artwork Is hoping to start a small hot pepper farm " The Food Business"?

J

Jabski

I would love to grow 1 to 5 acres of hot peppers. Is this the right place to post this question? A farm is about food and is a business. First outdoor growing then greenhouses. I can retire at age 55 in 2017 or I will loose my mind. I want to be growing these with basically only me and a women in Kentucky and earn enough to live relatively nicely. If it turned into a dynasty or empire I wouldn't be sad. I do know I would have to grow tons and tons and tons to be really really comfortable. I'll shoot for the stars but would be happy getting to the far away planets.

If any of you farmers want to clue me in on anything and everything you could THANK YOU!!!

Thanks for any info.
 
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Hit up Wicked Mike. Sicman. Joyner's. Juanitos. Pex.

Talk to all of them and ask them every question you can think of and then ask them more.
Good luck!!!



Of course there are more people but I'm out back at work taking a quick Puff and am on mobile so I can only do so much.
 
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Thank you everyone!  I will let you know when the dynasty begins.  At least begins in my mind during a hot pepper hallucination from a too hot pepper.

sicman said:
You need to decide if it's one or five acres. Get the land ready,including irrigation. You should probably already have seeds started if your going this season. When your operation turns into a dynasty,let me know what that's like
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sicman, I will know for sure of the size by 2017.  This year I'm going to grow lots of plants to see how well I do with this.  From all the reading I have done on THP I see I have so many regulatory and tax issues and permits and all the other things to do this as a real business that I think I will need a year or more to get everything in order.
 
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I really think you would have to be producing tons and literally tons of peppers for a well established company that uses a certain pepper in their product to make this be a full time living. Just my opinion though and I could be wrong, I was once.
 
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Jamison said:
I really think you would have to be producing tons and literally tons of peppers for a well established company that uses a certain pepper in their product to make this be a full time living. Just my opinion though and I could be wrong, I was once.
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I have been looking into the amount needed and yes I would need to grow tons and tons.
 
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Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
 
read the link I posted - especially relevant to this. 
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It is indeed relevant.  I find a lot of inspiration from the first comment on the page at the bottom though :)
 
"Funny how discouraging advise always come first. I've been a pepper farmer here in Austin TX for 3 years. Partner Owner of P&C Peppers and produce. Starting from a small back yard grower to now 10 acres next year 150. My business plan was simple. Ill give it away right here. Grow peppers and sell them. Yup thats it. For the lady looking for a grower. Im here and shipping is free. We NEED USA growers we need more dreamers turned doers. We need farms to turn this country dependent on foreign farms to keep our money here in the USA."
 

Brent Pitts , May 27, 2013
 
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Speaking as a processor of (many pounds) of chiles-  just my .02~
 
If you don't have a specific chile that is proprietary or unique, I'd suggest contacting people who process and use chiles to see what they want and need.  You can grow the coolest chile in the world, but if there's no market for it....:( 
 
But on the flip side- if you grow a pepper that is "in" and "trendy" you can make bank.  Jim Duffy of Refining Fire Chiles in San Diego contracts with a lot of growers around the country with many different chiles to grow chiles for his clients.  Sometimes sauce makers are looking for certain chiles, and sometimes is a matter of just supplying the demand for the Latest/Greatest chile.  Louisiana Pepper Exchange is a Big chile processor.  They might be looking for some new/specialty chile growers.   
 
I don't know a lot of the other raw chile suppliers, that would be some research for you to track down.  You really have to look at who will buy the quanitiy of chiles you can grow, make sure you have a customer before planting, and don't rely on trying to sell 'em on the internet in SFRB if you're trying to move 5 acres of chiles. 
 
Side note- in the past I was co-packing a sauce for a business in Australia.  When the chiles became ripe, the contracted growers shipped the fresh pods to me for processing.  The client had placed her order months before for however many pounds she wanted in the fall.   
 
Check out other growers, also.  ask them if they have orders they may not be able to fulfill, they may need some extra acres...
 
Good Luck!    
 
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Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
 
read the link I posted - especially relevant to this. 
Click to expand...
I did read that and loved it.  I'm so glad I'm not like Dave.  I have wanted to grow something, anything since the 1990's to get out of the corporate world.  Since I can retire at the end of 2017 I started seriously thinking about this last fall.  Shortly after joining THP is when my research began because I love these hot peppers.  I took a Penn State COOP class about "Exploring the Small Farm Dream"  It really opened my eyes to what all is involved.  I am still very carefully doing all the research needed to pull this off.  I still have 2015, 16 & 17 to "perfect" everything I will need to know & do.  I know there will be a lot of work involved with this and I know I can be a total failure.  I rather try my best and fail instead of never trying.
 
All of the kind people on here have posted so much good information about their businesses and that along with many other things keeps me from being like Dave in the link you posted.

 
salsalady said:
Speaking as a processor of (many pounds) of chiles-  just my .02~
 
If you don't have a specific chile that is proprietary or unique, I'd suggest contacting people who process and use chiles to see what they want and need.  You can grow the coolest chile in the world, but if there's no market for it.... :(
 
But on the flip side- if you grow a pepper that is "in" and "trendy" you can make bank.  Jim Duffy of Refining Fire Chiles in San Diego contracts with a lot of growers around the country with many different chiles to grow chiles for his clients.  Sometimes sauce makers are looking for certain chiles, and sometimes is a matter of just supplying the demand for the Latest/Greatest chile.  Louisiana Pepper Exchange is a Big chile processor.  They might be looking for some new/specialty chile growers.   
 
