importing honey to the USA

[Vladimir-croatia]

Hi everybody!

My name is Vladimir, I'm from Croatia, and me and my friend had an idea about starting a business importing Croatian honey and honey products to the USA.
Our general idea was to get honey at wholesale prices from reliable, quality producers, find a business partner in the US who would then get in contact with stores over in the US. The business partner would of course get a percentage of the sales.
We are new at this, so we don't know about the legal side of things like ; quality checks, FDA, customs.

So I have just a few starting questions, hopefully someone answers :)

1. Do you guys think it could work, is there a market for quality honey (be it at a bit larger prices) ?
2. Who decides if the product can be imported? The FDA?

[Steve B]

I'm not a big honey user, but I can tell you that I buy it once in a while for my family. I would never buy honey that isn't local (I'm talking about within 50 miles of where I live) because I want the benefit that you get for allergy purposes of eating local honey. I'm guessing I'm not the only one with a preference for locally produced honey.

Sorry, I don't have the answer for you on #2.

[Freelancier]

I'll bet that if you go talk with your national government, they'll have a "commerce department" who are already primed to help companies like yours get off the ground for exporting into foreign markets. You likely just need to start calling around to find out. And if you have a university nearby, they might have a business department that would be able to get you the pertinent info.

[Vladimir-croatia]

@ Steve B - Well, you do have a point there. But I'm looking at it from another perspective. America imports 70 % of its honey, and most of it (in supermarkets) is refined and not nearly nutritious as real untouched honey, be it from 5000 miles away, or from your hometown :) The problem is only to find buyers who are willing to pay for real honey, and perhaps give a little more money it
@ Freelancier - Thanks for the advice, although I have a feeling my government isn't really effective nor willing to help young entrepreneurs, but who knows, I just might try it.

Anyway, thanks for now guys, I will probably have more questions in the future, this is only an idea in its developing stage :)
Now to read the official sites of the FDA, I think that's a good starting point

[MyITGuy]

America imports 70 % of its honey, and most of it (in supermarkets) is refined and not nearly nutritious as real untouched honey, be it from 5000 miles away, or from your hometown :) The problem is only to find buyers who are willing to pay for real honey, and perhaps give a little more money

What would set you apart from the other vendors who offer all natural honey and have their presence already established?
Could you fulfill an order if a single chain store like Walmart/Publix/Winn-Dixie approached you to stock all their shelves (Think 3,000 stores ordering 24 bottles of honey)?