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Selling peppers

Pam

Pam

My sister and I are considering setting up a booth at the local Farmer's Market in her town. We're not out to make big bucks, the market is as much a social scene as a commercial center, so mostly we want to have fun. And we would like to make the $5 it costs to set up the booth. I'm going to take some herbs, too.

Our dilemma is what to charge? I don't have a clue how to figure it out except to check out the prices at the local grocery stores and sell below that. Yes, yes, we have a much better product than you can get in the grocery store, but past experience tells me that most people like to look at and talk about eating hot peppers more than they actually like to eat them. And, there's the having fun part to consider.

So, for those of you who sell a few, how do you figure a fair price? Right now I'm thinking $2/pound for the chilies and small pimento peppers, and $2 a piece for the large Corno Di Toros (some of those are 10 and 12 inches long.) And probably a dime for a big stalk of basil, a quarter for the rosemary. I'm thinking I should put the oregano in dime and quarter sized bunches.
 
I don't know what to charge, but what about you selling 'salsa packs' or 'pasta packs' etc ie: prepackaged combinations of your wares, you know, a couple of toms, an onion or two, some parsley and a couple of peppers with preparation instructions on little cards...
 
You could link their worth to the Scoville rating. Give each bag a rating out of 10, as they get hotter they're worth more or you get fewer in the bag.
 
Ha! that's a good idea.

We just sorta played it fast and loose with prices. The big sweet peppers that were the most in demand went for a dollar a piece as did the Bhut Jolokias. One lady was asking about them before my sister even got everything out of her car. She sold all she had to her, and told her I'd be there soon with more, so she came back and bought all of mine. That was a total of 8 Bhut Jolokias...I figure there was some weeping and wailing at her house!
 
Well, I was going to write up how things went at the market...and we did have a wonderful time...but with a belly full of spicy pink-eyed peas and dark beer, I find myself too mellow to do much of anything but relax and listen to the crickets chirp.
 
I look at it like this....
all the farmers markets and grocery stores around here sell jalapenos, standard chili and maybe a yellow wax pepper .
they sell cheap at about 10 cents each .
but i would pay a buck or more far somthing i cant get .
grow a hab or one of the new crazy hot peppers and you will do well.
also teach people about peppers and how to cook with them and you may have a good little business .
I make a kickass chicken noodle soup once a year that is made with all fresh ingriedients that can not be done any other time a year than now .
I buy it all at the farmers market .
about 60 bucks makes a pot.
have fun

shayne
 
Our local grocery stores sell all peppers at the same price $3.99/lb.
Unless there's a surplus/sale then it's $2.99/lb.
The one "discount" grocery has Jalapenos (only hot pepper they sell) for $0.99-$1.99/lb.
Variety depends on the store, between 1-12 types.
 
chilliman64 said:
I don't know what to charge, but what about you selling 'salsa packs' or 'pasta packs' etc ie: prepackaged combinations of your wares, you know, a couple of toms, an onion or two, some parsley and a couple of peppers with preparation instructions on little cards...
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great idea
 
chilliman64 said:
I don't know what to charge, but what about you selling 'salsa packs' or 'pasta packs' etc ie: prepackaged combinations of your wares, you know, a couple of toms, an onion or two, some parsley and a couple of peppers with preparation instructions on little cards...
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JerseyBoyzJerky said:
great idea
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Not a bad idea, expect we're pretty much past tomatoes around here. They burned up in the extreme heat of August.

And, well, that could start looking suspiciously like work. We're in for fun, remember?
 
chilliman64 said:
just think about the money - isn't that why you're selling the stuff - to fund next year's crop???
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Oh, like I could ever make enough to fund next year's crop! Naw, like I said, we're mostly in this for the fun, and making some money on top of that is a nice bonus. If it gets to be too much like work, all the fun will be gone.
 
it's a good way to meet like-minded souls also. some years ago I had a stall at a local market selling chile sauces, powders and pods. never made much money but I sure did enjoy it!
 
chilliman64 said:
it's a good way to meet like-minded souls also. some years ago I had a stall at a local market selling chile sauces, powders and pods. never made much money but I sure did enjoy it!
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Exactly.

We were outside on a beautiful day chatting with people about gardens in general and peppers in particular. I educated a few people about the different species of peppers, and one person even promised to bring me some seeds from an Italian heirloom I've not heard of before.

I had the dog with me, and talked to as many people about dogs as I did peppers. My sister suggested that we radically increase our profits by charging ten cents to pet the dogs, but Matilda would hand out free samples to anyone who made eye contact. (What can I say, she's a lab cross, and you know what attention sluts labs are.)

The people watching was great, too. An elderly lady stopped at the booth next to ours, and bought 2 pounds of shrimp. "They're for my cats", she told the vender, "and it's so nice that you have South Carolina shrimp so I don't have to drive to Columbia to get them." She carefully put the shrimp in an insulated bag along with some cheese she bought from him as well. He laughed and asked if the cheese was for them, too.

"No", she said firmly, "I'm not spoiling them like I did my last
cat."
 
I was at the grocery store today, and they had habaneros for $9.99/lb! In comparison, jalapenos were $2.69/lb. Maybe it has something to do with the size, and possibly the Scoville rating as bentalphanerd suggested?
 
ryanmark said:
I was at the grocery store today, and they had habaneros for $9.99/lb! In comparison, jalapenos were $2.69/lb. Maybe it has something to do with the size, and possibly the Scoville rating as bentalphanerd suggested?
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I dunno, I checked at BiLo last night and all the hot peppers were the same price, $2.69 a pound. On an entertaining note, they had the serranos labeled as habs, the habs labeled as jalapeños, and the jalapeños labeled as sweet cherry peppers.
 
So, we went out to the Farmer's Market again yesterday. The crowd was very small, but the weather wasn't the best. It's was in the low 90's, and the humidity was so heavy you could stir the air with a ladle. We barely broke $10.00, but still had a wonderful time chatting and exchanging gardening stories and recipes. One girl, about 10 or 12, showed up with homemade doggie treats for Abigail and Matilda. She brought some to sell, and Abigail and Matilda gave two enthusiastic paws up to anyone who asked about the treats.

Some pictures...

A basil bouquet and buckets of Lemon Drop, Dedo De Mocha and Puppy Peppers. My sister also brought cook books to talk to people who asked about how to cook the peppers.

Farmersmarket3996.jpg


It's been my experience that a lot of people like the idea of cooking with fresh herbs and things like peppers, but they really don't know how, so if you can offer a few easy suggestions, they buy a few herbs and peppers to try.

A colorful basket that everyone oh'ed and aw'ed over.

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We sent them down the way to get tomatoes for salsa. The man who sells them is so sweet, he always slips an extra tomato or squash in the bag when you buy something from him because he worries that you might not get your money's worth.

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The lamb lady; she sells wool yarn, gorgeous blankets, pelts and meat, all from her farm in South Carolina.

Farmersmarket4010.jpg
 
chilliman64 said:
mmmmm... lamb...
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For a long time, lamb was very difficult to get around here. About all you saw was frozen chops from New Zealand. Now you occasionaly see fresh chops or a leg in the grocery store, but the pickings were still slim. I was delighted when this lady started coming to the market, now I can get just about any cut I want.

I'm tempted to get one of the pelts, but I figure the cats won't let me use very often, so there's not much point.
 
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