Bees for Development Journal 114: March 2015
Practical Beekeeping
Honey packaging and labelling for retail Janet Lowore & Nicola Bradbear
Key words: food grade plastic, lot number, organic honey, tamper evident seal
Offering a well packaged product to customers is an essential part of honey retailing. Even if your honey is of high quality - and by this we mean that it has required moisture content, cleanliness, colour and flavour - it will not sell well if it is poorly packaged. Most liquid honey is retailed in glass or plastic jars, while honeycomb is sold usually in plastic trays. Liquid honey is sometimes sold also in plastic bags, sachets and straws.
popular with customers. They are also lighter weight - important if you are transporting your product over a distance. Poor quality plastic jars often leak and give customers a bad impression. Jars should be filled to within 0.5 cm of the lip. If they are under-filled the customer will feel that they are being cheated, while if the jars are over-filled the honey may spill out. All jars should be filled to a consistent level.
Glass or plastic jars
Tamper evident seals
Glass jars are considered to be the most desirable and attractive packaging for honey. However glass jars are not always available, they are heavy and break easily. Plastic is a good alternative providing that high quality, foodgrade plastic jars, with well-fitting lids are used. The advantages of plastic jars are that they come in different shapes, and squeezy plastic bottles are
Tamper-proof devices are important to show that the container has not been opened since it was packed. Plastic lids often have a tearable plastic strip which has to be broken to open the jar. A honey packer who does not have tamper proof lids can stick a tamper proof seal from the lid to the side of the jar. This will tear when the lid is removed. Heat shrinking plastic security seals also work well.
The label The label is the most important part of the package. It needs to be informative, attractive and to meet legal labelling requirements. Designing an effective label needs skill, creative ability and care. Here are a few pointers: • The word honey must be clearly visible on the label. The name of a plant or blossom may be used if it is the primary floral source for the honey. • Ensure that all legally required information is shown clearly. This usually includes the net weight - that is without the jar - the geographic origin of the product, and the name and address of the packer. • Keep other information to a minimum so that the label is not cluttered with tiny writing that customers cannot read. • Make sure the spelling is correct, that the label is applied straight and uniformly across the jar, and always the same distance from the distance from the base.
The squeezy bottle is a successful way to package honey, and is convenient for the consumer 3
• Use the label to tell a story or explain why your product is special or unique. • Provide important additional information, for example,
