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market-farming - Re: questions for the group - selling to restaurants....

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: questions for the group - selling to restaurants....
  • Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 20:15:29 -0500


Hello Robert, I have had a flood of requests about my coop, there are many in
my area
all are wholesale, you should check them out this summer, this has been a
major
vegetable producing area for 100 years with more than 500 small vegetable
farms
scattered about a four county area, this is where plastic mulch raised bed
drip
irrigated vegetables were first pioneered in the 1960's, we were all tied to
the tomato
canning industry until it moved to California and we once lead the country in
pastured
poultry until industrial poultry came along, we have a strong food processing
industry
but low returns lead us to vegetable cooperatives as a marketing alternative
that has
been successful.
Most farms are 100 acres or more divided into many smaller fields growing
every sort of
vegetable starting with dandelion in march, lettuce of every color and type
is the
largest spring and fall crop with cabbage, followed by peppers, eggplant and
summer
squash in summer, we grow many minor crops like 500000 boxes of parsley
200000 boxes of
arugula and up to 1000 acres of fennel each year, mostly in 1/2-2 acre
blocks, larger
farms 1000 acres or more grow mostly processing crops of peas sweet corn and
spinach.
The Vineland Cooperative Produce Auction Assc. is the largest with 250
members and many
nonmembers who pool loads with members, this coop had been around a long time
and is
known to every produce broker in the country its also the largest farmer
owned vegetable
coop in the country, they ship all over north America and export
overseas,mostly to
supermarkets and restaurants, there are large cooling facilities and
extensive loading
docks for trucks, sales 40 years ago exceeded $2-6 million a year the best
year was 1998
at $61 million, commissions are 3% with excess money after expenses returned
to the
members, auction starts at 10 am members bring a sample for bid then deliver
the full
load to the buyers loading dock, all produce is to be picked and shipped the
same day,
Restaurant buyers like that, another quality feature being instituted in the
near
future are conforming to third party audit standards, I don't do much
business there
anymore preferring to sell as much as possible at my farm market so I cant
give you the
most up to date details about present management but you can call the auction
at
856-6910721, to visit the auction you get there by crossing the Delaware
Memorial.
Bridge and stay on Rt. 40 until the intersection of 40 and Rt555, turn right
on 555 and
this will put you in the middle of it...I also sell stuff throw the South
Jersey Produce
Coop and Cooperative Growers Assc., which specializes in sweet corn, pumpkins
bedding
plants and blueberries there is also the Landisville Farmers Coop, the Jersey
Fruit Coop
for peach growers who just built a big new packing faculty, Ocean Spray Coop
for the
cranberry guys, and the Jersey Tomato Council which is a coop of stake
tomato growers.
most coops provide other services like selling crates and boxes and ice...Ice
is very
important...
One major problem with starting a new market is getting buyers and being able
to produce
enough to be a reliable supplier, buyers seem to prefer to buy certain items
from one
region and not another for example we can market all the green onions we can
grow but
can't give bulb onions away because the buyers have long standing
arrangements with NY
bulb onion growers, new markets also must be able to compete with other areas
of the
country, for example we compete with NC for bell peppers and OH. for greens...
If you want to look into starting a marketing coop in your area check us out
but also
take a look at the many new small auction coop markets that have sprung up
in southeast
PA.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.

Robert Farr wrote:

> Hi, Robert.
>
> Wondering how your co-op made so much money last year - $58M! That's
> enough for a small country!!!
>
> How many members are in the co-op, what kinds of produce, what kinds of
> facilities do you have (manufacturing, storage, et al), who do you sell
> to?
>
> I'd love to know more about your model so I can reproduce it out here in
> northern Virginia. The market is surely big enough!
>
> Thanks much -
>
> --
> Robert Farr
> (540) 668-7160
> Check out http://www.chileman.com
> for ALL Natural Cooking & Grilling Sauces!
>
> ---
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