Growing for Value Added Folk?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

I have a couple patrons who buy my produce for value added products.  But they are fairly small.  Medium flat rate type folk.  Have been approached for much larger volumes but have absolutely no idea how that sort of thing works.  Do growers set a pound price and the buyer pays postage?  Does the grower build the shipping into the pound price?  Do people even use USPS / UPS type services or is there a common courier sort of thing going on?
 
I know folk who sell produce to distributors in what I would consider huge quantities.  The buyer typically sends a truck, but that sounds way bigger than anything my farm is up to.
 
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AJ,
 
You know what you're normally getting for SFRBs and MFRBs.  Weigh one of each, with appropriate mixes/types of each pepper.  (one sfrb of habs, one sfrb of morugas, one sfrb of aji lemon or whatever - you get the gist)  Point being there will be a lot more habs to the pound than aleppos if you're smelling what I'm stepping in.  
 
Moving up to larger quantities will mean selling more product, but it will also mean selling said produce for less per pound (or unit).  If you are currently producing more than you can sell then sure you need to scale up and entertain the larger buyers idea.  If you're not then stay small and sell smaller lots at higher per unit prices.  The market you're in (hard to find hot peppers + whatever other produce you're growing) is still relatively small so imo you should take larger inquiries/orders on an as able basis. 
 
The only situation I see that would be good for you was if someone inquires about a contract grow where they/you get seed and then enter into an agreement to buy X quantity of peppers for Y price per pound so you'd know roughly how much space to allocate for whatever pepper and such.   
 
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In the bulk pepper transactions i have been involved with, the sellers sets the price per pound, and it varies by chile variety, and buyer pays shipping. These shippments were 50-200# of fatalii, moruga, 7 Pots.
 
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salsalady said:
In the bulk pepper transactions i have been involved with, the sellers sets the price per pound, and it varies by chile variety, and buyer pays shipping. These shippments were 50-200# of fatalii, moruga, 7 Pots.
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First thought is yuck, I have to figure out shipping.  But flat rate boxes only go so far.  A medium flat rate box is only 3 or 4 pounds.  No clue on large flat rate boxes, but cant imagine more than 10.  No clue how someone would ship 50 to 200 pounds.  I have a really good patron in Cincinnati that I drive things to.  Its only two hours and I have friends just north of there that I can stay with and like to visit.  Oh, and its a deli and I get free food there with chat and subs to go.  Its like getting paid to take a two day vacation.  Of course it has nothing to do with getting away from the kids for a couple days so I can remain sane.  Nothing at all.
 

 
 
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SmokenFire said:
The only situation I see that would be good for you was if someone inquires about a contract grow where they/you get seed and then enter into an agreement to buy X quantity of peppers for Y price per pound so you'd know roughly how much space to allocate for whatever pepper and such.   
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All very good advice except for what I just quoted.  I dont want to do a contract grow or accept money up front.  Between Mother Nature and medical challenges, it scares the hell out of me.
 
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