Bulk honey prices and market outlook

[John Smith]

Wee3Bees, forget the goodwill. There is about as much honesty in the honey business as there is in gold bullion. Go for the 1.60 or no sale. It won't rot! When you run out there are plenty of them out there waiting to supply your customers, and when the producers are out of honey, there is little hope that anyone else will have an spare! And yes, if you ring them they will add on fifty cents. So if they ring you, add on fifty cents. It really is simple arithmetic, aye?

Your provisioning for your own faithful customers will pay off in the long run. A year is a long time, and a year without a crop is an eternity.

Cheers and good luck. If the first buyer doesn't want to buy it, the last one will!

JohnS

[JohnLaurino]

In 2009 Brazil exported 26,000 tons of honey, app 65% to USA. Average price for US was $ 1.16/lb FOB US ports. This includes both conventional and organic honeys of all colors. In 2010 Brazil may continued to present a growth in the produced and exported volumes so sales to USA may be at least 19,000 tons.

[JohnK and Sheri]

John, could you provide a percentage breakdown on color profiles coming out of Brazil, ie how much white, amber etc??
Thanks,
Sheri

[JohnLaurino]

You ca get color volumes @ http://www.fas.usda.gov/gats/ExpressQuery1.aspx by selecting the HS code group 0409

[suttonbeeman]

Look like the price of honey has dropped since first of Yr. Pepper now being quoted in Fl at 1.15 down from 1.30. I was told at ABF meeting that a HUGE amount of CRAP honey had came in and pushed down price. Seems from what I've been told only two of the large Packers are not packing this crap(chinese honey that may or may not be pure but is labeled at less than 49 % honey and avoids tariffs ect and is coming in at under .35/lb declared value) Also from my information from a reliable source is that the packer who in the media has been referred to as bringing in less than 49% honey labeled as bee feed in the back door and pure honey going out the front door just happens to be beekeeper owned! GREED!!! One of the most respected packers when it comes to pure honey told me that a few years ago McDonalds wanted US light amber honey, then were they allowed to use light amber but no chinese and the latest deal from what I was told is that as long as its says honey on the cover and is light amber thats all that matters! So I guess alot of kids will hate honey when they taste that crap. BUT McDonalds cuts cost, packer makes a profit and comsumer/beekeeper suffer. The mind set of big chains now is to totally disregard quality of the product, buy it as cheap as you can regardless if it has something in it or how bad it taste and make your profit. Big business and greed are what has got this country and beeks in this financial mess! GREED GREED!!

[Joel]

Of course we all knew this was going happen. I was ready to give up driving 500 miles a week to sell honey, be home on the weekends, increase hives and sell more wholesale.

Is it safe (not that safe is the best choice of words maybe) to assume the chinese honey is ending up in the food industry aspect where the taste and quality is hidden or is there a sense this getting sold directly to consumers for table use? The food industry must do testing and know this stuff is coming in under the wire right?

[Roland]

Joel, I have good reason to believe that some of the trans-shipped "honey" is going directly to the grocery store in jars, blended with other honey, or not. I believe it is Mt Sutton(correct me if I am wrong) that agrees with me, that the first step of marketing is to re-educate the new generation as to what REAL honey tastes like. Some days I feel like a drug pusher. Most of the time , once they buy the first jar. they are hooked.

I do not see the trans-shipped "honey" as competition. I will not try to compete with it. Rather, I try to show the consumer what they have been missing for so long.

Roland

[John Smith]

No, Roland, you are not off topic. You are spot on.

Maybe it is the beekeepers who need to understand that they are selling real honey at imitation maple syrup prices!

The Kiwis quit letting the big buyers bad mouth their Manuka honey, started creating their own market for it, and now they get big dollars for it. The same goes for the Tasmanian Leatherwood honey. I don't doubt it applies to myriad other honey types worldwide, especially the Sidr honey from Yemen.

The big honey packers will not promote your honey. Why would they want to waste money promoting a product they are having enough trouble keeping up with as it is?
Then when push comes to shove, they will sacrifice each of us for the sake of their own neck every time. If it takes dilution, they will dilute. If it takes turning a blind eye, they will turn a blind eye.

Honey is on the shelf in my supermarket marked, 'Contains imported and Australian product.' No percentages, mind you. For all one would know there might be as little as ten percent of real honey in that bottle.
Cheers and happy wholesaling!
JohnS

[sqkcrk]

When i start selling, i'm going to put on the label 100% Pure honey no corn syrup added.

May I recommend that you just leave it at 100% Pure Honey? That says what it is. Any mention of "no corn syrup added" would just throw some folks off.

[sqkcrk]

Joel, I have good reason to believe that some of the trans-shipped "honey" is going directly to the grocery store in jars,
Roland

Jack from Mann Lake said that a couple of years ago. It costs the same to send a container of empty jars to America as it does to send a container of full jars. Do the math.

