Hello Mike & All,
BEE-I is basically a hobby/sideline list and your thoughts do apply to those 
direct marketing their product. However when on the scale of the four 
beekeepers from my December ABJ article honey is simply a commodity sold 
bulk in drums or totes raw on the open market to the highest bidder. Sure 
floral source and other things enter into the equation but the factor which 
counts the most is the current price being paid by packers.

Not many large beekeepers pack their own honey.

I don't think I posted on BEE-L about the largest sale of honey being sold 
last spring the world has ever seen. Both the seller and buyer tried to keep 
the sale quiet but hard to do when the lines of semis outside honey 
warehouses are a half mile long.

Adee Honey Farms had been sitting on drums of honey ( how many 
years?)waiting for the price to reach levels it did once a few years ago 
(highest in U.S. history) but never happened (despite closing import 
loopholes) so Richard sold his drums to packers. 11,000+ drums. The reported 
price was 1.10 to 1.12 a pound but although my information comes from 
reliable sources (all saying the same information) The buyer and seller are 
making no public statement although the Adees have confirmed the sale as the 
buyers have also.
I said:
>>Honey is a commodity

Mike said:
> This sentence is at the heart of the marketing issue.  If your product
> cannot be distinguished from the competition, then the market forces will
> push you about.

With all comodities its supply and demand. Doubt the situation will ever 
change in a world honey market for bulk raw unprocessed honey.

> What is the Unique Selling Point of the product?

Please do not confuse selling small amounts of honey with the discussion of 
comodity honey.

Orange, Sourwood, Buckwheat or Tupelo honey can bring higher prices in the 
specialty honey packer market . But when supplies are high you can get 
docked because of the need for blending out those flavors in the regular 
market.
Orange honey in Florida is at times docked if dark and strong in flavor and 
the whole state has a bumper crop. Way more than is needed for the specialty 
market.

Richard Adee's plan to hold as much of his crop as long as he can waiting 
for the price to increase is common and has been pacticed for as long as 
commercial beekeeping has been around but there comes a time when you are 
forced for various reasons to clear the warehouse. Honey is fairly easy to 
store for a few years if moisture is correct. The CCC honey loan program was 
started to give commercial beekeepers cash flow while being able to wait up 
to nine months looking for a buyer. Before the loan program the packers 
stood at the beekeepers door with cheap offers knowing the beekeeper would 
have to sell a certain amount of drums to create fall cash flow.

 If you don't have one then
> why not buy your competitor's product if it's comparable and cheaper?

I can not tell you the number of marketing presentations I have sat through 
over the last four decades. One thing has always been the same:

THE LOWEST PRICE HONEY ON THE SHELF SELLS THE MOST JARS.

same with mustard & ketchup. The reason why Mustard & ketchup remain cheap. 
Get too much higher on the shelf than your competition and your sales will 
drop. Been there and done that.


Many buyers simply scan the shelf and grab the lowest price bottle in the 
size they want. I spent a couple days once in a store watching and then 
asking buyers why they made their purchase. I found a different scenario in 
health food stores so I concentrated on selling honey in health food stores 
where my "local' label would help sell my product. I still do retail sales 
in stores but not on the scale i did at one time.


> Perhaps we all have a
> Unique "X" factor, but X= manuka gives a honey that commands UK prices 
> well
> over $US20 per pound retail.

I can tell you that any honey priced at $20 a pound in most grocery stores 
will not hold shelf space. Maybe in a health food store but sales will be 
limited.

bob 


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