Honey jars

[lindsay s]

A member of our association has been trying to source a mixed order of honey jars to be sent to Orkney. One wholesaler told him that there is a shortage of standard 1lb jars due to manufacturing problems at the glass factory. Have any members of this forum come across any shortages of standard 1lb jars.

[Trog]

Why not use the nice hexagonal 8oz jars? You get a much better price per lb that way as folk buy honey as presents and are quite happy to pay more for a special local honey. We also use mini jars as children just love to spend their pocket money on a present for granny at local shows/producers' markets.

[The Drone Ranger]

http://www.ascott-dairy.co.uk/acatal...ts.html#aDP153

try these guys

[Jimbo]

I use Richmond Container Co who used to be located in Uddingston Glasgow but now re-located to East Kilbride.They do the 1lb honey jar with either the metal lid or plastic lid, hex jars, jam jars, pickle jars etc etc. I just go personally to pick up my jars so no delivery charge. They are a family run firm and have given me good customer service over the years. My wife also uses them for all her cosmetic products she sells eg plastic and glass tubs, pump dispensers etc. They do next day courier service but I don't know the costs. They can be contacted on tel.01355 236 170 (Gavin is it alright to give them a plug on a forum?)

[gavin]

Of course! Plugs and such helpful links are welcomed. If companies themselves with to post adverts we ask that they pay for adverts in the SB first.

[lindsay s]

Thanks for your help. One of the downsides of living here is the carriage charges are expensive and that’s why some of us are ordering as a group for the first time. A variety of jars are already used here including 12oz and 8oz sizes, I myself prefer 1lb jars. As Trog says nice jars can command nice prices especially in the tourist areas.
Dare I start a debate on rip off local honey verses cheap supermarket honey?

[Neonach]

http://www.ascott-dairy.co.uk/acatal...ts.html#aDP153

try these guys

Neonachina and I now only buy from Ascott - for the jams chutneys that we sell (and we sell lots!). These days we just sell in the 8oz hex jars as for the vast majority of purchasers they are gifts, and the spend level is it seems just right. Even with the same £/kg for the product itself, 12oz hex or 1lb round jars would offer significantly better value for money for the purchaser - but they haven't sold well, because the actual cost is too high. The only use for 1lb round jars is for supplying a local B&BL: the price of the product is not reduced, it's just a cheaper jar, but his guests never see the jar - just the product. Round jars have a cheap/basic association, hex with craft/speciality or if larger than 1lb then catering trade. These are the facts of the market, and it's a brave or foolish person that flies in the face of the market!

[lindsay s]

A beekeeping friend supplies some of the tourist shops with clear and set honey in 8oz jars and it involves him with a lot more work. A route I don’t want to go down.
About half my honey is sold in a local chemist’s shop and it’s not exactly a tourist hot spot. But I get a good price for it and it sells very well, even in the cheap looking 500g plastic jars that I sometimes used. This shop has sold Orkney honey for many years and the locals know where to find it. I also sell quite a lot to friends who appreciate my honey and don’t care about the packaging. I’m a hobby beekeeper and in an average year I can more than cover my costs so I will stick with that.

[Trog]

I'd never go to the trouble of selling through shops. The discount they want doesn't make it worthwhile from my point of view. Once the B & Bs have tried the honey at breakfast-time they buy a jar or two and locals and visitors alike know where to find me (I had to ration them all last year as we were building up nucs rather than going for honey!). Mull is a 'foodie' destination so we have lots of local producers' markets (which I don't do as they're on a Sunday) and special food festival/Christmas markets/agricultural shows, etc., at which I'll take a stall if I've any spare stocks of honey or candles. It's great fun meeting customers face to face and I'm also able to promote beekeeping and the local association.

[Neils]

Dare I start a debate on rip off local honey verses cheap supermarket honey?

I'd put it the other way round, supermarkets driving down the prices with cheap imported honey making it very hard to get a fair price for ours I don't think we should be aiming for Fortnum and Mason prices, but we sell our honey here far, far cheaper than, for example the Greek and Turkish beekeepers seem to (and not just to Tourists). I also believe that my honey is a quality product, certainly in comparison to what the supermarkets sell and, thankfully, most of the people who want my honey seem to agree with me.

So as not to totally derail the thread I tend to get my jars from Compak, but they are pretty close to me and reasonably priced as a result. YMMV.