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Author Topic: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.  (Read 11225 times)

Offline bernsad

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Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« on: October 24, 2011, 07:11:30 am »
Can anybody tell me or point me in the right direction, what are the requirements for me to sell my honey, if any? I'm only very small scale of course but I've got 50kg sitting around and even after family and friends have got some I'd still have to give it away to strangers.

Also would anyone in Aus. care to share the prices they sell for?

Offline OzBuzz

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2011, 01:03:44 am »
Your extracting and bottling facilities need to be food approved - the requirements vary from council to council so the first port of call would be your local council. It's not a high risk food so some councils are incredibly lenient - mine, sadly, is not so i'm looking at locating my facilities in another location

Offline yantabulla

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2011, 03:01:31 am »
Bersad,

The requirements in Australia are the provisions of the Food Standards Code

3.2.2  http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011C00591

&

3.2.3  http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2009C00817

Most well maintained, clean domestic kitchens will comply with these standards & most councils will allow a home based business to operate however as Ozbuzz said some are harder to deal with than others.  The majority probably wouldn't bother you if you were extracting & bottling a bit on honey in your kitchen.  It is unlikely they would hunt you down & grind you to dust.  I personally wouldn't go near them unless you were setting up a commercial enterprise that required a Development Application.

Labelling is complicated however the basics for a container of honey are

1.  Name of product - eg Honey
2.  Street address of the producer
3.  Best before date
4.  Country of origin statement  - eg Product of Australia
5.  Nutrition information panel
6.  Storage instructions - eg store in a cool dry place
7.  Weight

The going price up here seems to be $6.00 - $8.00 per kilo retail.  I wouldn't jack the price up to much if you just want to move the honey & generate a bit of a cash flow to subside your hobby.

Good Luck

Yanta

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2011, 07:09:00 am »
Thanks for the references Yanta, I've got a bit of reading to do later. Thanks also Ozbuzz, I'll contact the local council and see what they have to say.
Regards,
B

Offline Pete

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2011, 11:39:46 am »
Crikey! You guys are getting particular.

We have plastic tubs (you can get nice ones from bee suppliers), printed label from the computer, strain the honey and pour it in the tubs. The kids (9 and 10yo) pile it into bags and walk the neighbourhood selling it door to door. If any left the wife sells at work. Kids have sold 30-40kg in a weekend.

I go thirds with them (buys more tubs, beekeeping gear), so the the math is easy and they have a feel for costs n profits, reward for effort and responsibility.

PS: I think you will find that food/processing standards are governed at the state level.

Offline dING

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2011, 06:44:11 pm »
In Tas if you are only selling small amounts from home (200-300kg per annum)

Thats selling on your own behalf only by you

A label with ya name and address is sufficient

Sell all mine for $10.00 per kg


Getting older dont make ya smarter just more cunning

Offline Meadlover

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2011, 06:53:25 pm »
I sell mine at work for $10/kg as Raw honey from Organically Managed Hives.

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2011, 06:11:08 am »
Crikey! You guys are getting particular.

We have plastic tubs (you can get nice ones from bee suppliers), printed label from the computer, strain the honey and pour it in the tubs. The kids (9 and 10yo) pile it into bags and walk the neighbourhood selling it door to door. If any left the wife sells at work. Kids have sold 30-40kg in a weekend.

I go thirds with them (buys more tubs, beekeeping gear), so the the math is easy and they have a feel for costs n profits, reward for effort and responsibility.

PS: I think you will find that food/processing standards are governed at the state level.

Wasn't being too particular, I was more trying to avoid some official going "Oi $^* are you doing?"

I like the idea of the kids learning about costs/profits/rewards etc... but do your kids share in the costs as well or do you do most of the work and they share in the profits?


So $10/kg, do you guys only sell the one size or is that just your best seller? I was thinking about $6 for 500g and $10 for 1kg. Feasible? Unrealistic?

I know the beekeeping supplies has containers but has anyone stumbled on a cheaper source around Melbourne?

Offline prestonpaul

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2011, 06:59:34 am »
Are there any specific requirements for processing of honey for sale, such as heat treating or pasturising or the like? or is extracting & straining sufficient?

Offline Pete

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2011, 07:50:32 am »

I like the idea of the kids learning about costs/profits/rewards etc... but do your kids share in the costs as well or do you do most of the work and they share in the profits?

They help. My son (8yo) put his mums suit on and did a swarm removal last night and tonight my daughter did one from a tree in my backyard. They regularly help work the hives and extracting is a family affair...when they sell it we go thirds. 1/3 to each of them and me and mum take a 1/3 between us that we re invest in beekeeping stuff, more plastic containers etc.

