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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: Willie McKemie <mf AT austinfarm.org>
  • To: quiltingsue AT earthlink.net, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] New to this list
  • Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 07:27:08 -0600

>
> My first few markets, I did very poorly. The regulars seemed like they were
> blinded by only the vendors that they knew. My vegetables looked great, but

This is common. Soon, you will be recognized by buyers and there will
be some other "new guy".

> weren't selling very well. I began to make Herb bread, then zucchini bread,
> and sell my canned things I had from the previous year. Pickles, Basil
> jelly. I expanded the canned things to Hot pepper jelly, mint jelly, apple
> butter, dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, pickled okra, dilled green
> tomatoes, sweet pickled carrots, pickled beets, pickled jalapenos whole and
> cut, whole mixed hot peppers, and dilly beans. I could sell my canned things
> better than my vegetables. They make a beautiful display, but that is so
> much extra work, I really would prefer to just sell the vegetables. My
> breads sold great, but they take too much time.

This is indicative of prices that are too low; you seem to be unhappy
with the compensation you are receiving for your "value added" products.
You should set prices that compensate you for your costs, including
labor. If it doesn't sell at a price that more than covers costs, you
should look for other products. Don't give up on a product because it
is "too much work"; only give up because you can't get your price.
Around here, grower-canned products seem to sell for $4-$8 per pint or
quart.

Having your "value added" products priced above consumer tolerance
opens the door to discussing how attractively priced your fresh produce
is.

--
Willie, ONWARD! Through the fog!
http://counter.li.org Linux registered user #228836 since 1995
Debian3.0/GNU/Linux system uptime 73 days 18 hours 04 minutes




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