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  • From: "Steve Sando" <steve AT mrlucky.com>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] market placement
  • Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 09:40:23 -0800

Negative side of the brain:
Doing the math, it's now dawning on me there's no way to make money at this.
To get bigger and make more gross means hiring more help and chipping away
at the profits. And the reality is most people don't like to cook. They like
slicing tomatoes and will pay a premium early season and then expect a big
discount late season, no matter how special or unusual your varieties. One
in 50 customers is a real cook and is looking for great ingredients and
understands the heart and soul of a farmers market. And now that customer is
being laid off.

Positive side of the brain
Value added products. I sell fresh chiles. Well, I offer them anyway. What
if I dry the ones that don't sell and make ristras (garlands) to sell the
following year or off season? I have access to a commercial kitchen- I could
sell salsa. Dried beans. Dorky lavender products (ther's a glut but people
still buy 'em). Self-publih my own cookbook.

The problem is I then go from the fresh produce section to the "other"
section with the crafts and prepared foods. is this so tragic? In a way, I
think it may even help me by keeping me unique. I know as a shopper I scout
the whole market at least once and then decide what I'm going to buy. Does
this open me up to tax or business licesence problems?

Any thoughts are appreciated. I'm very small potatoes, trying to do this
mostly alone. I feel like there would be a lot of non-cooks who would buy a
chile-garland without blinking. I'm in a touristy area and it's something
they could take home. Selling fresh produce in addition to this would
somehow "validate" me.

Steve
www.ranchogordo.com




  • [Market-farming] market placement, Steve Sando, 03/05/2003

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