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Old October 15, 2009   #15
Wi-sunflower
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 2,591
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I thought I would add a few experiences I had this summer.

At my main Madison market we aren't allowed to sample anything we have to cut to make the sample. So sampling the large tomatoes is out. But we CAN give out samples of the small cherry types. Giving the samples and having names on them really sold a lot of tomatoes this summer even tho I had plenty of competition. I never had to go under $2 / pint this year either.

When we had our Tomato Tasting day we had people taste what we could find that was ripe and then they would go out and find those varieties they liked and pick them themeselves for $2 / lb. We sold about 150 lbs that day.

We used our experiences that day the following week at our Labor Day market. There we COULD give samples of anything. This market is notorously CHEAP tho, especially about tomatoes. They usually want a Bu for something like $12 - 15. Even $2 / lb is HIGH for that market.

But we gave samples of at least a dozen great heirlooms like Cuostralee, Vjera's, NAR, Orange Russian 117, Lithuanian and others plus all the cherries. We sold several $5 tomatoes (2.5 lbs) that day and no one complained at all as they had just tasted them and knew how great they were even tho they weren't perfect looking tomatoes.

Jimche,

Something I forgot to mention before that MAY have a large bering on how you try to sell in your area. The Mafia. While Milwaukee isn't known as a Mafia stronghold, they DO pretty much control the wholesale produce market here. Many restaurants won't buy "local in season" because they are afraid they wouldn't be able to get the produce they need "out of season".

It's not as bad as it used to be 20 years ago, but that is still a factor. Just be careful you don't step on any toes. The Broker may have the connections needed to do a business like that. Basically the bigger the city the more chance you might have a problem. Small towns I wouldn't worry about.

Carol
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