Last Saturday, Ebert Honey participated in the annual "Night Market" at the Cedar Rapids farmers market.  For a long time, it didn't seem very compelling to me to work a morning market event at night.  Ultimately, we did try it out last year.  We had a good time, so we returned for this year's edition!  The turnout is around triple the usual market audience since there is more entertainment scheduled and an almost festival type of feeling.  Last year, the increased foot traffic did not really affect our sales compared to morning markets, but this year we did quite a bit better.  

We've participated in the Cedar Rapids farmers market for several years.  It is the only retail event that we regularly attend other than the Old Threshers Reunion coming up this Labor Day weekend down in Mount Pleasant.  We mostly focus on wholesaling to grocery stores and bulk accounts rather than circulating through retail opportunities.  The price earned per unit sold is much lower when wholesaling, but it's the main way we've been able to build revenue and volume over the decades.  There is only so much time in the day for face-to-face sales.

One of the main features of our retail events is a nice display of honey sticks with a lot of flavored varieties.  We offer deals at 50 sticks and 100 sticks, and it's impressive how many people take advantage of those numbers--adults and children alike!  We haven't started to advertise the flavored honey sticks online yet, but perhaps that day is coming fairly soon, along with a few other website upgrades.  Feel free to inquire if you see a flavor on this page and want to order it!  

We handle each flavor by cases of 2000 sticks, but we also bag them up in 100 count bags for people to purchase more reasonable amounts in quantity:

Lastly, an increasing amount bee pollen is sold at these public events.  The frequency has picked up gradually for several years, but two or three years ago a TikTok went viral celebrating bee pollen, and we've seen many more buyers ever since.  I guess social media reaps some returns after all.  Most customers simply blend a small amount of pollen into something simple like smoothies, cereal, yogurt, ice cream, or a wide range of beverages.  Still, there are plenty of people that just eat a spoonful now and then for their fix.  It has been interesting to watch the demand grow so substantially and quickly. 

Now we are down to two remaining market mornings and Old Threshers.  Then we will be ready for cool weather activities of other sorts.  Meanwhile, we continue finishing up harvest and getting the bees healthy for overwintering.