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market-farming - [Market-farming] Thai Basil - get rich quick

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  • From: "Craig Gilbert" <GarlicBed AT Comcast.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Thai Basil - get rich quick
  • Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 00:28:16 -0400

I decided to cash-in on the some fifty Thai restaurants near me in Atlanta and grow Thai Basil.
 
The plan was to sell to restaurants. No restaurants wants the Siam Queen variety (learned the hard way in the prior year that an all-american winner does not appeal to the chefs who all critically smelled it and tasted it and declared it was not quite right). So I started about 500 plants of the Seeds of Change Thai Basil.
 
Of course the plan was to sell to restaurants at $5.00 per pound, but the actuality was that the going price was $2.0 a pound. To harvest 20 pounds and deliver to my only two restaurant clients took 2 hours for harvest, packing and preparation. 1 hour delivery, and it delayed me from work another hour or 2.  I earn $50 per hour as a computer guru. To make $40 in Basil cost me approximately $250.  It was very difficult to get restaurant clients. I delivered bags and bags of samples, but got very little interest. They want a check box on a form from their distributor, and get it all delivered at once reliably (regardless of the weather).  It is hard to deliver on Tuesday morning if it is raining when I want to harvest. when I took the Basil to the many Asian groceries, they liked it and offered a whopping .80 cents a pound.  I was producing 50 pounds a week, but I just did not want to go through all the effort for that price.
 
By about the 6th week, I had to take the electric hedge trimmers to the Basil as so much had flowered and it was at least waist high. I ended up taking the hedge trimmers to it at least twice more over the summer. In the fall, the stand of Thai Basil was incredible. The stuff kept on coming and loved the cooler weather.
 
Many restaurants also want Holy Basil.  This is usually twice the price of regular Thai Basil. Again there are many varieties of these, and some chefs wanted to try it with their dishes to see how it tastes. With holy Basil, I think the chefs like a nice fragrant blossom on the plant, and cook it just like the leaves. Same with regular Thai basil.
 
About harvest, harvest when dry, and I used these thermal bags made of some type of flexible "aluminum foil outside, but lined with plastic inside". they are called hot/cold bags, and they were great. I just put a few zip lock bags of Ice in each to keep a cool temperature, and the Basil was beautiful on delivery.
 
After the emails on Basil, thought I would share this story. Hope you got a laugh.
 
I am growing three varieties of Holy Basil this year, and I cook almost everything with it. One is the seeds of change, the other two are from Thailand. There is a green leaf and a reddish purple leaf.  It is a lovely incredible plant, and it appeals to Vietnamese restaurants as well as Thai restaurants. 
 
 



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