Anyone here sell supers at the farmer's markets? I was just wandering if it would be risky selling a pepper that hot at the farmer's market. A friend of mine suggested for me to sell me extras there this summer. I'm just afraid that it may cause problems, especially if they are handled incorrectly. I'd like any advice that anyone would share with me about selling supers at the farmer's market.
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Farmer's Market
- Thread starter Habanero Fellow
- Start date
I don't remember which but I am positive there's a topic for this.
We sold some at the farmers market last year. It is definitely an "add-on" type of item. We wouldn't be able to cover costs if we brought only supers but we would usually sell 10-20 small packages.
What we did was put a variety of peppers in pint, berry container, about 10-12 peppers each and sold them for $3/pint. When we tried to do pints of just one type, people weren't as interested.
What we did was put a variety of peppers in pint, berry container, about 10-12 peppers each and sold them for $3/pint. When we tried to do pints of just one type, people weren't as interested.
What other types of stuff did you sell along with your peppers?
We also sell organic produce. It is a seasonal type of thing, so our exact list of veggies varies from week to week.
Our best selling stuff is lettuce, we grew about 10 different types over the course of the year, organic lettuce goes for $3/bag at the market and we usually sell out in the first 2 hours.
We also do really well with carrots, fresh soy beans, green beans and broccoli as well. We will sometimes bring a few tomatoes, but there are 3 or 4 other vendors who bring ONLY tomatoes, by the truckload, and sell them dirt cheap, so its not really worth the effort.
Our farmer's market has pretty high barriers for entry. There's an application, inspection, mentoring, and pretty stringent scheduling. I haven't tried because I'm not flexible enough at this point to make it happen. There's one farm I know of in an adjacent city that produces a lot of specialty peppers, but they mostly sell straight to restaurants in the city.
I don't think that there's much money to be made here selling bells and sweets, but there's a hot pepper demand to be filled at some point. I imagine that if you make it clear that they're hot, you can use it for marketing and consumer awareness purposes and be fine.
I don't think that there's much money to be made here selling bells and sweets, but there's a hot pepper demand to be filled at some point. I imagine that if you make it clear that they're hot, you can use it for marketing and consumer awareness purposes and be fine.
peppers in general are not a huge moneymaker at the markets... they work great to draw people's attention to your stand though. i sold way more aji dulce's last year than any other variety because our local Puerto Rican community learned that i had them and no one else had them.
my primary product is microgreens... other top moneymakers are salad greens of all types, asparagus, tomatoes, and blackberries.
my primary product is microgreens... other top moneymakers are salad greens of all types, asparagus, tomatoes, and blackberries.
What about early season seedlings (not just peppers). Anyone have luck that way?
The other topic I mentioned had a discussion about posting a disclaimer. If you're selling supers, it's probably a good idea to CYA.
Something simple - a warning that the peppers you're selling are really, really hot, and "stunt eating" is both discouraged and to be done at the customer's own risk.
Also post about allergens, and possible reaction.
Interestingly a sign like this will likely help sales rather than hinder, but you can't protect yourself enough from the idiots of the world who'll buy them, and immediately say "here Bertha, hold my beer & watch this - these ain't so hot!" and then munch down 4-5 pods. Next thing you know, old Cletus is in the hospital blaming you because you didn't have a sign.
Something simple - a warning that the peppers you're selling are really, really hot, and "stunt eating" is both discouraged and to be done at the customer's own risk.
Also post about allergens, and possible reaction.
Interestingly a sign like this will likely help sales rather than hinder, but you can't protect yourself enough from the idiots of the world who'll buy them, and immediately say "here Bertha, hold my beer & watch this - these ain't so hot!" and then munch down 4-5 pods. Next thing you know, old Cletus is in the hospital blaming you because you didn't have a sign.
actually yes, we sell a lot of plants each spring/early summer. heirloom tomatoes and herbs are what move the best for me in that respect.
I guess I left out some details.
We do have a waiver of liability that we take with us when we sell the peppers, we also have a warning on our chalkboard that we use for prices and inventory.
Finding the right farmer's market is always a challenge. We have many to choose from and some of them seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for small farms and beginning farmers to get their foot in the door. There is one market, in particular, that will not allow you to use the word "organic" in print or conversation unless you are "certified". Which keeps most of the small and medium sized farmers out of the market completely since 4 or 5 "organic" large farms show up every week with tons of "organic" produce.
We stay out of St. Louis City because some of the markets there have crazy weekly fees. I don't know any small farmers that can pay $500 a day for a market space and have any money to take home.
We haven't done any spring vegetable starts, our markets don't even open until mid-late May so by that point most of the gardeners have already got their starts from Lowes or Walmart.
We do have a waiver of liability that we take with us when we sell the peppers, we also have a warning on our chalkboard that we use for prices and inventory.
Finding the right farmer's market is always a challenge. We have many to choose from and some of them seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for small farms and beginning farmers to get their foot in the door. There is one market, in particular, that will not allow you to use the word "organic" in print or conversation unless you are "certified". Which keeps most of the small and medium sized farmers out of the market completely since 4 or 5 "organic" large farms show up every week with tons of "organic" produce.
We stay out of St. Louis City because some of the markets there have crazy weekly fees. I don't know any small farmers that can pay $500 a day for a market space and have any money to take home.
We haven't done any spring vegetable starts, our markets don't even open until mid-late May so by that point most of the gardeners have already got their starts from Lowes or Walmart.
the USDA owns the term "organic"- unless you have paid for certification to rent the term from them you can't use it. i call my stuff "chemical free" and it works out just fine. we have USDA folks through our local markets all the time as they have a large office nearby.
$500 a day to vend is insane... nothing in DC is anywhere near that.
