Notes to Broadcasters on honey products:
Date Posted: April 14th, 2008
The details of this story – about how to attractively package honey and make alternative bee products like propolis tincture – may be of special interest to beekeepers in your audience. But many of the lessons about marketing, adding value, and diversifying products are applicable to all entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial groups.
Janet Lowore, the consultant with Bees for Development who conducted the course for the Mbaweme Women’s Cooperative Society, generously responded to our request for additional tips on packaging and marketing a new agricultural product. These were her suggestions:
1) Understand the market opportunities Talk to people who run gift shops in or near tourist attractions. Talk to supermarkets. Look at what else is on the shelves and in the market. Look at the prices and trends.
2) Be prepared to experiment – new products are, by their very nature, risky. Test a product in different outlets and for different prices. If it sells well, try a higher price; if it sells badly, try a lower price (but not below cost).
3) If you venture into a market that you know little about, ask for some help or advice.
4) Consider a joint venture. For example, an owner of a gift shop may prefer to give advice about how a product should be packaged, and then place an order. Take this advice!
5) Food products require adherence to food standards, for handling, processing, and labelling. Find out about the standards in your country and follow them. Being able to show adherence to these standards can sometimes differentiate your product from others on the market.
6) Think about product combinations. Selling a candle with a candlestick (made by someone else) may bring a higher price than selling the component parts.
For more information on beekeeping in Africa, please visit the following websites and review the following Farm Radio International scripts:
-The Bees for Development website: http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/
-The website for Apiconsult, which calls itself “The Resource Centre for African Bees and Beekeeping”: http://www.apiconsult.com/
-“Improved honey production and processing in dryland Kenya” (Package 79, Script 1, November 2006), also featured as this week’s Script of the Week
-“The beekeepers of Shewula” (Package 48, Script 3, April 1998)
-“How bees help you make money” (Package 47, Script 7, January 1998)
You may also wish to revisit Farm Radio International’s script series on marketing agricultural products, “To Market, To Market,” which was published as part of Package 66 in March 2003:
-“Episode 1: Trusting the trader: the importance of reliable information”
-“Episode 2: A glut in the market – how supply and demand affect prices”
-“Episode 3: Where to sell: making the best choice”:
-“Episode 4: Marketing: calculating your costs”
-“Episode 5: Farmers’ helpers: radio and extension help farmers plan”:
Finally, you may wish to interview a local entrepreneur or entrepreneurial group about their experiences with preparing and marketing a new product – either for a news report, or an on-air discussion:
-How did they come up with the idea for the product (or the idea to market a local product)?
-What kind of market research did they conduct?
-How do they package the product to make it attractive to customers? What else do they do to add value to their product?
-How did they determine the best market price for their product?
-Did any partnerships or other types of support assist them in producing and marketing their product?
-How much money do they earn from their business? What role does this play in their family income?
