Honey processing and bottling

Buying raw honey from keepers, straining and bottling it under your own label. Bottled honey runs Tk 800-2,100 a kg, but a BSTI CM licence is compulsory and the sample test alone is Tk 7,500.

Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
Version 1

Starting capital: ৳1,50,000 – ৳8,00,000
Manpower: 2 – 6 people
First sale: 45 – 150 days
Break-even: 4 – 10 months
Kind of work: Workshop · Medium difficulty

About the business

Buying raw honey from beekeepers, straining it, cutting its moisture, bottling it and selling it under your own label. The beekeeper takes honey out of the box; this business turns that honey into something a shop will stock. The gap is large. On 16 September 2026 Chaldal listed Dabur 1 kg at Tk 830, Shashya Prabartana mixed-flower 500 g at Tk 400, Golden Bee 500 g at Tk 550, Hosen Pure 500 g at Tk 789, Khaas Food Sundarban 250 g at Tk 410 and Alshifa Natural Floral 500 g at Tk 1,050 - roughly Tk 800 to Tk 2,100 a kilo. Against that, Tangail beekeepers in the mustard season were selling wholesale at Tk 5,000-6,000 a maund, about Tk 125-150 a kilo - but that figure is from December 2022 and today's farmgate rate is certainly higher. The real gate on this business is paperwork. Honey is item 34 on BSTI's mandatory certification list (BDS 1039:2022), so a CM licence is compulsory the moment you bottle under a brand. The sample test costs Tk 7,500 over 14 working days, or Tk 15,000 over four if you want it urgent; a new application is Tk 1,000 and the annual CM fee is 0.10 percent of ex-factory value with a Tk 3,500 floor. On top of that, declaring a weight on the pack requires BSTI's packaged-goods registration certificate under the Weights and Measures Standards Act 2018. Without both papers you cannot enter the bottled market, and selling without them draws a mobile court case. There is also a common belief that honey never spoils. Bottled with too much moisture it ferments inside the bottle, froths and turns sour - and comes back from the shop.

Unit economics

Item	Range	Evidence
Monthly working capital	৳60,000 – ৳3,00,000	Editorial estimate
Selling price	৳800 – ৳2,100 / kg	Market quote
Variable cost	৳125 – ৳150 / kg	Market quote
Gross margin	62% – 94%	Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue	45 – 150 days	Editorial estimate
Break-even time	4 – 10 months	Editorial estimate
Cash cycle	30 – 120 days	Editorial estimate
Waste / loss	3% – 8%	Editorial estimate
Daily capacity	20 – 80	Editorial estimate

What you need to start

Stainless steel vessels and strainers, a refractometer for moisture, a way to warm and dehumidify, filling and sealing equipment and a digital scale.Equipment
BSTI CM licence. Honey is item 34 on the mandatory list, standard BDS 1039:2022 (2nd revision). New application Tk 1,000, renewal application Tk 1,000, sample test Tk 7,500 over 14 working days or Tk 15,000 urgent over four, plus an annual CM fee of 0.10 percent of ex-factory production value with a Tk 3,500 floor and a Tk 35,00,000 ceiling.Licence
Packaged-goods registration certificate from BSTI's metrology wing under the Weights and Measures Standards Act 2018. It must be taken before packaged goods are sold. Selling without it is punishable, in some cases by a fine up to Tk 20 lakh, up to five years in prison or both, and is tried by mobile court.Licence
Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type. Issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
Bangladesh Food Safety Authority registration, compulsory for packaged food producers under the Food Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2026. New registration Tk 1,000, renewal Tk 500, valid three years.Licence
Judging the flower source of raw honey by taste and eye, measuring moisture, and spotting honey cut with sugar syrup. Buy adulterated honey and the BSTI sample fails and the whole batch is lost.Skill
Beekeepers or a beekeepers' cooperative - the migratory keepers who put boxes beside mustard fields in winter are the main supply. Plus a glass bottle and plastic jar supplier and a label printer.Supplier

How the work is done

1Decide which honey you will sell - mustard, litchi, black cumin or Sundarbans khalisha. Each has its own season and its own price.
2Build a direct relationship with beekeepers. Boxes go out beside the mustard fields of Tangail, Sirajganj and Faridpur in winter, and that is when honey is cheapest and most plentiful.
3Take a small room with washable floor and walls, and fit strainers, stainless steel vessels, a refractometer to measure moisture and a filling arrangement.
4Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality, then get TIN and VAT registration from NBR.
5Register with the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority as a packaged-food producer: fee Tk 1,000, valid three years.
6Apply to BSTI for the CM licence: application fee Tk 1,000, honey sample test Tk 7,500 over 14 working days or Tk 15,000 urgent over four.
7Take the packaged-goods registration certificate from BSTI's metrology wing - it is a separate paper, needed the moment you declare a weight on the pack.
8Strain out wax and comb fragments and measure the moisture, reducing it if high - honey with too much moisture ferments and turns sour.
9Fill, cap and label. The label must carry weight, production and expiry dates, batch number and the BSTI standard mark.
10Start selling through grocery shops, superstores and online. Demand peaks in Ramadan and winter, so stock ahead.

Seasons

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NovHigh
DecHigh

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Where it works well

Strong fitDhaka · The biggest market for bottled honey - superstores, online shops and gift-box buyers are all here, and the BSTI and food safety authority head offices are in Dhaka too.
Strong fitSatkhira · The gateway for Sundarbans khalisha honey, and Shyamnagar's keepers carry their boxes as far as Tangail in winter, so supply flows both ways.
Strong fitSirajganj · Wide mustard fields and regular visits by migratory beekeepers give a strong winter supply of raw honey.
Strong fitTangail · Thousands of hives go out across the district in the mustard season; the agriculture department once targeted 90,000 kg of honey in a single season. Raw honey is easiest and cheapest here.
PossibleBagerhat · On the eastern edge of the Sundarbans; honey gathered by the mouals comes to market through here.
PossibleChattogram · A large retail market and the export port, with many superstores.
PossibleDinajpur · Honey comes in both the litchi and the mustard season, and litchi honey fetches its own price.
PossibleFaridpur · A major mustard-growing area where hives go out in winter.

Risks and cautions

HighCompliance: Honey sits on BSTI's mandatory list, so you cannot bottle under your own name without a CM licence. The sample test alone is Tk 7,500 and a failed sample means paying it again. The packaging registration certificate is separate, and selling without it draws a mobile court case under the Weights and Measures Standards Act 2018, with fines up to Tk 20 lakh in some cases. For a small entrant the cost and wait of these two papers is the real barrier.
HighDependency: Raw honey supply is entirely seasonal - mustard in December and January, litchi in April, Sundarbans honey in Chaitra and Baishakh. Buying outside those windows means a higher price and uncertain quality, and a processor who cannot fund a year's buying in season carries a higher cost all year.
HighOther: The market is full of adulterated honey and it hurts both ways. Buy cheap sugar-syrup honey by mistake and the BSTI test catches it and the batch is lost. And because cheap fakes are everywhere, getting a fair price for real honey is hard - the customer sees the price and doubts it.
MediumSpoilage: Honey bottled with too much moisture ferments inside the bottle, froths and smells sour. A return from a shop costs not just the stock but the name. Separately, much honey crystallises in winter - not spoilage, but customers return it believing it is.

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