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Really raw honey aggravation

35K views 53 replies 21 participants last post by  emorris 
#1 ·
Hello,

Just wanted to share a pet peeve of mine. I sell raw on heated unfiltered honey. This year I made enough to sell it to local health food stores. Yesterday I made a sales pitch yesterday where the store owner was really excited about the honey. Today I brought it in-- a case of 24 queenline jars only to be met with a tepid "oh thats raw honey really?...It doesnt look like the raw honey on the internet.....?"

I then had to explain for 15 minutes about how the honey is in fact raw but recently extracted and so it is still pretty clear. This company Really Raw honey makes claims on their website (which is one of the first one that comes up for raw honey that: raw honey is supposed to be smooth creamy and spreadable with wax chunks it"

I told the store owner that what they were selling was more of a creamed honey, and that if mine sat around for untold months that it would crystallize up too, and that many customers don't even like the consistency of creamed honey (in my experience anyway). Also, I could have been lazy and not even strained it, so that there were big chunks of wax and bee carcasses in there which doesn't sell either.

Anyone else have to deal with this nonsense? I left annoyed as the store owner implied by her questioning that I was somehow offering fake raw honey--she asked me several times if I heated it---which I never do. She bought it but still I don't need to be interrogated.
 
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#2 ·
If the manager would read some of the postings at beesource telling how people heat honey in the sun (sink, what else?) or use commercial foundation for honeycomb production... or how many "beekeepers" have no their own honey and sell somebody else, sometime of unknown origin... As a responsible manager, she must be careful. I think, it is good, that she is responsible - quality control! I personally do not sell honey. I distribute it as a gift between my friends. I claim that my honey is " 102% natural organic ". 2% is for bees parts and other organic material naturally occurred in the honey.Sergey
 
#3 ·
>>cerezha; .... or use commercial foundation for honeycomb production... I personally do not sell honey.

Well that figures. And would you tell that store owner not to buy comb honey that was made with foundation? And only buy honey with bee legs and wax bits? Seems like the poster is doing a great job presenting a clean product without heating. Is there something wrong with that?

The only truly raw honey is comb honey. When was the last time you saw a bee leg or propolis bit inside comb honey?

>>I distribute it as a gift between my friends. I claim that my honey is " 102% natural organic ". 2% is for bees parts and other organic material >>naturally occurred in the honey.Sergey

Bee parts occurring naturally in honey?? Bees don't put bee parts and other particulates in their honey. You do.
 
#4 ·
So true Michael. I have even put a label on comb honey which I sold which read "The Only Truly Raw Honey".

xcugat,
As someone who sells honey I have found that I have to market my honey and not worry what other people do. Stand behind your product. Explain to your customer, the store owner, what you have and how it is made and that you stand behind what you say. You are not responsible for what others do and say.

I know it is frustrating, but you don't have to be frustrated. Sell your own product.

I have helped a friend put up Really Raw Honey. I don't know how they get away w/ such a product. But they have established a market and an impression of what Raw Honey is and looks like. It is what it is and there are plenty of people out there who will buy your Raw Honey w/out wax chunks and bee parts. I bet you will sell all you put up.

Raw honey is easier for the end consumer to use if it is in a round jar rather than a queenline jar. My observation.
 
#40 ·
I have helped a friend put up Really Raw Honey. I don't know how they get away w/ such a product. But they have established a market and an impression of what Raw Honey is and looks like. It is what it is and there are plenty of people out there who will buy your Raw Honey w/out wax chunks and bee parts. I bet you will sell all you put up.
The same way Clorox sells natural products under the name Burt's Bees - It' all about marketing to sheep!

As to your quality product - don't be discourgaed - it will take some time to develop a niche but once you do and word spreads you won't find yourself having to explain your product very often. A sample taste comparison with a store owner or a retail customer speaks for itself.
 
#8 ·
O, yes! People is trying to teach me how to do stuff "properly" all time! But I am doing stuff in my own way... I think, there is a difference between imposing and sharing. It is my understanding that public forums like beesource is about "sharing"... But to me, most valuable part is information. Sergey
 
#7 ·
to Michael Palmer
Well, it was sort of "russian-style" joke about 100 and 2 %, which is impossible since 100% is the max... I apologize for confusion. Also - I had no intention to criticize the original poster, xcugat -my apology if my post was offensive or somehow hurts somebody's feelings.