I don't know a lot of the other raw chile suppliers, that would be some research for you to track down.  You really have to look at who will buy the quanitiy of chiles you can grow, make sure you have a customer before planting, and don't rely on trying to sell 'em on the internet in SFRB if you're trying to move 5 acres of chiles. 
 
Side note- in the past I was co-packing a sauce for a business in Australia.  When the chiles became ripe, the contracted growers shipped the fresh pods to me for processing.  The client had placed her order months before for however many pounds she wanted in the fall.   
 
Check out other growers, also.  ask them if they have orders they may not be able to fulfill, they may need some extra acres...
 
Good Luck!    
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Thank you for all that valuable information!!!
 
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SmokenFire said:
 
It is indeed relevant.  I find a lot of inspiration from the first comment on the page at the bottom though :)
 
"Funny how discouraging advise always come first. I've been a pepper farmer here in Austin TX for 3 years. Partner Owner of P&C Peppers and produce. Starting from a small back yard grower to now 10 acres next year 150. My business plan was simple. Ill give it away right here. Grow peppers and sell them. Yup thats it. For the lady looking for a grower. Im here and shipping is free. We NEED USA growers we need more dreamers turned doers. We need farms to turn this country dependent on foreign farms to keep our money here in the USA."
 

Brent Pitts , May 27, 2013
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Completely agree - the article is satire, however it's a good reality check for the costs and skill it takes to do a large scale operation.

The comments are also beneficial in that it can be done.

Anyone just starting up should be inspired to
Do so yet cautious about diving in to such an adventure.

I don't think the piece is "discouraging" at all - I think it's humorous & sensible.
 
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Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
Completely agree - the article is satire, however it's a good reality check for the costs and skill it takes to do a large scale operation.

The comments are also beneficial in that it can be done.

Anyone just starting up should be inspired to
Do so yet cautious about diving in to such an adventure.

I don't think the piece is "discouraging" at all - I think it's humorous & sensible.
Click to expand...
It is how I bet a lot of small businesses end up failing really fast. I see restaurants come and go in less than a year near where I live.  I am going to do my thing with as much knowledge as humanly possible.  A lot of people on here inspire me with their businesses and are successful too.
 
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Jabski said:
I would love to grow 1 to 5 acres of hot peppers.
...
Click to expand...
 
Cool - me too! So this thread is very interesting to me as well. Due to my wife's new job, I have become a stay-at-home dad with a bunch of side projects. We hope to buy a property with 3-5 acres within a few years, and I'd love to start a hobby farm with lots of peppers of course.
 
I contacted a local farm about planting some of my extra peppers and I'll be working with them part-time this season. It's a small, organic, no-till operation that has both flood and drip irrigation. They supposedly have lots of connections with restaurants and sauce makers, and are very much a business, so I hope to learn much from them this season - both in farming techniques and the money side.
 
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5 acres is 2 hectares - pretty big piece of land to manage.

Equipment is a must at that point. Make a list.

I'm very rusty as it's been a long time since my horticulture classes, but that's something like 180,000 sq ft of land

You'll need lots of stuff & likely people to work the land as well. Plus water of course.

It adds up quickly...

Not trying to dissuade you, but for sure I preach caution.
 
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hottoddy said:
Cool - me too! So this thread is very interesting to me as well. Due to my wife's new job, I have become a stay-at-home dad with a bunch of side projects. We hope to buy a property with 3-5 acres within a few years, and I'd love to start a hobby farm with lots of peppers of course.
 
I contacted a local farm about planting some of my extra peppers and I'll be working with them part-time this season. It's a small, organic, no-till operation that has both flood and drip irrigation. They supposedly have lots of connections with restaurants and sauce makers, and are very much a business, so I hope to learn much from them this season - both in farming techniques and the money side.
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Well alright! I wish you the best of luck, skill and anything and everything you need to pull that off. I may be trying something like that in 2016. 2017 at the latest.
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
5 acres is 2 hectares - pretty big piece of land to manage.
Equipment is a must at that point. Make a list.
I'm very rusty as it's been a long time since my horticulture classes, but that's something like 180,000 sq ft of land
You'll need lots of stuff & likely people to work the land as well. Plus water of course.
It adds up quickly...
Not trying to dissuade you, but for sure I preach caution.
Click to expand...
Caution is soooo important.

My # 1 inspiration is having me research this year how much one seed to the final harvest will cost per plant and then calculate how much I will reap from what I sow. She is doing the market research for me because she knows owners at 3 different restaurants and will be selling the fact that hot peppers are a spice as well as a food and are really good for you in many different ways. We will be dealing with fresh peppers and then dehydrated ones and who knows what else. Hydroponic year round greenhouses will come along hopefully by the latest fall of 2018. All this will be done with lots of caution. Thanks Lucky Dog Hot Sause!
 
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Before you'll know what you'll reap you'll need to know the cost of sowing...so put together a list of equipment, pesticides, fertilizer, estimate labor for planting, harvesting, transporting - there will be cost o crates and clippers and all the other stuff you'll need to buy.

All goes into COGS.

Best of luck with it!
 
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Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
Before you'll know what you'll reap you'll need to know the cost of sowing...so put together a list of equipment, pesticides, fertilizer, estimate labor for planting, harvesting, transporting - there will be cost o crates and clippers and all the other stuff you'll need to buy.

All goes into COGS.

Best of luck with it!
Click to expand...
What is COGS?
 
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