2016 Prices
 

Just wanted to start this to update previous surveys here on what you are charging in 2016.

I really am interested in wholesale pricing to restaurants, but I'm sure others would like to know what people are going to charge at Farmer's Markets or Stores.

I know I can get $2/lb for heirlooms at restaurants here, but feel I should be closer to $3-4.

I charge 3$ lb at market for all tomatoes.

Plants I sell 3$ each or 2 for $5 or 5 for $10

I sell to the mobile market food truck at about a dollar per pound less than to customers, sometimes they offer more.

Our pricing is across the board. Tomatoes are $4.00/lb : Cukes $2-$6 a lb depending on type: Beans $3-$4 /lb: radishes .40-1.00/ea: peppers $4/lb: Basil $3/oz : peas $4-$5/lb : Melons $4 and up : lettuce $3.00 /8oz (live)

What we offer is not pedestrian produce which reflects in the price. We also are delivering which the produce companies have a separate charge for. Deliveries can be 3 times a week so they don't need to eat up valuable space and because we measure our freshness in hours at the time of delivery they are getting a superior product. This isn't a list of everything we offer or all of our pricing/marketing strategy but it should give you an idea.

Looks like I should be at least 3/lb for heirlooms. It would be to higher end restaurants with affluent clientele on vacation at the beach...
I just can't wrap my head around asking $4 but based on your prices in Ohio I gotta think chefs would pay 4 if the varieties are tasty and visually beautiful.
I agree [B]marketing[/B] and quality would drive these features.

And thanks you guys for sharing numbers. I know that is somewhat sensitive info, and I appreciate your willingness to divulge that.

at the local farmers market in my area, nothing is worth anything.
Tomatoes, if I price them at anything higher than $1 a pound, I take them all back home.
I started last year at $1.50 a pound, but two other vendors get there every week, walk around checking everyone elses prices, then mark their stuff lower. They bottom out at $1 per pound, so every other vendor has to follow suit or sell nothing.
I do get $2 for cherry tomatoes.
I had always charged $1.50 pound for green beans. last year the weather was horrible and no one's beans produced very well. I was just about to raise my prices to $2 pound due to lack of availability and selling out within half hour every week, but then comes Ron, he grew a ton of them and set his price at $1 per pound. So I left mine at $1.50 and still sold out quickly every week.
Bell peppers, I get 2 for $1 or 3 for $1 depending on the size and quality of the pepper.
most other peppers (mini sweets, banana, jalepeno, etc) I get 10 for $1
zucchini 50 cents to $1 each
cucumbers 3 for $1 for straight 8s, 10 for $1 picklers
sweet corn, when we have it is $4 dozen
pumpkins vary depending on size, variety, and quality, but the small Baby Boo and Jack Be Little types, we get 50 cents each out of those

what area are you ?

[QUOTE=Uncle Doss;534489]at the local farmers market in my area, nothing is worth anything.
Tomatoes, if I price them at anything higher than $1 a pound, I take them all back home.[...]
I do get $2 for cherry tomatoes.[/QUOTE]

That's my market and pricing as well.

I sell by the bag/basket instead of by weight, but since most of the people here are required by religious edict to grow gardens, and since they give away their vegetables to each other, and since most everybody is poor, nothing is worth anything.

The local farm stands in northern Utah sell tomatoes for as low as 38 cents per pound during peak tomato season. (In bushel quantities.) I'm willing to let bulk quantities go for 50 cents per pound, but not any less than that.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/market/market-2014-08-30.jpg[/IMG]

Wow Joseph.
How do you make a living at those prices?

is that 8$ for the whole box of peaches? :shock:

My prices are low, too, although not as bad as Joseph's.

I start my mixed color cherry pints at $3 or 2 for $5. I have dropped them to $2 in late summer when I have a large supply.

The first guy with tomatoes at market grows them hydroponically in a heated greenhouse, picks them green, and gasses them with ethylene to make them pink. They are like eating a mouthful of pink sand, but people buy them, because they are the first tomatoes. I don't even know what he charges; I don't consider his product to be tomatoes.

The organic heirloom vendor sets her prices at $4 a pound. I rarely see her sell anything. The rest of us keep to about the same prices. We start at $2.50/lb I think. Then over the course of the summer, it drops to $1.50, and bottoms out at 99 cents in late July, sometimes only for the last hour or so of market.

