Best selling honey containers

[beeeee]

There are so many different types and sizes of honey containers that it makes it difficult to decide what to use. I was suprised that my customers last year did not want glass but rather chose plastic. Anyone have a certain size and type that is a good reliable, consistent, choice?

[Omie]

I usually like glass food containers rather than plastic, but for honey I like a sqeezable plastic 1 to 2 pound bottle with hinged snap on lid. Especially in winter when the house is slightly cooler, honey can get thicker and slower, so the squeeze action helps get it right into my tea!
Plastic bears are just too small for me. I use a giant teacup and put 2-3 tablespoons in it for my once daily b-i-g cup of tea.

[Grant]

I use a 2-pound squeeze bottle for my personal use, refilled frequently from the bottler.

I offer a variety of bottles and jars at my farmers market stand. What customers buy seems to be dictated by how much money they have left as opposed the best, most economic purchase.

In my driveway honor-box system, quarts outsell all other sizes combined.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Check out Sailor Plastics of Adrian, MN. They are not too far from you in relative terms. I went to their online site requested 24 free sample bottles and lids on Saturday and received them yesterday with a catalog.
They are going to get my order. As the previous poster indicated, plastic with a hinge top lid is the way I'm going to go.
Now for labels.

[Mike Snodgrass]

Thanks Adrian...i just did the same thing with their free samples....I agree on the 1 pounders with the snap lid.

[Michael Bush]

A lot of people love the squeeze bottles (bears, etc.) because you can dispense the honey with less mess. A lot of people love the Muth jars. I use those for the high end. I sell a lot of creamed honey in wide mouth pint jars.

[Omie]

The thing I don't like about bears is that you can't stand them upside down when they are less than 1/4 full. The hinge-top squeeze bottles can stand on thier caps to get that last few servings for next time.

I just LOVE the looks of the muth jars. A good friend gave me a big actual antique one which I keep on my counter here:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9fPBEJTqGz...uceCounter.jpg
I refill it periodically and use it for guests.
But notice I have the squeeze bottle of buckwheat honey there too- that's the one I reach for mostly- so much easier.

P.S. that was kohlrabi, lettuce, and scallions from my garden last year.

[max2]

We sell only in glass jars at farmers markets and get very positive feedback. We offer $ 1.00 back when they return it empty .....and they just about always buy more. Farmers Markets and plastic seems a bit of a contradiction. In any case 500g and 1 kg glass works very well for us.

[dixiebooks]

<snip>We offer $ 1.00 back when they return it empty .....and they just about always buy more. <snip>

Great marketing idea. -James

[Rustyhawk]

I sell the 1/2 lb, 1 lb, 2 lb plastic squeeze and 1 and 2 lb glass jars. The 1 LB inverted no drip plastic squeeze bottles are my best seller. People choose the plastic squeeze bottles over glass 99% of the time.

[HONEYDEW]

I can't hardly move plastic anything around here, by far the best seller is the trusty old (new) quart canning jar....

[beeology101]

I guess it totally depends on where you're selling. I love the look of beautiful glass jars and try to avoid plastics...but plastic jars are sooo much easier to use and less messy when it comes down to it.

[summer1052]

The 2 pound Hive shaped plastic squeeze bottle is by far my best seller. It lasts a while, and generally gets used up before it gets sugary. I have old timers request that I fill their used glass mayo/canning/syrup/unknown jars for them. I have been warned by health inspectors NOT to do this, as I would be held liable for the condition of THEIR containers, if something happened. When I explain that, folks usually understand.

My community and customer base is particularly old-fashioned, Czech/German, and Catholic. This influences my container selections. Families with small kids DO NOT want glass. Period. (Ask any Mom, including me, about cleaning up a broken glass jar of honey, mayo, or peanut butter. ) My runaway best sellers for smaller, impulse, gift sizes are the angel bottles, and 12 oz bears with flat tops (some people don't think it's honey if it's not in a bear!). I have not yet tried the bumble bee bottle, but am getting ready to use the 2 oz bears.

One thing we as beeks need to understand, and be able to explain clearly to customers, is HOW honey is priced. Honey is (usually) sold by WEIGHT vs. VOLUME. This is particularly confusing to seniors used to buying honey in a "quart" jar. A quart of water weighs TWO pounds. A quart jar of honey weighs THREE pounds. My two pound jar holds one and one-third PINTS of honey. (2 pints = 1 quart).

It is worth YOUR time to figure out a base price, and then apply it pretty consistently across container sizes. There is a commercial, Texas honey company that is well known for NOT doing this, and I hear a lot of comment from my customers about it! People notice it! Bee Culture lists prices all across the country for honey. I also scanned my local groceries and markets being careful to compare Texas honey prices to Texas honey prices. I then averaged them, accounted for national brands of blended and imported, and calculated a profit margin. LOCAL honey, sold to you BY the beekeeper is worth something extra!

Generally speaking, the larger the container, the better the "discount", and the smaller the container, the higher the mark-up. Also remember the container costs YOU something, as does a label, a lid, and a seal, if you use one. That's NOT your cost to suck up. It's the customers'. Everything YOU buy at the store has packaging added on, why should you be different as a honey producer. I also have a retail tax I have to collect, so I add that in, as well, so I don't have to calculate at the point-of-sale.

So, for example, if I figure 1# (2/3 pint) of my honey should retail for $6.00, including packaging and tax, then a 2# should go for $12.00. But I have found this to be my runaway best seller -- "I'll buy one for me, and I think I'll get one for Aunt Susie. She likes honey, too." -- so I could price them at $10.00. That ten dollars is a nice, round number, and half a twenty dollar bill. People LIKE easy. Now, the profit margin is a bit less, BUT I make it up in number of bottles sold. That price also encourages people to pick up an extra bottle, as above.

Now, angel and bear bottles are popular, but THEIR cost to me for bottles, labels, and lids is quite a bit different than bulk "plain" bottles. So my prices go up to account for it. If asked, I explain that the little gifty bottles cost more, but aren't they cute, and wouldn't they make great containers for flowers/candy/etc. after the honey is gone? Never yet have anyone decide against them just due to price.

Don't sell yourself short, and don't overprice your market.

Good luck!
Summer

[beedeetee]

I can't hardly move plastic anything around here, by far the best seller is the trusty old (new) quart canning jar....

We must have different types of customers. My honey is sold in Oregon at a U-pick place. Taking cut comb and creamed honey out of the equation and only looking at liquid honey, 60% of the money came from glass mason quart jars and 40% came from plastic 1 lb jars with a flip lid and 12 oz bears with flip lids. So I sold many more plastic jars, although I sold more honey in the larger containers.

[Michael Bush]

In my experience the more variety you have the better you will do. Some things are worth having even if they aren't your big sellers. I sell Muth jars at a premium because the jar costs more. I sell plain canning jars for less. It catches peoples eye when you have dark honey and light honey and pollen and creamed honey which opens up questions which can lead to sales.