Price of honey jars - up , up , up

[JohnRB]

Thanks for the link to this company which seems good value. I am interested in the 275ml hero jars and their capacity. Are they 12oz if filled? I know if you fill some above the bottom of the neck it can make quite a difference and I couldn’t work out if this would take the contents to 12oz in old money. I didn’t know if you’d got any and filled them so could advise. Thanks!

I picked up 840 hero jars from the bottle south company on Tuesday (Minimum order for self pickup is 10 boxes). By ordering over the phone I got a discount which meant I paid 37p a jar including lid. I picked them up because it cost me £20 in fuel vs £55 delivery. These delivery costs seem expensive to me and may make them more expensive than show offers. The hero jar is my standard jar - it is a very simple round 12oz/340g jar. 340g of honey fills it above the shoulder, but leaves (to me) just the right gap below the lid. The jars do have a very slight moulding line down the side, but I often label over these by mistake and it's not noticeable. Great jar.

 

[JamezF]

I picked up 840 hero jars from the bottle south company on Tuesday (Minimum order for self pickup is 10 boxes). By ordering over the phone I got a discount which meant I paid 37p a jar including lid. I picked them up because it cost me £20 in fuel vs £55 delivery.

Might have to think about doing that myself. It might actually cost me even less than that in fuel from here. Obviously there's my time as well, but until I find the inclination to get another job that's basically free.

James

 

[sarahcorlett2566]

I picked up 840 hero jars from the bottle south company on Tuesday (Minimum order for self pickup is 10 boxes). By ordering over the phone I got a discount which meant I paid 37p a jar including lid. I picked them up because it cost me £20 in fuel vs £55 delivery. These delivery costs seem expensive to me and may make them more expensive than show offers. The hero jar is my standard jar - it is a very simple round 12oz/340g jar. 340g of honey fills it above the shoulder, but leaves (to me) just the right gap below the lid. The jars do have a very slight moulding line down the side, but I often label over these by mistake and it's not noticeable. Great jar.

I ended up buying a small number (288) of jars from the Bottle Co South as they were the cheapest even including postage, and had the nicest 1lb jars but the lady who rang me after I’d placed the order was quite rude. Her opening words were, “You don’t think you’re getting the jars sent to the Isle of Man for that price do you” and then proceeded to tell me that there had been previous purchasers from the Isle of Man who had placed orders with UK post rates and who had the same surname as me and so we were clearly all from the same family and trying to get around the postage costs! I bit my tongue and continued with the order and had it sent to a UK courier depot to be sent across to me. I have no idea who those other people were by the way with the same name as me and wasn’t trying to get around the postage costs at all.

 

[ericbeaumont]

they were the cheapest even including postage, and had the nicest 1lb jars

Are you selling in those 454g jars, Sarah?

 

[sarahcorlett2566]

Are you selling in those 454g jars, Sarah?

I haven’t actually got any honey yet so not at the moment but hope to. I got the 190ml, 275ml and 380ml squat jars. Oh Lordy, don’t tell me I’ve got the wrong things Someone in a local honey show had the squat 1lb ones and they looked nice (to me).

 

[ericbeaumont]

Someone in a local honey show had the squat 1lb ones and they looked nice (to me).

Well, the retail perception of honey is changing and the 454g is going out of favour for good reason: in olden times honey was sold and marketed as a cheap food in a big jar, and in some timeless areas it's easy to find a 454 on sale at a farm gate for £3.

In other words, they're virtually giving it away and reinforcing in the customer mind that honey should be cheap, much as supermarket honey is cheap, but hang on, that is also cleansed, pastuerised, possibly diluted with syrup and without flavour or identity.

We produce a food that bears no relation to the supermarket product: ours is unprocessed, local, direct from the producer, and we must regard it as treasure and sell accordingly.

If we agree that our collective aim is to increase the public perception of honey as a quality food, then we must stop selling at a low price in a big jar. However, although you must take the customer with you when raising prices (slowly, over a few years) jar size can drop today.