I have a neighbor who goes to DC to sell twice a week and does roughly $10k a week during tomato season. He is decidedly a small farmer- has 3 employees in season. He's been at it a long time though. The markets he sells at are nearly impossible to get into as a vendor at this point...waiting lists are decades deep.
Yep, at the two markets we go to regularly, we can say "organically grown, no spray, or chemical free". The market that won't let us say "organic" also does not allow these terms. They have really gone out of their way to make it impossible to compete. They have the big organic farms show up, but no one else brings produce because you just can't compete. Its a very, "yuppie" laden area so no one will buy anything not labeled organic. Its just funny to me because they have 100 other vendors show up selling everything BUT produce, making it more carnival than farmer's market. Also, they would allow me to sell MY produce to one of the big farms, who can then label it "organic" and sell it. It just doesn't seem right.
Off my soapbox now! Sorry for the sidetracking.
imo turning it into a craft fair or allowing vendors to sell product they didn't produce both subvert the entire purpose of a farmer's market.
Yep - and the big corporations have all but made "all natural" meaningless thanks to hack marketing (because disodiummethylcarbonatimtryl or whatever is naturally occurring) but you can say "organic" unless you're certified. Which costs money because you have to be in the association that certifies you. Gah.
The worst is "GMO". My product is non-GMO. I do not buy from farms that have GMO produce. Yet if I want to put a "NON-GMO" sticker on my bottle I need to pay thousands to an org to be officially sanctioned as non-GMO.
That was what the whole "truth in Labeling" thing in CA was about. And it would have passed except Monsanto and a few other gigantic companies threw 380 million dollars in campaigning at it over the last two months, so it lost by a lousy 6%.
Gah
Ok, now ill get off of my soapbox.
One thing to note about Farmer's Markets: there is typically an annual association fee. There are many associations, so pick one that hits the area you wish to cover. Then (in CA) there's a county food handling permit required - for every country you want to table in. Then there's the daily market fees that have already been mentioned. Mine aren't too bad $45/day, paid a week in advance. If I don't cancel by Thurs, I pay for nothing.
There could be other fees too, depending on where you are & local regulations.
You'll also likely be required to carry liability insurance by the market association.
And you may be required to have a certain kind of canopy - and will likely be required to have a weight or weights for it. When the wind kicks up, those things can be very dangerous if they're not weighted down.
Agreed.
It ticks me off that everyone has their hands out too. My wrist has gotten sore writing checks for the damn FM's. luckily I don't have to charge sales tax, but I need to keep tight records of every bottle I sample, sell or break because the IRS is gonna be hitting me up for income tax too. And with a mostly cash business it's like begging for an audit.
The worst is "GMO". My product is non-GMO. I do not buy from farms that have GMO produce. Yet if I want to put a "NON-GMO" sticker on my bottle I need to pay thousands to an org to be officially sanctioned as non-GMO.
That was what the whole "truth in Labeling" thing in CA was about. And it would have passed except Monsanto and a few other gigantic companies threw 380 million dollars in campaigning at it over the last two months, so it lost by a lousy 6%.
Gah
Ok, now ill get off of my soapbox.
One thing to note about Farmer's Markets: there is typically an annual association fee. There are many associations, so pick one that hits the area you wish to cover. Then (in CA) there's a county food handling permit required - for every country you want to table in. Then there's the daily market fees that have already been mentioned. Mine aren't too bad $45/day, paid a week in advance. If I don't cancel by Thurs, I pay for nothing.
There could be other fees too, depending on where you are & local regulations.
You'll also likely be required to carry liability insurance by the market association.
And you may be required to have a certain kind of canopy - and will likely be required to have a weight or weights for it. When the wind kicks up, those things can be very dangerous if they're not weighted down.
Agreed.
It ticks me off that everyone has their hands out too. My wrist has gotten sore writing checks for the damn FM's. luckily I don't have to charge sales tax, but I need to keep tight records of every bottle I sample, sell or break because the IRS is gonna be hitting me up for income tax too. And with a mostly cash business it's like begging for an audit.
This is where staying out of the city really helps us out. We do not pay any association fees, both markets we attend are run by the towns where they are held and they probably lose money on the deal. We pay $10/week for our space at each, but you get 50% for buying a season pass.
We do not have to bring a canopy, we do, but many don't. Same with insurance, totally optional.
Makes me glad that I live in this backwards, small town and not in St. Louis proper.
Most, if not all, of the markets inside St. Louis City have similar guidelines to what you deal with LDHS. The hassle along with the extra drive make it more profitable for me to stay out of them, even though sales would probably be better.
no asociations involved in any of the markets i have sold at (4) or have researched (a lot)- all require you to carry liability insurance and to list them as co-insured. i wouldn't want to sell to the public without liability insurance anyway.
seasonal fees range from $150 to $600 depending on the market and the size of your setup. daily fees range from $25-$50 for the ones offering daily- the desirable markets in our area are pretty much operating at full capacity with full season vendors though so many don't offer daily fees.
most require weights for your tents, only a couple actually require a tent though. i don't know how you could do a market in the summer with fresh produce without a tent however.
i'm also involved in a couple of markets from a management standpoint and have been involved in the founding of one so can offer some input from that perspective if anyone has questions.
seasonal fees range from $150 to $600 depending on the market and the size of your setup. daily fees range from $25-$50 for the ones offering daily- the desirable markets in our area are pretty much operating at full capacity with full season vendors though so many don't offer daily fees.
most require weights for your tents, only a couple actually require a tent though. i don't know how you could do a market in the summer with fresh produce without a tent however.
i'm also involved in a couple of markets from a management standpoint and have been involved in the founding of one so can offer some input from that perspective if anyone has questions.