This was the first batch of labels that were applied. After only applying this small run I realized I made a mistake.
At long last the honey labels came in. In the past the small amounts of honey produced by the bees had just been given away and sold “unlabelled” to friends who didn’t care, but this years crop was too large for that.
Perhaps I was over thinking it, but coming up with a label for this simple product was harder than I thought it would be. As I see it there were several factors to consider in choosing a label.
The first factor was the general look of the label. I must have looked at ten different websites and hundreds of labels. Some labels didn’t seem as though they would even look good on a bottle. The label I was looking for needed to be relatively simple. This factor is all personal preference so I won’t spend a lot of time on it.
Price was another factor. I was looking for 500 labels total. The different label makers had pricing depending on the number ordered. Most sites provided minimum lot sizes of 500, then a price break at 1000. I didn’t want to be locked into 1000 labels. This was my first label buying experience and I wasn’t sure I would even like the things. Other label providers made smaller lots, but the price per label went up considerably.
Labels on the 1 pound jars.
The third factor, which actually turned out to be the hardest for me was deciding what to put on the label. Most of the label companies had some level of customization. Maybe it has been the years of reading all of the bee journal articles about marketing honey or just my anal retentiveness, but I could not decide on exactly what to put. Before ordering labels you should review Honey Labeling Regulations, Information & Tips. I know I didn’t meet them all exactly. I rent so I didn’t want to put my exact address on the label because hopefully someday I will be relocating to a place of my own. I will face the consequences if this becomes a problem, but its not keeping me up at night.
One of the large 2 pound labels with an annoying wrinkle on the right side. This was one of the first ones labelled. I got better at it, but the smaller labels are much, much easier to apply.
Another factor that was not realized until after the labels arrived and were being affixed to bottles was SIZE. Since I had both 1 and 2 pound bottles I decided to get two different size labels. As I see it, this was a mistake. The labels for the 2 pound bottles are MUCH larger (2 5/8″ wide x 4 1/2″ tall) and it is harder to get them on without wrinkles and air bubbles. In the future I will probably opt for all labels being 1 3/4″ wide x 3″ tall. These smaller labels are easy to stick on without any problems making for a much cleaner wrinkle free look. Since you don’t need to be as careful it also takes less time to apply the smaller labels. Which is a huge plus when you sit down to label a couple hundred bottles.
I finally purchased my labels from BetterBee.com. They had some nice looking labels, lots of 250, and an easy way to add customization. The price was fair enough as well after looking around for a week and a half. There were cheaper labels to be found, but I didn’t like them as well. The service was great, and I received my labels in less than a week. It was a learning experience.
Questions / Comments…….
