Being a beekeeper is an excellent experience for helping the environment and boosting the local bee population. However, the resulting honey is one of the biggest benefits for many people. While you can keep the excess honey for yourself, selling it is another great option. Selling harvested honey can be a supplemental income or your entire livelihood—check out a few helpful tips for selling honey at a farmer’s market.
Sell Locally
Most people absolutely love local honey. If you have the opportunity to sell yours at a market in your community, don’t pass it up—your small honey business will be incredibly successful. You can use a local farmer’s market to spread your business’s name and grow your customer base. Many people will continue buying from a reliable, local beekeeper when they find one; they might even tell their friends and family about you and your delicious honey!
Create a Memorable Logo
Even though it might not seem like a big deal, your business logo is crucial for your performance at a market. While your honey’s flavor profile most likely speaks for itself, having a memorable logo for your small business can help you stick in your customers’ minds. Whether you choose a unique name or a super cool design to boost sales, putting significant thought into your marketing can help you be more successful.
Pro Tip
Consider signs or banners featuring your contact information and business logo for the booth!
Choose Appealing Packaging
Appealing packaging goes a long way when it comes to selling a product. After harvesting the honey, you must decide which containers to put it in to sell. Many beekeepers choose plastic bear bottles because they’re cheap and adorable; however, others select uniquely-shaped glass jars. Regardless of the containers you choose, consider putting a sticker of your business logo on them so your customers remember you when they run out of honey. Ultimately, fun packaging is an excellent way to boost your sales!
Use Visual Aids
Aside from appealing packaging, you can also use visual aids at your booth. For example, you can provide photos or models to show how bees produce honey or pictures of the harvesting process. These visual aids will make market goers more likely to approach you and appreciate your transparency.
Additionally, bee and honey processes are fascinating. Teach people about beekeeping and the benefits of raw honey; consider bringing a 6-frame nuc box to provide a visual example of basic beekeeping tasks.
Bee Kind, Not Obnoxious
Nobody wants to buy from vendors who are shouting and chanting about their products. Instead, most people appreciate kindness and honesty. With that said, you can ensure success when it comes to selling honey at the market by starting casual conversations and kindly offering samples of your honey. You know that your honey speaks for itself, so “bee” kind to potential customers, and they might become repeat supporters of your business.
Hopefully, these tips for selling honey at a farmer’s market will help you shape a successful small business. Beekeeping is an excellent way to help the bees, and the excess honey they produce is one way your bees can take care of you!