It seems to me that a lot of people are making a lot of comments about a
product they really don't know a whole lot about.  I do not doubt that Bob
knows his honey, and I am sure that his demo to health food store owners
produced a product that is different than what is marketed under the Really
Raw label.  But that's where the buck stops.

I have to wonder (and highly doubt) that Bob has had personal discussions
with Mimi or Elee (owners/proprietors of Really Raw Honey).  The product
they market is basically honey as it comes out of the extractor, period.
Never heated, never filtered, never strained.  Put a bucket under the
extractor and fill it up.  Really Raw makes a point of advertising the
product they sell as precisely what it is.  Cold (never heated), unstrained,
extracted honey that is as close to what the bees produce that a consumer
can buy.  Bob can squeeze as many combs as he cares to, and drain as much
honey as he wants to make his demos for health food store owners.  And when
he is done bashing Really Raw, I defy him to meet the demand for the honey
he has just produced in his little demo.  Honey as it comes out of the
extractor, never heated, never filtered, never strained is the product the
people at Really Raw provide.  Consistently and in volume.  They have carved
out a premium niche in the honey market, and more power to them for having
done so!

If Bob's claims that honey with cappings, pollen and propolis mixed in is
being marketed as Really Raw are true, then the suppliers to Really Raw are
in violation of their contract.  A contract that very clearly defines what
it is that Really Raw is buying from producers, and a contract the requires
producers to carry 6 figure liability insurance (which is something any
supplier should do anyway, but that's beside the point).  I highly doubt Bob
has ever read a contract with Really Raw Honey.  I suspect he is picking
over a marketing concept in the same manner as he picks apart organic honey.
In both cases, a product has been defined, producers strive to meet the
definition of those products if they are able to do so, and consumers have a
choice of the product they buy, taking into consideration the definition of
the product and the magnitude of the price tag when they make the purchase.
IS the product being marketed better that the product most beekeepers
product?  Some will argue yes, some will argue no, as we see time and time
again on BEE-L, people LIKE to argue.  By definition, the product is
DIFFERENT!  Consumers can and will decide how they spend their money.

The folks at Really Raw are market savvy and decent people, who incidently,
pay their producers a premium for their product.  Any beef with the sales
pitch is crying foul over fair game.

Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!

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