For example, if I sell a 235 (your 8oz) for £6.55 it follows that a 454 (your 1lb) would cost £13.10, at which price my customers would walk away. To achieve my price level the largest jar I use is a 340 (your 12oz) at which point my honey will cost £9.50, and because it hasn't broken the £10 barrier, won't scare away trade.

Try this: park a 454 next to a 340 and you will find that both are large jars. Either will satisfy a customer, who will anyway be primed to accept 340s as supermarkets have long used this as their large size for many food products.

The place for the 454 is in a honey show where old-school regs must be followed, but if your fellow beekeepers are selling in the same size then they're living in the past. No harm in that, except that such practice will suppress the price and fail to support the new generation of beekeepers who wish to raise the value and perception of honey.

 

[sarahcorlett2566]

Well, the retail perception of honey is changing and the 454g is going out of favour for good reason: in olden times honey was sold and marketed as a cheap food in a big jar, and in some timeless areas it's easy to find a 454 on sale at a farm gate for £3.

In other words, they're virtually giving it away and reinforcing in the customer mind that honey should be cheap, much as supermarket honey is cheap, but hang on, that is also cleansed, pastuerised, possibly diluted with syrup and without flavour or identity.

We produce a food that bears no relation to the supermarket product: ours is unprocessed, local, direct from the producer, and we must regard it as treasure and sell accordingly.

If we agree that our collective aim is to increase the public perception of honey as a quality food, then we must stop selling at a low price in a big jar. However, although you must take the customer with you when raising prices (slowly, over a few years) jar size can drop today.

For example, if I sell a 235 (your 8oz) for £6.55 it follows that a 454 (your 1lb) would cost £13.10, at which price my customers would walk away. To achieve my price level the largest jar I use is a 340 (your 12oz) at which point my honey will cost £9.50, and because it hasn't broken the £10 barrier, won't scare away trade.

Try this: park a 454 next to a 340 and you will find that both are large jars. Either will satisfy a customer, who will anyway be primed to accept 340s as supermarkets have long used this as their large size for many food products.

The place for the 454 is in a honey show where old-school regs must be followed, but if your fellow beekeepers are selling in the same size then they're living in the past. No harm in that, except that such practice will suppress the price and fail to support the new generation of beekeepers who wish to raise the value and perception of honey.

Thanks. I completely understand. Our local market is maybe a little different where we still have the good fortune to have people who are prepared to pay a little more for quality, locally produced goods (not everyone of course) whether that be art, meat, jewellery, honey, sauces and the local honey sellers all do both half and full pound jars as well as the 12oz and seem to sell as much of one as of the others. I suspect I will end up giving a lot of mine away (as I do my hens’ eggs and the spuds we grew this year! I’m not really in it for the money and will only have four or five hives but it would be nice to get some money back and I very much appreciate your comments and thank you for taking the time to respond. There is a fine balance between making a profit and putting people off completely when there are jars for sale at the supermarket for a fraction of the price and where people don’t really know the difference or the importance of provenance.

 

[ericbeaumont]

the good fortune to have people who are prepared to pay a little more for quality, locally produced goods

Those are our customers.

putting people off completely when there are jars for sale at the supermarket for a fraction of the price and where people don’t really know the difference or the importance of provenance.

Those are not our customers (though after a taste, many see the light).

 

[pargyle]

Thanks. I completely understand. Our local market is maybe a little different where we still have the good fortune to have people who are prepared to pay a little more for quality, locally produced goods (not everyone of course) whether that be art, meat, jewellery, honey, sauces and the local honey sellers all do both half and full pound jars as well as the 12oz and seem to sell as much of one as of the others. I suspect I will end up giving a lot of mine away (as I do my hens’ eggs and the spuds we grew this year! I’m not really in it for the money and will only have four or five hives but it would be nice to get some money back and I very much appreciate your comments and thank you for taking the time to respond. There is a fine balance between making a profit and putting people off completely when there are jars for sale at the supermarket for a fraction of the price and where people don’t really know the difference or the importance of provenance.

