Susan Solovic

Susan, I've kept bees for years as a hobby and sharing the honey with family and friends, as well as selling at a few local farmers' markets.  I'm expanding and want to expand the locations where I sell, but am having problems getting into the bigger supermarkets.  Any suggestions?

Susan-Says®:  It can be tough for small, independent food producers and growers to get space on store shelves. My aunt packages her special recipe salad dressing and faces the same challenges you are experiencing.  She decided to work with a food packaging company that not only produces and bottles her salad dressing, but also gets it placed in stores.  However, that's not the only way to expand your burgeoning honey business. 

For starters:  Have you tried some of the local health food shops?  Consumers who are health conscious prefer local produced, fresh products.

Have you tried the Web?  There are often local food co-operatives and markets online to sell your honey.  There are a growing number of online farmers' markets selling products around the globe. One example is Foodzie, linking small independent food producers with consumers on the Internet.  On Foodzie, sellers can post their goods for free and Foodzie takes a 20 percent cut of each sale.

Foodzie takes the purchase information from the consumer, buyer, processes the payment and e-mails the seller a pre-paid shipping label.  Foodzie also has a special category just for honey, preserves and
syrups!

Craig's List is another online option.  List your honey for sale in your local area.  More and more people are turning to Craig's list to find local product providers. Additionally, television station web sites often provide a community area where you can blog and post links to your web site to increase awareness of your brand and product.  

Do any of your local publications create a "best of" list annually?  If so, send the editor a sample of your honey with information on where it can be purchased.  Making a "best of" list can quickly generate new sales and build a buzz about your business. 

If you live near a larger metropolitan area where there is a convention center, introduce your locally made product to the tourism or convention center director.  Sometimes when groups travel to cities they like finding local products to use as special gifts for attendees.  Imagine picking up regular purchases through local tourism. 

I would also suggest you contact local and state agriculture agencies and groups.  Many of these groups offer retail outlets for members. Also, consider making your bees a local attraction.  As the family farm becomes rarer, country and city residents alike want to visit and learn about where their food comes from.    Offering visit days or hosting community groups like garden clubs, school field trips, or scouts for demonstrations and informational talks on the importance of bees can help you identify new ways to  make your bees pay.