Jar sourcing, lids, and labels — what's everyone's setup for selling a few hundred jars?
Fourth year in Devon and this is the first season I've got real quantity to sell — probably 300+ jars worth. Time to stop buying jars twelve at a time from the farm shop.
Three questions for those selling at this scale:
1. Where do you buy jars? Is it worth ordering a pallet-share or do you just do big boxes from the usual suppliers? And 1lb rounds vs 12oz hex — do hex jars actually sell better or do they just look nice and hold less?
2. Lids — gold twist-offs seem standard but I've had a couple not pop properly. Any lid types to avoid?
3. Labels: doing mine on a home printer currently and they smudge the second honey touches them. What printers/label stock survive a sticky jar? And what legally HAS to be on a UK honey label — I know weight and my address, what else catches people out?
#jars#labels#selling-honey#packaging
▲ 8 votes💬 4 replies
4 replies
CorkBeeRon · Aug 19, 2026
Label law first since it's what bites people: you need the word honey (or the specific type), net weight in metric at the required print size, your name and address, country of origin, a lot number, and a best-before date (convention here is 2-5 years out). The one that catches everyone: descriptive terms like 'wildflower' are fine but anything implying medical benefit is not. Jars — once you're past 200 a year, wholesale boxes of 72+ make the farm shop price look criminal. Hex sells at a premium per gram precisely because it holds less. That's not cynicism, it's retail.
InesMel · Aug 20, 2026
From Portugal but the economics are universal: I split a wholesale order with two other beekeepers from my association every spring — jar price nearly halves and delivery splits three ways. Ask around your club before ordering alone. For lids I only buy new every time, never reuse, and I order 10% more lids than jars because some always dent.
BuckfastLinda · Aug 20, 2026
For the labels: the smudging is your printer type. Inkjet + honey = smear, always. Either a laser printer on matte stock, or what I did in Flanders — a small thermal label printer with waterproof polypropylene rolls. Costs about what a decent smoker costs and the labels survive honey, rain, and market-day handling. Get the label DESIGN right before printing 300 though, ask me how I know.
DevonBees_Em · Aug 20, 2026
Brilliant, all of it. Lot number was the one I was missing, CorkBeeRon — adding it tonight. Found two club members for a jar split within an hour of asking, InesMel, so that's sorted too. BuckfastLinda which thermal printer, if you don't mind naming it in DMs?