Quote
So $10/kg, do you guys only sell the one size or is that just your best seller? I was thinking about $6 for 500g and $10 for 1kg. Feasible? Unrealistic?

I know the beekeeping supplies has containers but has anyone stumbled on a cheaper source around Melbourne?

The wholesale rate is $6 i believe...so $10 'retail' is fine...i think thats what we get...will check wiht wife, will also ask her about the tubs.

Offline Corey

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2011, 02:19:05 am »
Thanks for the information about food handling requirements!

How about public liability insurance?

Do people who have sold honey before tend to get some kind of insurance against someone suing you for your product causing harm to them?

I personally am not worried, but my partner wants me to check this out.  Any information on this?

thanks

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2011, 04:38:17 am »
Can you actually come to harm eating honey? Diabetes? Obesity maybe?

Offline Corey

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2011, 07:14:21 am »
i guess its more about contamination or toxicity or if something goes wrong.

All foodstuffs have the capacity to cause harm.

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2011, 06:58:12 pm »
I personally test every batch that I harvest to ensure quality, :-D if there were toxicity problems then I should be dead now based on the quantities that I consume. If you know anything about food handling then it should be easy to avoid contamination problems in your production line, I can't see a problem here.

Offline dING

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2011, 07:14:54 pm »
Sell 3 sizes

600 jars    $6.00

1200 tubs $12.00

1800 tubs $18.00

Getting older dont make ya smarter just more cunning

Offline Corey

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2011, 07:46:19 pm »
Hey Bernsad!

Where do you get your batches tested?  Does it cost much?


So i am gathering that public indemnity insurance for selling honey is not a common thing??

Its just that my local general store wants to stock my local ti tree honey.  Im fine with selling to friends and such, but when the general public buys from a store, we were questioning public liability.

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #16 on: October 29, 2011, 09:28:33 pm »
No no, I "personally" taste test each batch (got a horrible sweet tooth), the only cost is to my waistline?

Offline dING

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2011, 04:06:48 am »
IN tassie if you are a registered Beek

You can get 4 or more samples tested per annum

How many tested is according to how many hives registered

All as part of the rego cost
Getting older dont make ya smarter just more cunning

Offline Meadlover

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2011, 06:43:46 pm »
Can you actually come to harm eating honey? Diabetes? Obesity maybe?

Yes - babies less than 12 months old can and do get botulism and die from raw unheated honey as their bodies cannot kill off the botulism spores.
Adults are easily able to kill off the bugs and therefore it is not a problem.
If you are selling raw unheated honey you need to make people with young babies aware of this.

ML

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #19 on: October 31, 2011, 07:47:04 pm »
Good to know, thanks Meadlover, it's amazing the wealth of information you can pick up on the forums.

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #20 on: November 05, 2011, 04:25:47 am »
Its just that my local general store wants to stock my local ti tree honey.  Im fine with selling to friends and such, but when the general public buys from a store, we were questioning public liability.

Just curious how that affects your price if you sell to the store rather than retailing yourself. Do you have to cut your price to a wholesale rate? And if so how much? Or do you sell at your normal retail and the shop adds a cut on top? I suspect it's more likely the first scenario.

Offline the-ecohouse.com

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #21 on: December 24, 2011, 09:59:35 am »
hell no....sell it at retail.

if you gong to sell it to to stores you may need to drop a bit off it, but there is no way you would tell it for less than 10kg



omo



Offline the-ecohouse.com

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #22 on: December 25, 2011, 07:08:34 am »
Bottle it up and get along to a local farmers market  :) that should help you get rid of it.

Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #23 on: December 25, 2011, 04:06:59 pm »
I have been bottling and selling a bit at work/kids school etc... but unfortunately the local farmers market is only smallish and they have a policy of only 1 of any type of vendor, there is another local beek who has 70 odd hives and has that market wrapped up. In fact I think there is a honey seller at all the local markets, must explore a bit further.

Offline the-ecohouse.com

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #24 on: December 25, 2011, 09:33:11 pm »
maybe ebay then?

there is quite a few people selling on ebay, they seem to be moving a bit of product as well.

I'm going to do that this year as well, to sell maybe packs of 3 * 350gm jats with different variety's, and see how that goes.


Offline bernsad

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Re: Aust. regs/requirements for selling honey.
« Reply #25 on: December 26, 2011, 01:46:44 am »
Ebay, really? I've never noticed, I'll go take look now.