How much do you charge?

[ceara]

Inspired by this video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q

I think perhaps we could generate some income that would further our garden. Money is always tight and there is so much I would like to do, like lots of raised beds. Similar to the setup in this video.

They sell salad greens and edible flowers to a restaurant. There are two upscale restaurants in our area and I would like to sell salad greens to them this year.

But I have never sold anything from the garden before and clueless on how much to charge. Most advice given would be to check grocery store prices and go from there. But those prices are from huge producers who may not grow organically, and it's not always fresh. How can commercial prices be compared to CSA/homegrown organic prices?

However I would like to know how much homegrown uncertified organic would sell generally. Some of you have CSAs or something similar, so how much do you charge? Is there a standard by weight price for everything or do some crops bring more income than others?

I am not hoping to get rich from this endeavor, but simply to help pay for more stuff to build up our gardens, so we could produce more food in future years. Things like lumber for raised beds, purchasing compost, mulch to fill them up initially, and something to lay down in the paths between beds. Our soil is mostly sand and it takes quite a bit to build it up, and we cannot generate enough compost to bulk up as much soil as we would like, so our veg growing areas are limited at the moment.

I like the idea of the raised lumber bed system because there are no annoying spaces between rows and more plant material can be grown without any wasted space.

I am tired of working piecemeal and would like to launch a better set up. Hoping perhaps if I could sell a few easy-to-grow things, it would enable us to get going faster than we would be able to otherwise. Also wishing in future we could get a couple pigs and some small breed cattle, like the Dexter breed from England. They are so cute! But our main problem is while we do have 100 acres, there are no fences or barns/shelters on the property any more. It was all torn down over 20 years ago before we bought the property. Our land used to be a dairy farm back in the 1800s. I feel it would cost a small fortune to build all new shelters and fencing.

Also what about worms? How much do they usually go for when selling to fishermen? Our area is a huge fishing eco-tourism area because there are three trout/Atlantic Salmon rivers on the peninsula. Wondering if fishermen would prefer to buy fresh worms rather than the ones that have been sitting in refrigerators for weeks.

I wish there was someone in Quebec that does consulting work to look at available land and help plan potential viable businesses. I have been watching Monty Don from the UK, and his show "My Dream Farm" on BBC. Would love it if Monty could visit us, but that's not going to happen. hehe

[canadamike]

Get in touch with or join the canadian organic growers, they will help. CSA shares in Quebec are around 5-600$ for the summer

[seedywen]

ceara,
My first question to you would be:
Are you networked with other CSA operations, farm-gate producers, farmer's market in your local area?

I ask because, in my experience as a small market gardener, networking and cooperation with other growers in your local market area is quite crucial, for collective success.

Competition may be bread and butter to the BIG GUYS. However on a local level, it's often counter=productive to building commercial success in a smaller community.

If growers work together they can build up the market. Where I live, we've built up the public appetite for fresh local produce(usually organic) over the past ten years, that the demand for the past few years, has completely outstripped supply. Without the sense of common purpose, am not sure that this outcome would have been achieved.

If you operate, your farming enterprise, on your own, with the factors you mentioned, you may recoup some of your expenses, subsidizing your enterprise. Possibly if you check out what is going on, in your local area, you may benefit from the collective as compared to the competitive factor.

[ceara]

To my knowledge there are no CSAs nearby. I did an internet search and especially looked on equiterre.qc.ca. Nothing for this area at all. Not really sure what happened, but it seems the whole Gaspe peninsula from Rimouski out to where we are hardly has anything. Everything we want has to be shipped in through mail order. Most of the farms on the highway between here and Montreal don't even have any animals and you certainly don't see large vegetable growing areas. It's mostly hay fields or peat moss, with the exception of course of small kitchen gardens with a few potatoes or strawberries here and there.

The only gardening that happens in my local area is when Canadian Tire brings in a huge shipment of flowers and only a few vegetables. The locals go nuts, overspending $10 for one tomato plant in a pot. The leftovers after the first rush of sales go to waste because none of the employees can keep the plants in decent condition. Same thing goes for the two grocery stores. They bring in about two pallets of annual flowers and herbs every year and within one week, all the plants are wilted beyond recovery.

The lack of gardening enthusiasm even caused our one and only plant nursery to close last year.