[deknow]

i can't read "no corn syrup added" and not think of the NHB's recent propaganda.

is that "no corn syrup is present in the honey" or "no corn syrup added to the honey after extraction"?

deknow

[Joel]

I like your upbeat attitude Roland and for me, Mark who I know and consider a friend and many others who sell direct I guess we have to look at this as an opportunity. It's hard to think about how many people must try this ultra filtered low grade "sweetner" and see honey on the label and it's the last jar of honey they'll buy. That's what burns me. I bought a jar in China Town just to see what it was a year or so ago. Thin, tasteless, nothing that even hinted honey to me. Threw the rest away. Of course we all have those customers who say tney don't like honey, get a taste of the real stuff and become addicted. Word of mouth there is our best ally.

Bad enough still this stuff goes into our beer and our honey cerals though, I thought of it out there on the shelf ruining the good name of real honey. I guess it truly is a world economy and may the "Best" product win.

[deknow]

i'm really happy to see this discussion. in addition to the chinese imports, there is of course _some_ domestic "honey" that is basically hfcs feed run through the bees and extracted.

seems to me that beekeepers that focus on producing quality honey are in a bind. the NHB wants the consumer to see all honey as the same (their contention that honey from the farmers market is exactly the same as honey from the super market), producers and importers of low quality honey want all honey seen as the same.

who's interests are served when beekeepers DON'T educate their customers (and the public at large) about such issues? perhaps this is a worthwhile campaign for local bee clubs?

one thing is for certain, producers of a quality product must go against the NHB and differentiate their product from the bad stuff. this cannot be done without badmouthing _some part_ of the beekeeping industry.

deknow

[suttonbeeman]

Roland there is a packer up in your neckof the woods that I hear is using trans shipped honey adn some are putting rice sugar in it....not a good test for it, so thats something new! You are right we have to educate our customers, however the dad thing some people never get to talk to a beek and kids that eat this crap will not know what "GOOD" honey taste like and may never eat honey again.

[StevenG]

It all comes down to marketing, doesn't it? How we present our product, how we provide information to educate people who might buy our product. Plus samples... label comparison with what we sell compared to the Big Boxes... Most folks don't read the labels, until it's pointed out to them. Doesn't seem like honey will sell itself any more, we have to make the case for it, for OUR pure product.

[sqkcrk]

Bad enough still this stuff goes into our beer and our honey cerals though, I thought of it out there on the shelf ruining the good name of real honey. I guess it truly is a world economy and may the "Best" product win.

Saw a Food Network Show on honey in food. Why aren't most products that use honey labeled "Corn Syrup Cheerios"? All of the items that they showed being made w/ honey had 50 to 100 times more HFCS than honey. The up side is that HONEY is in the publics eye where it wasn't in the past. Which is sorta free advertising for us.

[Ian]

Just wondering , how exactly is honey suppose to taste?
I produce some of the mildest honey on the planet, I have many buyers
I also produce amber honey, and sell onto the market,
I also produce dark honey, and sell onto the market,
I also produce buckwheat honey and sell onto the market,

So tell me, how exactly am I to move all my honey produced if the consumer expected all my produce to taste as the mild honey?

All I am saying, there is a reason why we blend honey. They blend it lighter, and they blend it darker. Its all marketed by scale,

[sqkcrk]

" seems to me that beekeepers that focus on producing quality honey are in a bind. the NHB wants the consumer to see all honey as the same (their contention that honey from the farmers market is exactly the same as honey from the super market), producers and importers of low quality honey want all honey seen as the same.

who's interests are served when beekeepers DON'T educate their customers (and the public at large) about such issues? perhaps this is a worthwhile campaign for local bee clubs?

one thing is for certain, producers of a quality product must go against the NHB and differentiate their product from the bad stuff. this cannot be done without badmouthing _some part_ of the beekeeping industry."

I'm not in a bind. I sell a good quality product. People who buy it tell me so. I don't try to educate them about "the bad stuff", unless they bring the subject up to me.

I don't have anything to do w/ the NHB, except to use the literature that I have left. I don't have to differentiate my honey from the bad stuff and I don't have to badmouth anyone else, competator or not.

Squeak Creek Honey speaks for itself and so should yours. Sell your honey.

[Roland]

Ian - with all respect, you have illuminated my exact point. I purposely show my customer that this honey, what ever it is, is unique, and will not taste exactly like any other honey. Similiar maybe, but not exact. Culture their tastes. Had some Wild Cherry Tree honey this spring. I had never tasted anything like it. I sold it on how unique it was, and found several people that liked it best.

There is a parrellel(sp?) in wines. Do you want to sell a "jug wine" that always tastes the same, or a varietal that reflects the local variations in flora and climate? Anybody can blend to create a bland product, but only you can provide a local product with distinction.

Roland

[sqkcrk]

Roland, your post is exactly what Kim Flottum spoke about at the ABF con. His point was "Call it what it is." Make it unique and attractive to your customer so they will come back to you for that honey. Also date it. Such as "Squeak Creek 2010 Buck's Bridge Bamboo". Sell honey like wine is sold and at a similar price.

Good on ya Roland.