I haven't started selling to restaurants, yet. Market customers buy with their eyes. They hate imperfect fruit, bug bites, or anything that looks wrong. I would think that chefs would care a lot more about taste than looks, because the restaurant customer is never going to see what the whole tomato looked like.

[QUOTE=PureHarvest;534530]Wow Joseph.
How do you make a living at those prices?[/QUOTE]

I'm a monk. I live under a vow of poverty...

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;534538]is that 8$ for the whole box of peaches? :shock:[/QUOTE]

Yup. Those boxes are peck sized, so $16 per half bushel.

I primarily sell at a produce auction these days and am quite pleased.

I sell "Amazing Tomatoes". These are Tom Wagner, Artisan, WBF and a few other exotic varieties in order to set myself apart from the standard round, red crowd. I get $4/lb for regular size, and $5/pint for cherries, until August when I have to knock off $1 due to the absolute flood of tomatoes on the market. I do attract more attention with the unique varieties, but by October I'm down to $3/lb and $3/pint just to sell out.

I willing pay $3 a pound for average tasting tomatoes. The tomato sellers have the longest lines at our little farmers market and they quickly sell out of everything. Celebrity tomatoes are an example of type of tomato offered. I would gladly pay $4 a pound or more for better tomatoes.

Supply and Demand is universal.

I have one market that is in a larger town, next to a big university. It's more upscale. Customers come to spend money.

My other markets are in smaller towns, and I will probably stop going to them, because I want to focus on quality, and there is just no money there to pay for it. People go to those markets to save money. They're looking for produce that is cheaper than the grocery store. Poorer people have it ingrained in their minds that nice things are not for them. They will always buy the lowest-priced product; they think they have to. It's not that they don't appreciate quality; these same customers will all stop and admire my tomatoes, tell how beautiful they are, and then walk down to the 99 cent/lb guy to buy from him. They think they have to.

so sad but true

Exactly, that is why I plan to only sell at the big market this year, plus they have the SNAP program now so poor people can buy fruits/veggies at market with their EBT/food stamp cards. This program increased total sales at the market by 40k last year.

I stopped buying cheese because I got my paws on some really good stuff and cant afford it.
Now the other stuff tastes horrible.

Maybe that is why the folks that are on a limited income dont want to try or buy the fancy tomatoes.
I haven't had a fresh a tomato in around 6 months.

Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;534980]I stopped buying cheese because I got my paws on some really good stuff and cant afford it.
Now the other stuff tastes horrible.

Maybe that is why the folks that are on a limited income dont want to try or buy the fancy tomatoes.
I haven't had a fresh a tomato in around 6 months.

Worth[/QUOTE]

I have a sister that lives by Madison WI, I have tasted 5,7,10,15,20 year old cheese...
Mostly cheddar, it crystallizes after so many years, little crunchy chunks in it the older it gets, only need to eat a couple little pieces to appreciate the flavor. If I had a choice I would eat 20 year old... But only small amounts, with a couple grapes...

[QUOTE=pmcgrady;535029]I have a sister that lives by Madison WI, I have tasted 5,7,10,15,20 year old cheese...
Mostly cheddar, it crystallizes after so many years, little crunchy chunks in it the older it gets, only need to eat a couple little pieces to appreciate the flavor. If I had a choice I would eat 20 year old... But only small amounts, with a couple grapes...[/QUOTE]

I got some aged stuff out of Ireland grass fed cows that was the bomb.:yes:

Worth

Kerrigold?

[QUOTE=PureHarvest;535073]Kerrigold?[/QUOTE]


Thats it the stuff at least to me is very good.

Worth

I like it too!
I also use their unsalted grass fed butter in my coffee every morning!

Butter in coffee????

Yes!
Only if is from grass fed cows and unsalted. It is a superfood.
Long story short, I believe we need HEALTHY fat in our diet big time, counter to the Heart Association touting low fat diets for years. Grass Fed butter provides this.
As far as in coffee, think about how many people put milk/cream/halfnhalf in their coffee.
Butter comes from cream.
I do run it through the blender along with collagen powder from grass fed cows, and it comes out with a 1-2" frothy head on top. So delicious. Practically a small meal to start the day. Much better than loading up on carbs and sugar to fuel you.

I'm drinking coconut oil in my coffee right now. Amen for healthy fats.

Right on!
I forgot to mention I add 1 TBLSPN of C-8 MCT oil to my coffee along with the butter and collagen powder.

My other favorite fat is the 80/20 ground beef we get from a 100% grass fed/finished local cow.
Obviously the steaks and roasts are awesome too. Never trim the fat off.