I posted this in Hot Sauce making but apparently it was the wrong sub-forum and the topic was simply locked rather than moved. I'm re-posting here.
So buying and shipping drums of thick liquids has become too cost prohibitive for me. Shipping costs SEVERELY cut into my margins. What are my alternatives?
Find another mash supplier that's willing to come down on shipping? There's already a severe shortage of suppliers that deal in smaller-than-shipping-container size quantities. The growers in South America want to unload their harvest all at once (understandably).
Make my own mash? I don't have the acreage to grow my own peppers for the sauce output I do, but I could easily buy/ship the lighter-weight pepper pods. Where is the best place to source fresh pods in bulk?
What about dried chile pods? Can you reconstitute them and make a convincing liquid pepper mash from dried pods?
What about dried/ground chile powder? It would be way cheaper to ship, but I'd think you would lose the fermented flavor and consistency this way - I'd have to alter my recipe entirely.
I'm still a small fry in this biz, what do the bigger shops do?
Sorry for rambling, I'm just trying to feel out my options a bit more.
Salsa Lady asked this in the other topic before it was locked, so I'm following up here.
Yes, I'm buying barrels of fermented mash and making a sauce, and then selling the sauce. It's become too expensive for me to pay for shipping on large barrels of mash.
I could do the mash myself, but don't have a good source for buying fresh pods. I'm also curious if one could make a convincing fermented mash using reconstituted dried pods as dried pods would maybe be even cheaper to ship than fresh pods... but.... where to source dried pods in bulk?
I'm in Georgia. Barrels are coming from either Texas or Louisiana.
So buying and shipping drums of thick liquids has become too cost prohibitive for me. Shipping costs SEVERELY cut into my margins. What are my alternatives?
Find another mash supplier that's willing to come down on shipping? There's already a severe shortage of suppliers that deal in smaller-than-shipping-container size quantities. The growers in South America want to unload their harvest all at once (understandably).
Make my own mash? I don't have the acreage to grow my own peppers for the sauce output I do, but I could easily buy/ship the lighter-weight pepper pods. Where is the best place to source fresh pods in bulk?
What about dried chile pods? Can you reconstitute them and make a convincing liquid pepper mash from dried pods?
What about dried/ground chile powder? It would be way cheaper to ship, but I'd think you would lose the fermented flavor and consistency this way - I'd have to alter my recipe entirely.
I'm still a small fry in this biz, what do the bigger shops do?
Sorry for rambling, I'm just trying to feel out my options a bit more.
Salsa Lady asked this in the other topic before it was locked, so I'm following up here.
salsalady said:Hi Pablo,
Can you clarify a little-
are you buying barrels of fermented mash and making a sauce and selling the sauce?
buying ground chiles (in barrels?), doing the fermentetion and selling barrels of fermented mash?
looking to buy fresh chiles to make your own fermented mash to use in your sauce?
Where are you located on earth ()and where are the barrels coming from/ going to?
Just trying to understand your operation and at what point you are shipping/receiving barrels.
thanks-
SL
Yes, I'm buying barrels of fermented mash and making a sauce, and then selling the sauce. It's become too expensive for me to pay for shipping on large barrels of mash.
I could do the mash myself, but don't have a good source for buying fresh pods. I'm also curious if one could make a convincing fermented mash using reconstituted dried pods as dried pods would maybe be even cheaper to ship than fresh pods... but.... where to source dried pods in bulk?
I'm in Georgia. Barrels are coming from either Texas or Louisiana.