Selling honey at a farmers market: labeling, claims, and hive rules

Honey is easy to sell and easy to mislabel

Local honey is one of the most reliable sellers at any market. It is shelf-stable, it keeps for years, it makes a good gift, and customers actively seek it out. That is the good news.

The catch is that honey's label is more closely governed than most first-time sellers realize. The FDA has published specific guidance on labeling honey and honey products, and the rules about what you may call your product, and what you may claim about it, are where honest sellers most often slip.

Start with what you may call it

If the jar contains honey and nothing else, its name is simply "Honey." You do not have to declare a floral source at all.

You may name one, though, as in "Orange Blossom Honey" or "Clover Honey," on one condition: that plant or blossom has to be the chief floral source of that honey, and you have to be in a position to demonstrate it. That is FDA's own framing, and it means you should be able to explain where your hives sat and what was blooming, not simply guess from the color.

If you blend honey with any sweetener, the product is no longer plain honey, and the label has to reflect that rather than simply saying "honey." Selling a blend as honey is the fastest way to a misbranding problem.

The claims that cause trouble

There is no federal standard defining "raw" or "unfiltered" honey, so those words are not automatically off limits, but every claim you make has to be truthful and not misleading. Say what you actually did. If you strained it and never heated it, say so plainly.

Be much more careful with health claims. The moment your label or your booth sign says honey treats allergies, cures a cough, or heals a wound, you have moved your product from a food toward a drug in the eyes of a regulator, and you have taken on a burden of proof you almost certainly cannot meet. Sell honey as delicious local food, not as medicine.

The label itself

Beyond the name, a honey label carries the same elements as any packaged food: your business name and address, the net weight, and an ingredient statement if there is more than one ingredient. Our guide "How to label homemade food for sale: a cottage food labeling guide" covers building that label cleanly.

One widely used addition is a warning not to feed honey to infants under one year old, because of the risk of infant botulism. It is standard practice among beekeepers, and some states require it. Check whether yours does, and include it either way, since it costs nothing and it is the right thing to do.

Hives, registration, and who regulates you

Honey sits in an odd spot. In many states it is allowed as a cottage food, so you can bottle it at home and sell it direct. But the bees themselves are usually regulated separately, and a great many states require beekeepers to register their hives or apiaries with the state Department of Agriculture, sometimes with an inspection for disease.

Those two things are independent. Being allowed to sell your honey does not mean your hives are registered, and registering your hives does not settle how you may label the jar. Check both with your state Department of Agriculture. If you are buying honey from another beekeeper to resell, ask your market first, since many markets are producer-only.

Extracting, bottling, and the practical side

Keep your extraction and bottling clean, keep containers food grade and sealed, and let honey settle so it goes into the jar clear. Crystallized honey is not spoiled, and a small card on the table explaining that saves you the same conversation forty times.

Offer more than one jar size. Honey is heavy, and a smaller jar lowers the price of a first purchase. Sampling, where your market allows it, converts extremely well. See "Farmers market booth setup: a display that makes shoppers stop" for how to run a sample station cleanly.

Where to confirm before you sell

Confirm three things before your first market. Your state Department of Agriculture for hive registration and for whether honey falls under your state's cottage food law. Your state's cottage food page for the label wording. And your market manager for producer-only rules and sampling. "Cottage food laws by state: what changes when you cross a state line" explains how to read your state's rules.

This is educational information, not legal advice. Honey labeling and beekeeping rules vary by state and change over time, so always confirm the current requirements with FDA guidance and your state Department of Agriculture before selling.