Since I am not native English speaker, sometime I feel funny how people use the words. For instance, in Russian, we would never call high-quality product "raw". We would use "nicer" words for it - "natural" comes in mind. So, to me, "raw" really associated with bees legs in the honey... thus,102% exclusively to my friends. I do not impose my opinions on anybody including store managers, but, if somebody ask me, sure, I will share my personal opinion. Regarding honeycomb (which is not part of this thread),my opinion is that wax foundation, which is used for food (honeycomb) needs to be regulated by FDA. Sergey
 
#10 ·
Hi Mark. No, I did not take it personally. I just commiserate with you. I am not in position to teach anything in beekeeping, I am learning! But, I remember, for instance with my kids, it was always a problem - Russian "babushkas" love to teach since they had nothing else to do (governmental pension, subsidized living, free everything). So, they just sit outside and criticize my kids - everything was wrong with my kids! Ooo, they have no warm clothes, poor kids, bad parents... look, your baby is in the water, she will be sick by tomorrow... how horrible those parents are, they do not pay ANY attention to their kids! Let me show to you how properly put shoe on your baby... I think, it is slightly different from what you meant, but still, people love to "teach" others. Sergey
 
#11 ·
I am bumping this thread as a warning to all of you selling Raw honey--sites all over the internet insist that if it isnt creamy and spreadable it is "fake raw honey" I have included some examples here--be ready to argue with customers over this if you sell at farmers markets or direct
http://www.destination-healthy-foods.com/Organic-Raw-Honey.html
Middle of page

http://www.gorgeouslygreen.com/2012/05/raw-or-pure-honey/
"Raw honey is solid at room temperature (like honey should be) and it also looks opaque and milky. You should be suspicious if a honey that is marketed as “raw” is clear and runny. The sold “milky” honey still contains the bee pollen granules, bee propolis, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes"

and finally this beauty from the brilliant people at Ehow
http://www.ehow.com/how_7430772_tell-honey-raw.html

And this "live" example found on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAELXYAthqM
Look around the net and on youtube and you will see what I mean
 
#14 ·
and finally this beauty from the brilliant people at Ehow
http://www.ehow.com/how_7430772_tell-honey-raw.html
From the link above...

"Look at the honey at the top of the jar to see if it is clear, opaque or if it contains a thick crust of brown pellets. Raw honey will contain a thick crust of healthful propolis, which will look like small brown or tan pellets on the top of the honey."

Since when do bees put anything in their honey that would form a thick crust of brown and tan pellets?
 
#12 ·
Since there is no regulation on what is called "raw honey", people confused and are trying to establish their own criteria. Nothing wrong with this. As for transparent "raw" honey, I never had clear honey. My crush-and-strain honey is always cloudy and crystallized withing 1-4 months. I could not speak for "creamy" consistency. Once, I got really creamy honey, but in most cases, honey has rough crystals in it. I do not think that texture may function as an indicator of the "raw honey". Moreover - I think, adding granulated sugar could effectively mimic a crystallized honey consistency. From another hand, it is difficult to me to imagine transparent crystallized honey. I think, the best way to ensure that honey is "raw" - to place a few bees parts in each jar.
 
#13 ·
I sell strained unheated honey at the local Farmers Market, it sells it self:thumbsup:, people tell me it's the best honey they ever ate. When i extract my supers i can tell that some are lighter in color than others, but i don't seperate it. The dark and light is all mixed together and it is usually a amber color in my Golden Harvest jars. Two years ago my honey was black:scratch: and the bee club members said i was selling my used motor oil:D, but once customers bought some they came back and stocked up with it for winter, said they didn't want to run out of it and ask if i would have more of it next year.I had to tell them i had no idea,and that i had no idea what they made it from.Not had any since??
 
#15 ·
The site EHow.com, is part of Demand Media, a content farm chain. These type of sites typically have masses of poor quality content on anything they think they can get someone to click on. They are experts at nothing, they make their money serving up ads to unsuspecting eyeballs. Its just another form of spam.

I use Google search tools to block sites like this from even showing up in search results. They are simply worthless. That way I don't waste my time trying to figure out if they have a clue on that particular subject. Here's a related story:
http://www.webpronews.com/demand-media-ehow-2011-10
 
#18 ·
I understand where you are coming from Mark--there are enough people out there to buy my honey as it is--but.....Based on the huge premium that these other "raw honey" Peddlers are getting I am tempted just to seed my honey with creamed honey after extraction to make it "white and creamy" throughout, but then I would be playing into this false definition myself
 
#19 ·
How much more than them are you charging for your honey?

Is your honey raw? Do you heat your honey at all? If your honey is raw, you have no need to alter what you are doing. All you have to do is sell your own honey. And charge a premium price for a premium product.
 
#29 ·
That's true,but i would rather sell at a fair price and build my customer base up (word of mouth) then move the price up slowly when overhead occur. If you get to greedy you start losing customers, and the word gets out that your trying to rip them off,when that happens you can never get them back. Seen it happen.
 
#30 ·
Can't argue w/ you there. But, it isn't ripping someone off to get twice the Wal-mart price or more. It's making profit so you can stay in business and expand your business. Maybe you don't need to run a financially selfsusstaining bee business, because your real job supports your bee bizz. Nuthin' wrong w/ that.
 
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