Selling honey in the UK: labels, rules and records

Do I need to register to sell honey?

Usually not. Your own honey, simply extracted and jarred, is a primary product - and food-hygiene registration does not apply to a beekeeper selling their own unprocessedhoney in small quantities direct to people locally (at the gate, a market) or to nearby shops that sell to the public. A typical hobby beekeeper selling plain honey does not need to register.

Scale and reach matter too: if you grow well beyond small local sales - supplying non-local shops or wholesalers, or selling nationally online or by post - you should register even for plain honey. “Small quantity” isn’t defined in law, so your local council’s environmental-health team has the final say (a quick email settles it, and some markets ask for it regardless). The official guidance is food business registration on GOV.UK.

What must be on a honey label?

For prepacked honey sold in England (Wales and Scotland are closely similar), your label needs:

• The name of the food- the word “honey” is a reserved description, and specific types (such as “cut comb honey”) have their own defined names.
• Net weight in grams or kilograms. Common UK jar sizes are 227 g (8 oz), 340 g (12 oz) and 454 g (1 lb).
• Your name and address - the producer or packer, so the buyer can contact someone responsible for the food.
• A best-before date. Honey keeps for years; a date two to five years out is common.
• A lot markfor traceability. A best-before date that shows at least the day and month can double as the lot mark; a month/year-only date needs a separate lot number (for example “L2026-07”).
• Country of origin- for your own honey, wording such as “Produce of the UK”. Blended or imported honey has stricter origin wording; check the current rules if that applies to you.

Flavoured honey and allergens

Plain honey contains no declarable allergens. The moment you add anything - almonds, walnuts, ginger - it is no longer legally “honey”, and the added ingredients must be listed, with any of the 14 declarable allergens emphasised (bold is typical). Tree nuts are on that list, so “honey with almonds” needs an ingredients list with almonds emphasised. Food prepacked for direct sale (made and sold from the same premises) also requires full ingredient labelling.

Weights and measures

Jars must contain at least the stated weight on average. Kitchen scales and consistent filling are fine at hobby scale - weigh a sample of each batch and keep a note. Trading Standards can ask to see how you check fills, so a simple record of date, batch and sample weights is worth keeping.

The records worth keeping

Beyond the label, a small paper trail keeps you compliant and saves headaches:

• Batch records - which hives and extraction date each lot number came from, so a question about one jar traces back to its source.
• Sales records - who bought what and when, particularly for shop and trade customers. Keep them for the shelf life of the batch plus a season.
• Medicine records - if you treat your colonies, the veterinary medicines record is a legal requirement in its own right (see our VMR guide).

Pricing your honey

Local honey routinely sells for £8 to £12 per 454 g jar retail, and less per jar at trade prices to shops that re-sell it. Whatever you charge, track jar sizes and batch numbers per sale - it turns “I think that batch went to the farm shop” into a record you can check.