Four or five healthy colonies in a good year with good local forage could easily give you more than 200lbs of very special honey - it will be very special because your bees have made it. You will find that once most people have tasted real honey - not the processed stuff they can buy in the supermaket - they will recognise the difference and will come back for more. You'd better get used to selling it ... and try and avoid giving it away except to those special people who will appreciate it. I gave a jar to someone who, later, told me that it had made a lovely glaze for their roasted carrots ! Last free jar going in that direction.

Setting your price will depend on many factors .. the wealth of the local population, competition from other beekeepers (and selling their produce for less than it's worth), the presentation of your honey in the jar, even your labels and you own selling skills. It's amazing how many times I've dropped into a conversation that I'm a beekeeper and the question that inevitably comes along (after 'Do you get stung ?') is 'Do you sell your honey ? and voila ... you have a new customer.

 

[sarahcorlett2566]

Ooh, thanks. We had a honey tasting table at the honey show last year and it was amazing how awful the supermarket stuff was compared with the real McCoy and that most people could tell the difference. Roasted carrots! Hilarious! Bet they tasted lovely though

 

[Cuckmere couple]

I picked up 840 hero jars from the bottle south company on Tuesday (Minimum order for self pickup is 10 boxes). By ordering over the phone I got a discount which meant I paid 37p a jar including lid. I picked them up because it cost me £20 in fuel vs £55 delivery. These delivery costs seem expensive to me and may make them more expensive than show offers. The hero jar is my standard jar - it is a very simple round 12oz/340g jar. 340g of honey fills it above the shoulder, but leaves (to me) just the right gap below the lid. The jars do have a very slight moulding line down the side, but I often label over these by mistake and it's not noticeable. Great jar.

i cant see a jar called 'hero' on their website...could you direct me?

my previous supplier is now charging circa 69p per jar so keen to have a look

 

[JohnRB]

i cant see a jar called 'hero' on their website...could you direct me?

my previous supplier is now charging circa 69p per jar so keen to have a look

Weird, I can’t find it either. I guess they’ve stopped doing them. That’s a bit of a disaster for me. It’s the only jar I use

 

[JohnRB]

I emailed the company - they are out of stock and awaiting delivery. Can’t give a price yet.

Regards

John

 

[Sam G]

I emailed the company - they are out of stock and awaiting delivery. Can’t give a price yet.

Regards

John

Let's hope it's not like so many other things in the shops/online that have recently been 'out of stock' only to return a few weeks later at an inflated price

 

[JohnRB]

Let's hope it's not like so many other things in the shops/online that have recently been 'out of stock' only to return a few weeks later at an inflated price

Given the energy required to make glass, I'd be surprised if they weren't more expensive

 

[North End Bees]

Given the energy required to make glass, I'd be surprised if they weren't more expensive

Metal lids have shot up in price too.

Just had our BKA price list for jar orders: 12oz hex are now @54p (with lids), spare lids are @14p.

Compared to 2 years ago the lids have exactly doubled in price and the jars are up by 85%

 

[madasafish]

I learned in the 1970s - when inflation hit 30% - to buy essential products with a long shelf life well in advance.
I also learned - at an early age - that politicians and the BOE did not have a clue/lied ..
Both lessons have stood me in good stead for the past 18 months.

(stocked up on fondant/bottles and frames 12 months ago and electricity /gas two years ago)

 

[JohnRB]

I learned in the 1970s - when inflation hit 30% - to buy essential products with a long shelf life well in advance.
I also learned - at an early age - that politicians and the BOE did not have a clue/lied ..
Both lessons have stood me in good stead for the past 18 months.

(stocked up on fondant/bottles and frames 12 months ago and electricity /gas two years ago)

I wish I'd bought more fondant last year. 2022 price £10.80 for 12.5kg. 2023 price £18.84. Same supplier