Creative Ways to Sell Produce + How to Price it
Audio Brief
Show transcript
This episode covers creative alternative markets for small scale farmers and foundational strategies for pricing and wholesale management.
There are three key takeaways for market gardeners looking to diversify sales. First, explore unconventional sales channels like embedded farm stores and local non agricultural businesses. Second, prioritize immediate and transparent communication over perfect yields in wholesale contracts. Third, establish firm pricing baselines based on production costs without undercutting the local agricultural ecosystem.
Moving beyond traditional farmers markets opens untapped revenue streams for flowers and shelf stable agricultural products. Farmers can pitch sample subscriptions or produce drop offs to low competition local businesses like gyms, clothing boutiques, or dentist offices. Collaborating with other local producers is another highly effective strategy. For instance, placing a vegetable retail fridge at a local meat farm creates a decentralized, mutually beneficial farm store that expands reach without requiring constant staffing.
In wholesale farming, maintaining transparent communication is significantly more critical to buyers than perfectly hitting unpredictable yield targets. Trust is the true currency in farm to restaurant relationships. When experiencing a crop failure or delay, farmers should inform the chef or buyer immediately. Whenever possible, growers should try to source a replacement from a neighboring farm to protect the business relationship and keep the local supply chain moving.
When establishing retail and wholesale pricing, growers must protect the broader market ecosystem. Attempting to win market share through cheap pricing is a destructive strategy that damages the local food economy and ultimately hurts the offending farm's profitability. Instead, new growers should visit local premium grocery stores and utilize market reports to establish a reliable starting point for pricing unfamiliar crops. Most importantly, farmers must calculate the specific production costs for each individual garden bed to determine their absolute price floor.
Ultimately, long term success in small scale farming relies on innovative market expansion paired with disciplined pricing and honest buyer relationships.
Episode Overview
- Explores creative and unconventional alternative markets for small-scale farmers to sell produce, seeds, and flowers beyond the traditional farmers market.
- Provides practical advice on managing wholesale contracts and buyer relationships when dealing with unpredictable yields, crop failures, or bumper crops.
- Outlines foundational strategies for new growers to confidently price their products for both retail and wholesale markets without undercutting the local agricultural economy.
- Offers a valuable resource for market gardeners looking to diversify their sales channels and build resilient, communicative relationships with local chefs and retailers.
Key Concepts
- Alternative Market Channels: Unconventional outlets like flea markets, massive regional yard sales, local clothing boutiques, gyms, and dentist offices offer untapped revenue streams, particularly for flowers and shelf-stable agricultural products.
- Embedded Farm Stores: Collaborating with other local producers (e.g., placing a vegetable fridge at a local meat farm) creates mutually beneficial, decentralized farm stores that expand reach without requiring constant staffing.
- The Supremacy of Communication: In wholesale farming, maintaining transparent and immediate communication about crop shortages or delays is significantly more critical to buyers than perfectly hitting unpredictable yield targets.
- Pricing Baselines and Basements: While local organic grocery stores and USDA market reports provide accessible baselines for retail and wholesale pricing, a farm's actual production cost per bed must serve as the absolute price floor.
- Protecting Local Market Ecosystems: Undercutting fellow farmers at local markets damages the overall local food economy, angers peers, and ultimately hurts the offending farm's profitability.
Quotes
- At 4:55 - "I love the idea of embedding stores in stores... a veggie fridge on every meat farm? Rad, that sounds awesome." - Highlights the innovative concept of decentralized, collaborative farm networks to increase sales footprint.
- At 8:32 - "The advice I generally give to people when it comes to selling and forecasting... is less about getting it right and wrong, and more about keeping a good, honest line of communication open with that customer." - Explains that trust and transparency are the true currencies in farm-to-restaurant wholesale relationships.
- At 16:38 - "Don't undercut them because in turn, you're undercutting yourself... you're ultimately losing money and driving the price down for everyone and making your market neighbors angry." - Clarifies why attempting to win market share through cheap pricing is a destructive strategy for small-scale agriculture.
Takeaways
- Calculate the specific production costs for each individual garden bed to determine the absolute minimum revenue required to make a profit before setting retail prices.
- When experiencing a crop failure or delay for a wholesale order, inform the chef or buyer immediately and try to source a replacement from a neighboring farm to protect the business relationship.
- Pitch a "sample bouquet" subscription or veggie drop-off to unconventional local businesses (like gyms, therapists, or boutiques) to test new, low-competition sales avenues.
- Visit local premium grocery stores (like Whole Foods) and online organic wholesale hubs to establish a reliable starting point for pricing crops you have never grown before.
