Beekeeping has been around for millennia. That’s because of the multiple benefits of honey and the role of bees in the pollination process. Although the honey industry is a fairly small niche market of the broad food sector, the product has a variety of uses. Honey is used as an ingredient by the confectionery industry, by pharmaceutical companies, and in beauty products. The multiple applications make selling honey a profitable business endeavor. The honey market consists primarily of small and independent bee farms. These enterprises aim to sell their honey to retail customers as they get a better price and profit margin. However, wholesale sales of honey are a major driver in this sector. In this post, we’ll share more about the ways bee farms can sell honey in bulk or to retail customers. If you wish to know more about sweet food additives, check out our posts on where to buy wholesale sugar and the most popular types of artificial sweeteners.
Key takeaway: Most bee farms sell their honey in bulk to businesses or distributors. However, selling honey in retail is a more profitable option.
Selling Honey Wholesale
Many beekeepers build long-term partnerships with businesses that purchase large quantities of honey. That guarantees them they will sell all their products in bulk with little to no costs for marketing and distribution. Here are a few things to know about selling honey in bulk.
- Regulations compliance. In order to sell wholesale honey, a bee farm needs to comply with more regulations compared to simply selling retail. Read more about how to become a wholesaler and how to get a wholesale license.
- Find the right customers. Businesses in the restaurant industry, manufacturers of sweets, distributors, bakery businesses, and food processors are the main types of companies that purchase large quantities of honey.
- Set up proper sales channels. Wholesale platforms like BlueCart allow suppliers to easily create catalogs and manage the prices of their products. Businesses that want to find wholesalers can easily compare products and rates there. Thus, make sure your products are listed on various wholesale platforms.
- Add more value. By offering private labeling services, a variety of packaging options, or boutique honey products, beekeepers can increase their profits and achieve high ROI.
- Expand and grow your business. Selling honey is a business with good profit margins. This means it can easily be expanded. Even if a bee farm specializes in wholesale sales of honey, it can invest in additional hives and the production of high-end honey that can be sold at higher prices to retail customers.
Tips about Selling Honey Retail
Retail prices of honey are much higher than wholesale prices. That’s why bee farms need to invest in their own marketing and development of reliable sales channels to offer honey to retail customers. Selling honey to end customers can increase profits and allow beekeepers to grow their business. Here are some tips about selling honey in retail.
- Establish sales channels. Roadside stands, farmers’ markets, and a website are just a few examples of places to sell homemade honey as well as other bee products. In addition to them, using third-party channels like Amazon significantly broadens your market reach.
- Have a variety of products. There are dozens of different types of honey. A bee farm that wants to focus on retail sales needs to offer various honey types and sizes.
- Focus on marketing. Social media marketing, partnerships with local businesses, organizing events, and other forms of marketing should be used to present your honey products to customers.
- Organize shipping and logistics. Partner with logistics companies to get better shipping rates. Also, keep in mind that customers expect to get their products as quickly as possible. Thus, businesses need to aim at reducing the delivery time.
- Offer additional products and services. A bee farm can also offer boutique and handmade products such as infused honey, beeswax candles, and honey-based skincare products. The fact that these products are organic means they can be sold at higher prices with good margins. Organizing farm visits, workshops, and other events can also be an additional revenue stream.
Ways to Scale Your Honey Business
If you operate bee hives, there are more ways to profit from this business than simply selling honey. Here are some ideas to grow and scale your business.
- Invest in new bee hives in order to increase your honey output;
- Invest in packaging equipment that will allow you to sell honey in various sizes;
- Manufacture products with honey or other bee products such as body scrubs, lip balms, candles, or supplements;
- Benefit from the subscription business model;
- Purchase other products that sell well alongside honey and offer bundles, gift baskets, or other deals;
- Offer specialty products at premium pricing. Examples include zero-calorie and vegan honey alternatives or infused honey;
- Constantly aim at improving operations, automating business processes, and adapting to market changes.
Frequently Asked Questions about Selling Honey
From resources on erythritol artificial sweeteners to tips on how to sell sugar, there are plenty of useful resources on our website. Below we’ve shared the answers to a few common questions regarding selling honey wholesale or retail.
How to Price Honey?
Analyzing the market prices of honey is the best way to determine the right price for this product. Generally speaking, wholesale prices of honey are much lower compared to retail rates. However, selling to retail customers means adding more value to the product and having higher marketing costs. Bee farms aim to sell as much honey as possible to retail customers. That’s why they often create their own eCommerce stores, offer subscription packages, and focus on selling boutique and artisan honey. Bee farms usually partner with intermediaries that buy large quantities of honey and process it.
Is Selling Honey Profitable?
Yes. Producing and selling honey can be a very profitable business. Bee farms usually have fairly low upfront and upkeep costs. This means that they can achieve good profit margins. In fact, business owners in this sector can increase their revenue and profits if they follow the trends in the honey industry and benefit from modern marketing techniques. In order to increase profits, bee farms can add more value to their products. For example, they can offer specialty products like vegan honey or boutique products that are suitable for gifts.
What Products Sell Well Alongside Honey?
Wholesale distribution companies that offer honey often sell other bee products as well. Beeswax, royal jelly, and bee bread (chunks of bee pollen) are other popular products sold by wholesale honey suppliers. The primary application of honey is as a sweet food additive. Thus, distributors who offer bulk honey are likely to also sell bulk sugar and zero-calorie alternatives. In recent years, sugar substitutes like stevia and erythritol have become very popular. The fact that they have little to no calories makes them a suitable sweetener for people with diabetes and those with dietary restrictions.
BlueCart: The Platform to Easily Sell Honey in Bulk
Our marketplace allows bee farms selling honey in bulk to offer their products to various businesses. From manufacturers of sweets to retailers and coffee shops, thousands of companies use BlueCart’s wholesale ordering software to buy from suppliers. Specialized and broadline distributors also have multiple reasons to sign up for BlueCart. Our solution has multiple tools for marketing, automation, and bulk sales. Schedule your demo today and see how BlueCart can help your distribution business increase B2B sales and grow.