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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Pricing produce

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  • From: Willie McKemie <mf AT austinfarm.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pricing produce
  • Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 05:38:25 -0600

On Mon, Mar 15, 2004 at 09:24:53PM -0600, Matt Cheselka wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Mar 2004, Willie McKemie wrote:
> > growers do the same. Small scale farming is a continuing search for
> > the profitable niches.
>
> Hmmm. Your last sentence is an interesting one. When I was asking around
> to different grocers what kinds of veggies they'd want from me, a lot of
> them said, "just the basic stuff -- tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers,
> etc." When I mentioned a few of the "specialty" or "niche" veggies I was
> growing, they'd say, "Huh? What's that? No, our customers don't want any."
> Now I know that this is most likely lack of education on the specialty
> veggie, but it shocked me when they seemed more interested in "the basic
> stuff" and didn't care much for the unique stuff. I'm hoping to "profit"
> by being a steady, reliable stream. Maybe there's a difference in demand
> when you compare wholesale and retail?

"Niche" does not necessarily mean "specialty". One of my niches is
washed and bagged leaf spinach. Another is bagged Green Crop green
beans. Both products are common, but I have at least minor success in
branding (with printed poly bags) my higher quality products and
demanding reasonable prices for them.

Our successful crops tend to be those that have a clear quality
advantage over more traveled competition. Blackberries, tomatoes,
peaches, okra. Our "commodity" crops such as onions, potatoes,
carrots, peppers do not sell well to grocery stores at premium prices;
we sell those mostly in farmers markets. "Honest" farmers markets that
do not allow re-selling.

If you have a product that is noticeably higher quality than that of
the competition, make every effort to get your name on it. That is,
make sure the end user knows it's source. "Branding". Jay Gee is
correct.

--
Willie, ONWARD! Through the fog!
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