of even picking a tie that
     did not clash with his shirt.

4)  But what is the competition for "blended" honey?  Must it be varietal honey?
     But if your honey is not varietal, then what is it?  What is the term that one
     can promote to differentiate one's product from the blended stuff?  "Unblended"?
     "Raw"?  "Unmixed"?  "Unprocessed"?  "Boutique"?  Only if we all pick a term
     and stick with it can we expect consumers to perceive a tangible difference.

Know your competition!
It is not a country, it is not a flag, it is not a person.
It is nothing more than a big stainless-steel mixing tank.

                jim