would you sell someone else's honey under your label?

[twb]

I am nearly sold out already.  I guess that's good :-\.  But I have people asking for more.  I guess that's good too ;).  I have an aquaintance with more than he needs and I could buy a five gallon pail from him but I do not feel ethical about selling it under my label.  I could tell them the truth about it being fresh from the hive, just not my hives, but I do not feel like explaining it to everyone either.  Your thoughts?

[pdmattox]

I sell out of mine and have to sell my friends honey. I put my lable on it and there is never a question if it was from my hives are  not. Dont ask dont tell......

[johnnybigfish]

Hey twb!
 I wouldnt know the difference if it was yours or not.
 I actually had the same thought recently, getting someone elses honey and putting it in my jars. I'm not selling it though, I was just wanting some to give family and friends and use for myself. I like my bottles and i like having them to look at but I only have 2 bottles left and i've been eating alot of honey lately.
 If its cool with you, its cool with me! I'd still buy honey from you even if I knew it was out of another persons hives!
your friend,
john

[mudlakee]

I don't know If it is local, from my area and I bought it, My Local Honey. I don't know just my thoughts.  Tony  

[annette]

Believe me I have had the thought when so many people kept asking me for honey which I did not have and I had access to another local beekeepers honey.

But, I could not call it my own if it wasn't. Just me.

Annette

[JP]

I think the main issue here would be whether or not your friend's honey is of a quality that you feel can be represented under your own label. Like others said, people will not generally ask too many specific questions when buying honey, they just want something that tastes good to them. There's really no need to feel guilty.

.....JP

[PDCambs]

I once sold another local beekeepers honey when I ran short in my second season. But, I make my own labels with the village sign from where I got that crop from, and made one which simply said it was honey from the county, which it was. The name on the label, my name, is the packers name, unless on the label I state “from the apiaries of…”. In the UK we have to keep lot numbers for each batch we jar up and keep records of where that came from, if we want to retail honey. Its in my records where that honey came from and was collected by the bees in my county, so no problem from my point of view.

Of course I was happy with the quality of that honey, and since then I have never needed to do so again. I only supply a few shops and sales from the door and have yet to start on last year’s crop. If this years harvest is good, having made increase I will look for a couple more outlets, but the ideal when you are starting is not to supply too many outlets. You need to be able to supply 52 weeks of the year and know when their busy times are likely to be.


Peter
Cambridge UK

[NWIN Beekeeper]

[But, I could not call it my own if it wasn't. Just me. - Annette ]

This is where I stand too.
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Last year I was sold out before spring.
When the spring farmers market started I didn't have anything to sell at a table.
Consequently, someone else (out of state) came and was selling honey.
Illinois has much stricter food laws than Indiana - no license for farmers markets.

I would not have felt so burnt, but the family was selling someone else's honey.
They did leave his label on the jars, but it still was from out of state.

I suppose they still have maintained a market for me.
People still have it in their mind that they can goto "Market X" and find a honey guy.
Just next year or later in the year it might be me.

I am on good terms with this individual and his family, so I don't make waves.
Eventually, I may need this outlet for my honey.
I will not feel the least bit bad if I encroach upon them, after all, I am local (less then 5 min away).
--------
One thought about selling someone else's honey.
I am going to have several out yards among my current county and other adjacent.
That is going to be a very broad area of 'local honey'.
I suppose that I bought from other local beekeepers whose bees service the same area, it nearly the same as my product.
There are the questions of chemical treatments and sanitary honey handling. 

Which raises JP Point:
[...issue here would be whether or not your friend's honey is of a quality that you feel can be represented under your own label.]
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[Dont ask dont tell......]

This can be problematic, especially if you have return customers.
I may sell my product at the beginning year when I have some.
If I were to switch to another persons honey, the buyer may return and assume the same conditions.

I know the world is ever more adopting the attitude of buyer beware.
And people shouldn't assume anything, but...
Everything else about my operation is honest and above board.

I doubt my buyers would bat an eye if I told them it was someone else's local product.
Especially if it someone that I mentor.
My thought is that my good product build a reputation and standard of quality.
The buyer probably makes another assumption that my decision to sell someone else's must mean its equally good.

In this instance, I may use a second set of labels, perhaps more generic looking.
I'd probably not use the producer's name, address, or label - just my own.
I might declare myself as the packager with my name address instead.
I would not want to loose my customer base because of a label.
---------
Labels can be used a marketing ploy too.
You could sell your own honey for 50 cents more.
The perceived idea that yours is better may make you a bit more money.
You'd also not loose tightwads wanting a bargain honey either.
This mix is something to consider as your honey stock depletes.
---------
I'm not even going to touch the issue of 'Local'.
The local bee club drives 4 hours out of state to buy what they sell as 'Local' at the fair.
This is what they sell after club member's honey is sold out.
--------

Just some opinions and options,

-Jeff

[Understudy]

Florida has guidlelines on this. I cannot find the exact statutes or rules but I remember the discussion with Bud Grant.

You may sell someone else's honey but you must put their registration number on the label not yours. Or you must label as a product of John Smith's honey farm. You cannot list as your honey from your farm. It falls under a labeling law guideline as I recall.

