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Author Topic: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?  (Read 4986 times)

Offline beemaster

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Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« on: August 19, 2009, 10:53:06 pm »
Several years ago, I sold honey and shipped it in the normal ways, plain or fancy glass jars, bears, etc.

I always thought it interesting (for so many reasons) n afordable option to customers is to ship honey in vacuum bags, to cut down shipping cost, reduce breakage and pass on savings of the cost of containers to the customer - by letting them open the vacuum bags and squeeze the honey into their own jars.

Bubble wrapping vacuum bags or peanut packing could reduce the package size and weight, especially with several jars shipped.

If the customer has this "GREEN" concept "option" where they use their own jars rather than creating more and more jars around - a good concept of marketing.

Has anyone done this? Would you try it, at least as a website or marketplace option to see if people OPT to use it. I think it is a win win for the beekeeper, a bag sealing setup is inexpensive and very affordable to equip with bags. I think at a roadside stand, a gallon of honey (or "X" number of pounds in a sealed bag) would be Earth Friendly, like using your own food bags at the supermarket, etc.

I'm not saying revamping your way of selling or packaging, but adding this as an option MAY appeal to many people. Clipping a corner out of the vacuum bag and squeezing it into their favorite decorative honey jar has a market, I think??
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Offline iddee

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2009, 11:10:59 pm »
I vacuum pack meats and veggies. It will suck the liquid right out of the package. How are you going to prevent that?

The pint vacuum bags are a little over .50 each. Pint jars are 7.00 a dozen. Not much savings there.
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Offline beemaster

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2009, 11:19:06 pm »
I am talking a heavy mil thickness roll style (heavy duty seal system) nothing aweful expensive, but not individual bags, but rolls where you determine the sized bag. Also, we surely aren't talking freezing, just shipping. I am mostly concidaring the WEIGHT and breakability of shipping glass which I had to spend so much on bubble wrap and other packing material that I am wondering a NET figure, not the up front cost, as well as the marketing aspect of a smaller footprint for the greenies.

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Offline iddee

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2009, 11:38:26 pm »
I can see a vertical sealer only, but with the vacuum, how are you going to keep the contents in the bag. It will suck liquid as well as air.
Also, the bags are about the same price, on rolls or individual. I have both.
A roll long enough to make 10 bags will cost about the same as 10 individual bags.
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Offline beemaster

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2009, 01:41:21 am »
I did used vacuum rather than heat seal not thinking of the obvious difference. Obviously trying to get a vacuum would be near, if not impossible - about the only thing you'd do well with is hydrolics - lol.

Still, just wondering if there is a cheaper, safer, cost effective way. I did read a story one time (sci-fi stuff) about powered water: all you need to do is add water to it to reconstitute it. Imagine powered honey, light weight, nearly indestructable, just add water, minus a few technical bugs, it does have some interesting pluses to the idea.

Of course, some people would say Cool-aid has been around forever, so Iddee - how mqny gallons of honey would it take to make a pound of powdered honey  :-P
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Offline G3farms

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2009, 10:09:04 am »
that is a good conept for sure, but the greenies are trying to get away from the plastic bags (that is the only draw back that I can see). I personaly like it.

I have heard of powered honey before, is there really such a thing??

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Offline tandemrx

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2009, 12:21:01 pm »
after reading "The World Without Us" (Alan Weisman), its hard to think about plastic as being green, but I guess it depends on what type of container top you use as there is probably as much plastic in a plastic top for a glass bottle as there is for a plastic bag (?).  Although bags have other negative impacts on the environment to bigger animals (suffocation, entanglement).

Makes me want to consider glass jars with metal lids.

Plastic just almost never really goes away.

But there must be a way to fill plastic bags as they do it for milk - it may not be a pure vaccum, I don't remember as I haven't seen milk in bags for a while.

