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  • From: Richard Moyer <ramoyer AT gmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Selling to restaurants
  • Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:02:02 -0400

Carla,
At spring market today, a new customer came up and proceeded to buy all the kale raab, edible flowers and carrots we had left.  (Including about 30# of carrots).  After explaining several items and sharing samples, it finally occurred to me this was a serious juicer or a chef, so I asked.  He began his restaurant last fall and is trying to expand grower connections for this season.

He asked about shelf life, I explained it was all picked yesterday afternoon or this morning.
I asked what he would like this year that he's not getting, and then tried to really listen:
He needs sufficient quantities at least to offer a special, not enough for just a few meals.  So wants local growers who can deliver more than just a handful.
His radish supplier won't be growing this year, so he told me two he needs a grower for (Easter Egg and Watermelon).  
We offered to sell him the edible flowers (violets, redbuds, brassicas) in smaller containers, as he is concerned about wilting while a larger container is out and open.

He paid retail price (except for some of the unsorted carrots).  He's willing to pick up at market, which is a plus for us.

Some of you wrote of the value of direct delivery to restaurants in your business model, which I understand.  But restaurant sales are only 1/7 of our volume, so I greatly prefer chefs to pick up at the market.  Another reason; they see things I wouldn't think to offer in my Email availability list.  Example: when we were running out of spinach last year and time to harvest carefully, we pulled a bunch of bolting stalks and were harvesting the good leaves at the base of a plant.  A few tiny triangular leaves high on the stem made it into the lettuce mix at market.  A chef spied these tiny leaves, then placed a sizeable multiweek order of these tiny, dark green triangles.  I said they'd be costly because the labor, he said he uses so few per plate cost was not an issue.  One of multiple occurrences last year where a chef spied something we were doing, leading to additional sales because they came to market and imagined the possibilities.  

So, when you can get chefs to your market stand, good things can happen; they can have more time and focus when away from the restaurant.  If you have help at your stand, you can build a relationship.  (Though a regular customer today told me she's had to wait too long at my stand before service; need to honor these relationships, too.)

Good topic to prepare me for this morning!
Richard in SW VA, redbuds in full bloom.


From: Jay Sleichter <jaysleichter AT yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] selling to restaurants
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
       <1332553425.4009.YahooMailNeo AT web160106.mail.bf1.yahoo.com">1332553425.4009.YahooMailNeo AT web160106.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
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That happened to us last year too.? A local restaurant has a "Local Special" every Saturday night.? They loved our purple potatoes and carrots.? I always thought it was weird that the same couple came every week and bought 8 to 10 pounds of carrots and potatoes.? They bought other stuff too.? I didn't know it until a friend asked me if I sold purple potatoes and carrots to the restaurant because they tasted just like mine.? I finally had some time to talk to them and I was able to put it all together.

Jay

?
Jay's Jellies, Produce and More
Clay Center, Kansas
www.jaysjellies.com
http://rvp.locallygrown.net/


________________________________
 From: Carla Maness <manessfarm AT gmail.com>
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] selling to restaurants


Thank you all for your responses. Last year we sold cherry tomatoes to a restaurant, but the chef came down to the market, and paid retail price. We didn't even realize he was a chef until he told he was buying "for the restaurant". This year, a different chef has approached us, but he heard about us from the "other" chef. ?Both are local restaurants, and really seem to want to buy local food.
The chef from last year never balked at our prices so maybe the new chef won't either.?
Our farmers market sets up in a park which is practically in the restaurants backyard, so I'm hoping the chef will come to market and shop just like our other guy does. We'll see though. It's exciting to think about!

Carla
Perkins, OK


On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com> wrote:

I am reposting this since it never seemed to post.
>
>We love selling to restaurants. ?Some loathe it. ?I think it all depends on how hands on you want to be. ?Our pricing for chefs is pretty much wholesale. ?Its easy, its a quick delivery (we gang them all up together and then do charge for delivery using Google maps to plot the most efficient routes), and most pay COD.
>
>In the end they are simply ONE part of a multi faceted income stream.
>
>We sell to chefs (this can mean a wide range of things from 1000.00 orders to 25.00 drop offs of a single item), retailers (anybody that takes our product ad resells it...again this varies from Whole Foods to a small little Vegan place that serves a neighborhood of a couple hundred...maybe a thousand people), at a single farmers' market (we rate it the third best in the region overall and second best during winter), and then what I label on my spreadsheets as "others" which ranges from an artisan soap maker that wants herbs and honey, a chocolatier, a couple bakers, and fermenting company (I should probably call the category "producers").
>
>The percentage of our 2011 sales breaks down like this:
>
>
>Retail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?39%
>Farmer's Market 30%
>Restaurant ? ? ? ? ? ? ?28%
>Other ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 3%
>
>Chefs were our biggest source of revenue but we have started working a lot with several retailers including Whole Foods that have just exploded for us. ?A lot of this has to do with the economy and the demand for local foods at all levels. ? Restaurants took a heavy hit in this poor economy. ?In the end we supply three of the top four chefs/restaurants in Cincinnati. ?They range in style from 100% local food head to simply sourcing locally for a menu that disregards seasonality (we do not quibble about why, just happy that they do).
>
>If you start wholesaling then you better have an exact grasp of what it costs you to grow an ounce of herbs or a pound of greens. ?We've stopped doing some of our own transplants for the simple fact that I can get nice quality organic certified starts for less than it costs us to do them ourselves. ?A year ago, with less firm numbers I would have argued that the reverse was true.
>
>I'll argue that ANY business is good business is good business starting out. ?Take the small stuff even when you are taking a small loss because it'll get your foot in the door and when farmer X suddenly runs out of greens and you are flush with them you step up and start supplying them. ?Bide your time and be a good supplier and things get better. ?Figure it will take three years to develop a good base.
>
>I'd also like to add that if you are not currently an LLC or S Corp or equivalent then I would strongly consider doing this. ?Once you leave the farm stand or FM your need to start thinking more as a farm business and not family farmstead. ?You need to start focusing on GAP as well. ?You'll need insurance for some and IRS paperwork and the like.
>
>Richard Stewart
>Carriage House Farm
>North Bend, Ohio
>
>An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855
>
>(513) 967-1106
>http://www.carriagehousefarmllc.com
>rstewart AT zoomtown.com
>
>



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