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  • From: Jay Sleichter <jaysleichter AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Market Prices
  • Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:29:34 -0700 (PDT)

Phil,

It is nice to hear that others have the same problems as I do.  We have two large outfits at one of my markets I attend they buy and a resell all kinds of stuff. One day last week they had oranges, peaches, bananas, pineapple and limes in addition to their normal fair.  They also sell it all dirt cheap.  The market management has been fighting them on Labeling the Place of Origin of all their produce.  It is helping, but when their produce gets going, they undercut everyone.  Last fall they were selling Zucchini and Cucumbers, 75 cents each or 5 for a $1.  I can't grow, harvest, pick, cool, transport, and market  those things for 20 cents each.  I don't have that economy of scale on myside. 

One thing I try to do is have things when no one else has them.  It works out for me.  High tunnels have allowed me to do this.  I try to be the first to market with LOCALLY grown produce, then when mine starts to fizzle out, theirs picks up and I am onto another crop. I still grow some, but I have made my $$ on that crop and I don't have to compete.  This way I set the starting price for the item and it usually keeps the price higher through out the year.

Another thing is to start a Producer only market. THis is what we have in my hometown.  I sell more $$ at that market than I do at the other one.  The reason is I don't have to fight low ball pricing. 

Good luck, find your niche and go with it!

Jay
Jay's Jellies, Produce and More
Clay Center, Kansas
www.jaysjellies.com
http://highfarming.blogspot.com/

--- On Mon, 6/13/11, SaladG AT aol.com <SaladG AT aol.com> wrote:

From: SaladG AT aol.com <SaladG AT aol.com>
Subject: [Market-farming] Market Prices
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Monday, June 13, 2011, 12:43 PM

WE have  a vendor that has a couple of large booth's in our market and they are so cheap that they don't even to try to compete in our market, they just give it away because their comment is we have to sell all of it, and it is a lot.  Truth is they just plain and simple overwhelm our market with so much product, no one else can even get close to grocery store price.  I counted 126 cases of lettuce, 25 cases of greens, lettuce 3/1.00 greens .50 a bunch.  If our market was as big as it used to be maybe the other vendors would have a chance, but now the parking is a mess in the old market area with so much going on every weekend and our regular customers are using other markets in town on Saturday, they have no less than 5 other markets in town on Saturday Mornings and three on Sunday.  What a thrill, College World Series starts this Saturday, I love the games, but sales really suck because this series puts 3 Million people in town for 10 days and if you need to go downtown Omaha for the next week, forget it unless you take a bus or have a personal paid for parking spot.
 
People that go to these events are not going to buy vegetables, they are looking for fun, not food.  This market is a ton of fun to attend, but when some vendors are not even using common sense in sales it hurts the whole market, and they expect everyone to be as cheap as the other vendors in the market.  Laura Hodges touched on this a while back, some vendors need to spend a little more time figuring there actual cost of production of each product they are growing.  We do around 400 bunches of green each week mostly wholesale because of pricing in markets, 1.42 last week to 1.75 a bunch to our wholesale outlets and they stop at the farm and pick up.  We get 2.00 at the markets and sell ok so why in the world would anyone sell for .50 a bunch.  Figure the time, pick, wash, bundle,and cool, and sell for .50.  I figured our cost at .72 a bundle, with no labor bill. 
 
I think some of these conferences in the winter need to do a little more on marketing of vegetable products and show how you actually do make a good living in this business,  volume is good but selling below cost is just plain stupid, and it actually hurts your whole market when selling below cost of production.
 
Phil from Iowa
 

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