How to Brand and Sell Your Own Honey

As a beekeeper, you may want to sell your honey. And you may want to give some advanced thought to the branding you’ll put on it. Selling your honey can create a sweet little supplement to your regular income. After all, a hundred or more bottles of honey may accommodate more toast than your family can eat!

Creating an attractive label for your honey

An attractive label can greatly enhance the appearance and salability of your honey. It also includes important information about the type of honey and who packages it. Generic labels are available from your beekeeping supplier. Or you can make your own custom label.

You must include a few important bits of information on your label (assuming that you’re planning to sell your honey).

• State what the container contains: Honey.

• Include your name and address (as the producer).

• Report the net weight on the lower 20 percent of the label using a dual weight declaration, for example, Net Weight 16 OZ. (1 lb). Federal law mandates it.

In addition to these requirements, you should:

• Add information about the type of honey in the package (for example, Wildflower) and some marketing propaganda about the pure and wholesome nature of the product.

• Include information about the nutritional value (not usually required by law).

  

  These are the standard layouts and nutritional information that can appear on your label. Information in this example is based on a 1-pound jar of honey.

Finding places to market your honey

An independently owned food market in your neighborhood may be interested in selling your honey. Honey is a pure and natural food, and you don’t need a license to package and sell it, so no sticky legal worries where that's concerned. Here are some other ideas:

• Check out health food stores. They’re always looking for a source of fresh, local honey.

• Gift stores, craft shops, and boutiques are good places to sell local honey.

• Put up an attractive sign in front of your house: HONEY FOR SALE. (Give your spouse a heads-up that you don't mean them.)

• Sell your honey at the local farmers market.

• Don’t forget to consider church fairs, synagogue bazaars, and gardening centers.

• And by all means, give a bottle to all your immediate neighbors. It’s the right thing to do, and a great public relations gesture.

Selling your honey online

This is the web generation. So why not set up a simple web site to sell your honey all over the world? Or use eBay. Remember that plastic honey jars are lighter to ship and less fragile than glass.