IMO honey becomes a "product" once its heavily blended, cooked
beyond 100F, dried into a powder form, diluted down with corn syrup
or other additives.

As long as capitalism  thrives we will always have folks tinkering with
honey as an ingredient to their "product:" and trying to cash in on the
wholesome image of honey.

As I mentioned in an ealier post  IMO the more these activites continue
the more the market for raw unblended pure honey increases in value.

I beleive that this is especialy true as honey production becomes
more industrialized.  The small artisan honey producers are then the
stewards of the pure honey industry and with proper packaging and
marketing (not a plastic honey bear) can set any price they want
iregardless of the packing house price.

I find that the influx of immigrants into the USA is providing the current
and future customer base for a pure raw product because in most
other countries around the world honey is seen as an important
foodstuff. People who shop at the IGA/Cub foods/walmart/big box
stores are interested in price and not quality. I do not ever expect to
see a high quality honey sold in that type of venue.

My opinion is forget about it and use the market to your advantage by
selling your honey in the most pure form you can at the highest price
possible.

I feel that the opportunities are unlimited and I welcome the
differentiation that the honey "products" bring to the shelf and market
place.  The customers I serve have a good BS detector when it comes
to food and are not easilly fooled by a "product" claim.

Why would we think that the honey industry as represented by the
national honey board would protect us from the kinds of rampant
misrepresentation that persists in all segments of the food industry?

Real unadulterated pure food is getting more and more scarce and
expensive. The stuff in most groceries stores is as phony as the
chinese honey that sits on the shelf . Get used to it because corporate
america runs this country and the world for that matter!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::