I managed to source some rather nice small square jars for honey recently. They have a nominal 200ml capacity which, when filled properly with honey, is 8 oz (227 g). Perhaps I should qualify “filled properly” … these have a slightly longer ‘neck’ than normal jars, so you don’t need to fill them to just under the lid. I bought them with black lids to ensure they looked distinctive on the store shelves next to the more usual ‘gold tops’. They are very easy to fill, with the slope of the jar shoulder being sufficiently steep that relatively few bubbles get trapped. In contrast, I find that small hex jars are a bit of a pain to fill as the shoulder is almost at right angles, more or less guaranteeing that an unsightly bubble or two remains after jarring. Even half pound round jars have a rather sharp angle at the shoulder and have a tendency to trap bubbles. Of course, none of these bubbles affect the flavour, but it’s always a good idea to try to make a top quality product look like a top quality product.
200ml (8oz) square jar
It’s easy to apply labels to these small square jars and I’ve printed these on the smallest thermal printer address labels (89x28mm) for my Dymo LabelWriter. Tamper-detection labels were more difficult, with any of the normal ones looking unsightly … both being too large and contrasting unpleasantly with the black lids. In the end I used 6mm transparent thermal tape onto which I printed a website URL. This sticks very firmly to the lid and glass but is difficult to see unless you look carefully. When the jar is opened the tape stretches and distorts, making any tampering pretty obvious. Unfortunately, this thermal tape is rather difficult to remove from the backing paper, so labelling large numbers of jars can get tedious.
Thermal printed tamper label
But as they say “the proof of the pudding” … the jars look good to me but what’s more important is how well they sell.
This was written some time ago. The jars have sold well 🙂
NOTE – in response to the Q from Bridget below and after a bit of searching I discovered that I ordered these from eBay (seller glass_jars_from_jarsdirect). At the time of writing they’re £38 for 100 delivered. One or two of the regular honey jar suppliers also sell a 12oz (~280ml) square jar but the cost is higher still.
Very slick, they look great. By the way before I added this second sentence I was informed my comment was too short!
Hi Emily
I think the anti-spam software filters out the messages that just reply with one or two abusive words … or, unfortunately in this case, a short positive comment. I’ve recently switched from Akismet to another system and thought that it was behaving a bit better …
Pleased you like the look of the jars … I just delivered the last batch to a shop this afternoon and am now dependent on the bees working a bit harder this year to make some more honey.
David
Where do they come from?
Hi Bridget … all the major suppliers do them and the box (unhelpfully) doesn’t have a label on it. I don’t think they’re from Compak as their boxes are usually labelled. All the designs differ very slightly. However, I’ve also bought jars from eBay and these might have been from there. Wherever you get them from, they’re significantly more expensive than standard rounds, so you have to be willing to take the hit or raise your prices. Fortunately, St. Andrews appears to have honey aficionados with relatively deep pockets 😉
Cheers
David
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David,
You have a couple of posts about the jars you have used. I’m wondering if you have ‘succumbed’ to 12oz hex jars, or remain with your 1lb rounds? I’m just ready to order some new jars for this season and am in two minds. What are your experiences? Thanks. Richard
Hi Richard
I almost exclusively use 12oz square jars now. I think they look better than hex jars and I find them easier to fill – two fewer ‘shoulders’ to get bubbles stuck in 😉 I get them from C Wynne Jones as they provide good service and the prices are about as good as I managed to find.
The ‘problem’ here with 1lb rounds for shop sales is the pricing … they end up costing more than the psychological £10 barrier. I’m not sure that this really influences sales, but I feel as though it should. Also, supply outstrips demand, so smaller jars = more jars, so they go that little bit further. The only downside is the additional time spent jarring the honey.
David