The PBC Beekeepers sell Mark McCoy's honey at the fair. He has a bottling license for his honey. We have a Palm Beach County Beekeepers label on it with his registration number. We will also tell anyone that it is honey from Mark McCoy, we have sign on the table that says it also.

This is the way we raise funds for the association each year.

Bud told me they shut down people at the green markets and such that go and buy other people's honey and try to sell it as their own.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[Shawn]

I  would not put "my label" on something if it did  not come from my  hive for a couple of reasons. MMost people are  truting that the product they are buying comes from the person selling. There is always the possibility that someone might not like the honey and then "your" product has a bad name to them. That person will now not promote your product when asked.

A friend here went and got a swarm from a tree that was cut  down.  He received lots of comb and honey from that hive. I asked if he was going to sell the honey and he said no. He said the honey was very strong and he did not know all  about  the hive, comb, honey, or what  the bees have been collecting. He did bottle the honey, gave it away for free, and told people where it came from. 

[KONASDAD]

I am always honest w/ buyer. I tell them its from a friends hive, where the hive is located and that they also conform w/ my own requirement of no synthetic chems, foundation removal, IPM etc. Good deeds get forgotten immediately, bad deeds get remembered forever!

[Shawn]

Byy  the way I did take  some of the honey I was talkig about from the tree and it was very strong and watery. It did not make good for toast and honey but it  made  great  for honey  baked chicken. Sorry for the typing and spaces. Im on a laptop  on guard duty all day..

[Jerrymac]

Here's wha-cha-do. Give the guy a buck for all his hives. Then sell the honey as yours. When the honey is gone sell the hives back to the guy for a buck.  problem solved. :-D

[bassman1977]

I know of a few major apiaries that buy honey from people.  I would imagine that they sell it under their name.  I am hoping to sell mine to them this year to cover equipment costs.

[johnnybigfish]

Hey Jerrymac!
 What a grand idea!! I wish I had solutions to problems the same way you handle them. That would always keep me from having a guilty conscience!
your friend,
john

[Sir Stungalot]

I think the primary reason I do not re-package is that my honey has a rather unique flavor...as does most everyones.  I am proud of my honey..people eww and ahhhh when they taste mine.  It seems to taste pretty consistant too.  I have friends not far from me, theirs tastes good too, but different.

The whole "its mine..home grown" but not...reminds me to much of all the rotten, crusty old !%@** 's I run up against at farmers markets.  These nasty old men really think they are pretty smart swindling people all day long. They go to wholesale markets in Dallas and then hawk the stuff as the fruits of their labor.  I laughed at one guy...he was selling grapefruit- he grew it- of course, locally. Never mind we are 300 miles away from the grapefruit growing areas of the state.
I guess that is the main thing...I say its mine, I handled it, hive to bottle- my customers deserve the best that I can do.  Now, would I sell someone elses honey under their own lable? Sure! Even better if they were a friend and close by.

[twb]

I thank you all kindly for your thoughts.  I think what I will end up doing is buy the honey from my acquaintance, use it myself and continue selling my own until gone.  Then if customers ask for more I will tell them I have some from a friend and will sell it to them if they are interested but not under my label.

[ooptec]

I often sell other peoples in the area's honey as w/the farm market, website as well as a few stores that stock my label I run out of mine fairly soon. A lot I buy from don't bother with sales and so have quite a bit on hand and are glad to see me. Esp. w/wholesale prices somewhere around $1/LB

I don't understand where the 'conscience' part comes in. Do you think honey in the grocery store come from their hives? Do bakery's grow their own flour?? People don't care any further than if it is pure honey. Maybe if it is from the general area but can't remember anyone specifically asking even that.

They do however like to talk bees and honey properties in general. I found it wild how many people have bee stories but during WWII many farmers here got into hives as sugar was rationed. If we could get the wholesale prices they got in the 40's we'd all be better off. Maybe because I'm in an agricultural area that still has remnants of the pioneer homesteading way of life that there are still old people that still practice, maybe people here are more used to farmgate/barter that more 'civilized' (and I use that term loosely    lol) areas don't have anymore, what w/civilization's 'if we pass enuf laws we'll all be safe' mentality that seems to come w/modern people.

I would only care that #1 it didn't come from over the ocean or #2 if it was adulturated w/sugar or something that's not honey and I'd like to think I'm more informed than a lot.

My only criteria is that the bees made it, and as most of these guys I buy from have had bees for many years if they mistreated them they'd be dead (the bees     lol)

I don't see it as swindling unless it wasn't pure honey. I may say I have hives but I never had the need to say it's guaranteed from my hive, I just guarantee it's pure Saskatchewan honey which it is.

cheers

peter

[tig]

i have sold other beekeepers honey under my label and vice versa.  but i am selective and choose the beekeepers who are my friends....plus i select the location where the honey comes from.  there are several beekeepers near one of my sites and our honey is of the same kind.  we help out each other because there are times i am short in supply and vice versa.  we do have each others permission to use our own labels....thats a given.