🧺 Selling Honey at Farmers Markets, Shops & Shows

About this simulation

Most small-scale UK beekeepers sell through more than one channel at once — a Saturday farmers'-market stall, a shelf in a local farm shop, a specialist gift shop, and the occasional country show. Each channel pays differently: farmers markets and shows give you the full retail price minus a flat stall or pitch fee, while shops and specialist retailers take a cut (commission or wholesale margin) in exchange for selling on your behalf without you being there.

This simulation models a market square with four stalls, one per channel. Your monthly honey supply is allocated automatically to whichever channel currently gives you the best net profit per jar first, then the next-best, until either the honey runs out or every channel's realistic capacity is full.

How it works

• Farmers market — full price, direct to the customer, minus a flat stall fee charged per market day (assumed four market days a month); capacity is limited by realistic footfall.
• Farm shop — steady shelf space and larger capacity, but the shop keeps its commission out of your price.
• Specialist / gift retailer — smaller capacity but can support a premium price uplift for presentation, minus a slightly higher commission.
• Country shows — full price like a market, minus a flat pitch fee per show, but only available on the days you attend a show.
• The honey tower on each stall shows units sold there; the glowing pillar shows that channel's net profit (green = profit, red = loss).

Controls

• Price per jar — your headline retail price before any channel takes its cut.
• Monthly honey supply — how many jars you have available to sell across all channels this month.
• Farmers market stall fee — the daily pitch fee for your market stall.
• Shop / retailer commission — the percentage farm shops and specialist retailers keep from each sale.
• Country shows per month — how many shows or fairs you attend that month.

Did you know?

Because farmers markets and shows cut out the middleman, they typically deliver the highest profit per jar — but they cost your time and are capped by how much you can realistically sell face-to-face in a day. Shops and specialist retailers sell steadily in the background even when you're not there, which is why most successful small honey businesses use a deliberate mix of channels rather than relying on just one.