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market-farming - Re: freezing and value added

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  • From: Jeff Ishee <farmsted AT cfw.com>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: freezing and value added
  • Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 06:41:38 -0500

Beth,

Here in Virginia, we produce red raspberries for the local farmers'
market, and also sell to white tablecloth restaurants in the nearest
yuppie/college/white collar city. Prices for the berries have been $3.00
per half pint for several years now, but I also know producers in the
metro DC area getting $4.00 per half pint. All fresh raspberries leave
the farm in half pint clear clamshells.
By the way, Monte Package Company in Riverside Michigan is an
excellent source of not only clamshells, but every other harvest
container or retail packaging that you can imagine. They have a website
at <www.montepkg.com>.
When we had surplus red raspberries a couple of years ago, we filled
up a chest freezer before my wife had the bright idea to start using
them in her farm-based catering business. She came up with a specialty
cake that sells to restaurants for $23.00. In effect, we are adding
value to our own crop by making the cakes and selling them to upscale
restaurants. Four cups of raspberries plus a box of yellow cake mix plus
a couple of eggs, etc. becomes a very profitable item for us.
We had our farmhouse kitchen certified by the VA Dept of Ag & Consumer
Services (a very simple process) and now my wife can hardly keep up with
the cake orders. She now delivers to eight restaurants in three cities.
The restaurants are happy also. They slice the raspberry cake into 20
slices and sell each slice for $4.00.
So yes, you can freeze raspberries, and yes, you can have your own
family kitchen certified for "some types" of food service. It might be a
pain in the neck jumping through the governmental hoops and getting
yourself established with high-brow chefs, but believe me . . . it is
worth it!
I'll see if I can scan a picture or two and put the info up at our
website.

Jeff Ishee
Bittersweet Farmstead
www.marketfarm.homestead.com/start.html


Hook Family wrote:
>
> I know of a farm stand fellow who at the time ran a u pick raspberry farm
> all excess was frozen he then used a church's commercial kitchen to make
> pies.
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