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Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie
That is awesome. I am hoping to be able to do the same thing soon.
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Right on guys.
I did the farmer's market scene for four years...but not selling produce. We raised chickens and turkeys on pasture. Our birds also went to high end restaurants.
I stopped doing poultry at the end of 2014, but still bump into the chefs, or still eat at their places and make it a point to say hi when I go.
We probably sold off and on to 4-5 places and had 2 others that were weekly buyers from May to November.
I have talked to 3 of these guys about buyin unique and heirloom tomatoes from me, and will be giving it a go this year with hopes to carry that into the fall/winter with one or two.
I am not counting on high production during the fall/winter season with the low light in December and January, but I am confident I can cover my costs, keep them supplied during a time when it is slower for them, and support my habit during the dormant season
If I may ad my experience with restaurants:
There are probably multiple methods to getting into the restaurant biz.
I am not a wheeler and dealer, so I personally would not be the guy that rolls into a place when maters are not in production, photos/brochures/seed catalogs in hand trying to land a sale for down the road.
In my experience, chefs are impressed with SEEING the real deal in their hand.
Roll in there with a box of your best. They will be all ears at that point if you bring something that is visually appealing and tastes good (assuming you insist they cut one open to try).
Our freshly harvested birds sold themselves once they had them in their hands. I will note, if you are already in a market, name drop that. We had street cred in both directions; at the market, we would name drop the restaurants we sold to. At the restaurants, we name dropped the market we were in which was the best in the area.
Incidentally, I had extra tomatoes to sell one poultry season, and just showed up with them while making a delivery for chicken. They were OK taste to me, but were nice looking red hybrid slicers. The staff freaked out. Head chef said bring me 3 boxes a week for the rest of the summer. Of course, I did not have the production to meet this request, and only could bring what I had for about a month. But I told him that up front, and he was cool with that. They had nobody supplying them. He also kept asking me to bring heirlooms, that "nobody had them". This was not the case. He did not know where/how to find them. That, and a lot of the guys growing heirlooms are not dealing with chefs for a number of reasons, good and bad.
So, even with dozens of farms in the area, there are plenty of chefs that are still ordering product from Cisco and US Foods. Probably just out of convenience. And this was a high end place.
If you are trying to get your foot in the door, I would just go to the front desk with box in hand and tell them you have a delivery and you need to see the chef, all the while taking the lid off the box with excitement in your voice and they see a whole bunch of unique colors they have never seen before. This would work with reds too if you can show your enthusiasm.
Just don't go in the middle of lunch or right before dinner, or on Friday-Sunday.
Everyone's area is different of course. We are blessed with 100 or more mid to high end spots within 20 miles of me. That probably goes up to 500 or more if I got 50 miles out.
I say if it fits your ability to deliver a couple times a week, you are already raising tomatoes for sale, and they pay near or at what you want, then its just a matter of walking in a showing your stuff with passion.
Good luck guys.