Hi All,
I just bought some honey from a local bee keeper and after a talk he is interested in selling mead made off his honey.
My questions are this:
1) How do I set up a Meadery.
2) Do I need a license.
This will start off small and maybe grow.
Anyone advise?
Number 2 ? Yes you do need licensing. You could ask Bob (lockwood1956), who runs
Winesathome, as he was applying for a wine producing license last time I heard (didn't ask how far he got - but he's only over at Knottingley). So you could ask there.
If you looked at the commonly available commercially made meads here, you'll find that most of them are made by winery/vineyard places that make wine too. The only "mead only" place that comes to mind (and that might not be correct, as I can't confirm) is Lindisfarne.
To get the "full gen" on licensing, you'll have to do lots of searching through the
HMRC website as they're the defacto licensing authority for business that produces "excise goods". I don't know you'd need input from the likes of the local environmental health people (it's a "food product" after all, even if it's under a different category to the local takeaway - maybe a phone call or two for advise ?), or any other interested body ?
Marketing is a big thing too, as you could only, likely, sell directly to other businesses without an "off licence", which brings in the local council, police and magistrates court - but is necessary to sell direct to the public.......
Point/Question 1 and "how do I....." is up to you. You may be able or allowed to set up in a garden shed, or at home, but all that would depend on many factors. Size, capacity, kit needed, etc etc. I regularly collect and deliver to some of the local wineries, they have many facilities which cost "mucho dinaro" and consequently there's the knock on of whether you'd be aiming to earn a living or just to have a "hobby that pays some".....
Which is where all the business plan, projections, aims, etc come into play. Commercial production has requirements/needs that we just don't bother with from a hobby point of view - that's not to say it's impossible, it's not, but as I mentioned earlier, you have to think of how much a commercial start up is likely to cost, which in turn, depends on how much or little, you can get away with as a minimum.
For ideas, there's a number of members here who have "turned Pro", but mostly in the US. If you look up recent posts by the great Ken Schramm, he's still in the throes of finishing the setting up of his own commercial meadery. He's on facebook as "Schramms Mead", and has detailed quite a lot of info. Yes, while he's in the US, so rules/laws etc will differ, the basics of info about setting up will be there.......
Keep us info'd.......8)
