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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] re: selling grass-fed steaks

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  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] re: selling grass-fed steaks
  • Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 19:06:03 -0600

Caryl Elzinga wrote:
> We have the
> opposite problem; steaks run out (we are usually cleaned out of
> tenderloins
> within an hour of market start- this year we will charge more and put a 2
> package limit per household per week). Our steaks are top
> quality, lean but
> still very tender, comparable to the grain-fed high end steaks but with a
> better taste (so our customers tell us).

Are you selling at a Farmer's Market? If so, then I would have to say that
we did quite well there. The first time we brought along about $150 worth of
beef and it did completely sell out. But we only had a couple of weeks
before the end of the season market so the attendance dropped off
drastically when the temperatures were lower and then we sold less. But we
have good expectations for the new season, and we will be at two farmer's
markets but both are in nearby communities and the new one may not do well
at first since it may take a year or two to get entrenched.

Anybody have some experiences with the start of a new market and how long it
took to really succeed?

> I should note that our market is high-end and we have to
> travel to get to it, but we would not be able to market the beef at all
> locally (too many elk hunters and 3 year old beef bulls for sale cheap).

We tend to subscribe more to the local food concept, and once you go more
than 20 or 30 miles, it is really not local food anymore. This downside is
that the distance traveled by the customer, unless it is for more than one
purpose, gets to be a problem in terms of fossil fuel use and pollution with
their vehicles.

> Anyone have creative ideas for moving the mountain of ground beef and
> roasts?

We find that ground beef is the biggest seller. We reduced the number of
roasts/steaks by having all the round put into what is now very high quality
ground beef. We did raise our price to partially compensate for that change
and is now at $2.49 in small quantities. It may appear to be above store
price, but the yield is so much higher compared to the regular high fat
product that it is actually a good buy, not to mention the other qualities
that go beyond organic.

Luckily, there have been some cases where we were able to sell some roasts
to special activities such as banquets (60 pounds for one coming up) and
this summer are expecting to supply the roasts for a large wedding.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Direct marketed dairy beef and produce
(also dairy heifers and beef stockers)
Viroqua, WI






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