Offline Joelel

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2009, 04:33:02 pm »
I would never do it unless selling to restrants where they fill their own bottles. I don't think individuals would want to mess with it, when a bottle costs 35 to 40 cents.
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Offline BruinnieBear

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2009, 04:51:06 pm »
There would be no reason to vacuum seal.  Your's or my jars certainly aren't.  My Foodsaver has a manual override that doesn't need you to pull a vacuum to seal.  Sounds like a great option for shipping!

There are other options available as far as the name brand sealer bags.  I seal things for waterproof storage in Baggies with a light setting on the machine.  And it's just like everything else, buy in quantity and save money.  You wouldn't need the higher quality and design necessary to pull the vacuum.

As far as GREEN for the average person, when's the last time you opened (or had opened for you) a bag of frozen vegetables?

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Offline luvin honey

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2009, 10:46:16 am »
I am talking a heavy mil thickness roll style (heavy duty seal system) nothing aweful expensive, but not individual bags, but rolls where you determine the sized bag. Also, we surely aren't talking freezing, just shipping. I am mostly concidaring the WEIGHT and breakability of shipping glass which I had to spend so much on bubble wrap and other packing material that I am wondering a NET figure, not the up front cost, as well as the marketing aspect of a smaller footprint for the greenies.

As a self-proclaimed "greenie," I actually wouldn't see this as a "green option." There's still packaging. In fact, the packaging cannot be reused as I could reuse a jar and I definitely won't be able to get ALL the honey out.

I'm not intending to be discouraging, but just honestly letting you know how I would view it as a customer.

But, it has other benefits--no breakage in shipping, for example, and lighter weight for shipping costs.

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Offline beemaster

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2009, 05:20:14 pm »
If I had this post to rewrite, I would not use GREEN, I surely would use FRUGAL MINDED people who wouldn't mind paying a little less for shipping IF they had jars they perferred for honey storage "and" also, I'd question more the feasibility of shipping SEALED BAGS rather than extra costs of protecting glass - I still feel plastic bags (forget about vacuum, I used the tern too generically - meant heat sealed bags) would package better especially if wrapped in rolls of bubble wrap.

Although there are biodegrable plastic bags out there now (life span 6 months or so) I doubt they would work to serve this purpose, concidaring I would imagine the honey would shorten the "Green plastic" (yes, I have heard them referred to as that cause of the short degradable life).

I suppose my choice of words lead this down to a stance of what is and isn't green. Although I don't see people complaining buying plastic bottles of milk, plastic bags of bread and the WORLD'S NUMBER ONE ANTI-GREEN PRODUCT - bottled water! Those bottles aren't recyclable for beans and everyone (almost) buys them by the case - ugh.

There are so many differences in plastic, the acrylics are the worse, I am though amazed at the great stuff that many plastics are used for. I have a recycled table here under my keyboard, made by Lifetime - it is rugged, and perfect for sliding the across the carpet with the wireless keyboard and mouse so my wife and I can take turns playing computer :)

Didn't mean to offend the greenies of the forum, I could have chosen better words - but I was thinking money saving on weight for shipping, cost of insuring, material for prtecting containers and a lower cost option (net) to consumers.
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Offline iddee

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2009, 07:00:42 pm »
There are plastic honey bottles and jars available at all bee suppliers. I think that would be a better alternative.
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Offline hardwood

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2009, 08:57:44 pm »
Those so-called "biodegradable" plastic bags do break down sure, but what you end up with is just smaller pieces of....you guessed it....plastic! I for one wouldn't want it anywhere near my garden where the polymer molecules are actually absorbed by the plants and transferred to the fruit/veggie. The only true "bio-plastic" that I've heard of is one which is made of potato starches and is not yet on the market. Seems it's too degradable.
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Offline the kid

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Re: Would you ship honey in vacuum sealed bags?
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2009, 10:15:31 pm »
'''    I have heard of powered honey before, is there really such a thing??   ''''
yes ,,  there is such a thing as   powdered honey.. we have had some ...   kids loved it
they ate it as a  powder .  never mixed any with water ,, didn't get a chance to as
it was gone before I thought about it ..