So I am in a strange situation. After living here since 2002, I haven't met anyone or heard of anyone growing local veg, even after asking around. Not even fruit. Everything gets shipped in by truck, which doesn't make any sense whatsoever, especially since we are right by the ocean with an industrial dock and marina. And prices here are a lot higher than in Montreal.

This is an area where people retire after working in the city, or come here for eco-tourism vacation to fish or winter sports. Otherwise there is a mass exodus to the cities.

It's not really a case of talking to the locals and see what they charge, for there are none to ask. I imagine if I was to telephone someone they would either laugh at the idea or ask why in the heck am I in this area. I already ran into that with my immigration and was laughed at more than once. Everyone said, "why are you in Gaspe, nothing is there." Even the lumber mill was closed down six months after the facility was completed.

It's a shame really. I see good growing land everywhere. But it seems no one is taking advantage of the income possibilities of non-timber forest products (mushrooms, ginseng, etc) or vegetables in this area. Some folks make a bit of money selling wild harvested berries, Christmas wreath/garland, or balsam fir resin collection, but that's about it.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

There are 20 farm-markets within a few miles of my house
so price competition is fierce...

What I charge depends on the crop and the quantity....

Things that have a lot of labor in them like green beans I charge a hefty price around $2.00 a bag, which is similar to the $2 a pound grocery store prices. I don't allow volume discounts on hard to pick items, and I make sure to get a fair wage.

For things that grow like crazy and are easy to pick and have a decent shelf-life, such as slicing cucumbers or summer squash, I sell 4 to 5 for $1.00 which is way less than grocery store prices, but double what some of the neighboring farms are asking. If I don't pick them they will stop producing so I might as well pick them and get what I can from them. Since I sell them by the each and not by the pound a buyer can get little tiny delicate squash, or monster squash and pay the same price. My cost is in the labor of picking them, not in the weight of the fruit.

For things that are easy to grow and very popular and have a short shelf life (tomatoes, peppers) I sell for about 1/2 grocery store prices in small lots, and for about 70% less in canning quantities.
Tomatoes are a very popular crop, and I can always sell every tomato I grow, but I have to move them quickly. Some of the neighboring farms sell small lots of tomatoes at grocery store prices, but they have better storage facilities than I do.

Sweet corn is another very popular crop, and the only one which I can consistently charge more for than what the grocery stores are asking, especially when I can say "picked less than an hour ago".

For crops such as beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, etc that can be harvested today, or next week, or next month I typically ask slightly less than grocery store prices, and say "I'll bring that to market next week"

It seems to me that my customers do not attach monetary value to "Naturally Grown" or "Organic", and it might even hurt sales to advertise such things.

One of my favorite selling tactics is to say "Mix and Match, Anything that fits in this box is $10."

I am very reluctant to dicker about prices... If someone doesn't want to give me a fair price for my labor then they can go somewhere else.

[seedywen]

caera,

Now that you have explained specifics about your particular area in Quebec, it seems that much of the experience earned by others, might be irrevelant in your socio-economic growing area.

You might try approaching the two high-end restaurants you mentioned, and tell them, you are interested in selling produce to them. Possibly ask them, who supplies them, currently, what prices they pay and are they satisfied with the quality and supply of the product. Approach from the angle that you are interested in meeting their needs both from reliable supple and quality of product.

My produce is marketed directly farm-gate or at a weekend farmer's market and so I have little experience with the restaurant trade.

However, am closely networked with a number of other farmers who do sell directly to restaurants and they have shared their experiences with me over the years. Not randomly, via chit-chat but more because I do much of the publicity promoting for our region's buy-local campaign/food security campaigns for the past eight years.

From these grower's experience, have basically gleaned the fact that some restaurants are basically interested in the bottom line price for produce, from distributors chain or local. Others have chefs and/or owners that value the freshness factor or bank on the appeal of the 'local' label to draw customers. Price for your products comes down to negotiation over these two particular variables.

The first scenario, restauranteer is usually interested in cheap. The other, freshness and quality and willing to pay more for it.

The above situation is very simplistic. And likely there are countless more people with more extensive experience who can advise you better.

A side related area, that I have grown for, includes catering companies especially for weddings etc. where you contract for say: the perfect sized baking potatoes or the salad greens etc. Not steady work but a targeted contract for which you can plan and grow.

[ceara]

Thanks for your input!

Yes things are very different here. It's like the people are disconnected.

Anything I would try to sell would have to be quick growing cool weather crops. Corn isn't something easily done here.

No farmers markets here either. I just find it so strange.