So You Want to Sell Your Homegrown Produce?

Have you ever fantasized about selling your veggies to a restaurant?

by George GutekunstDecember 1999from issue # 24

At one prison term or another , many household gardener wonder what it would be like to sell some of their bounty , either from a roadside stand , at a farmers ’ market , or to grocer or restaurant . It ’s a noble idea , though not without its challenge .

I had no connective in the San Francisco restaurant man when I first planted my garden . A guy at the health food for thought store who learned of what I was growing suggested I try a property called Ironwood Café , so I evince up with a caboodle of commons , which I offer up to the chef , gratis . She phoned the next day and said , “ fetch it on ! ” One thing lead to another , and through the chef at Ironwood , I made contact lens with a number of chefs around the metropolis . In the seven years since , I ’ve learned a few affair about selling produce to eating house .

Most eating place are pretty enceinte operation compare with a backyard garden , and they need big book . Start with the little guys . Do n’t be shy about paying the chef a visit and just giving him or her something . Most will be more than enthralled .

The best chef to work with are those who have the European mental attitude of “ bring in what you have as long as it ’s near , and we ’ll use it . ” If there ’s any hesitancy or discomfort on the part of the chef rifle into it , it ’s not a relationship deserving follow . It ought to be fun .

Most restaurant menu have a sure consistency , and chefs will expect a steady amount of something for a give distance of time . Restaurants that spread out their menus on a one - calendar week cycle are wanton to work with than those that follow a two - week cycle . In any case , you must be accurate about how much of a hold crop you ’ll have and how often you’re able to provide it .

A lot can go amiss . The restaurant line is a transient one , and it is n’t uncommon for a good customer to suddenly close up up shop . A failing or unscrupulous restaurant will simply not pay its banknote . have an found network of other restaurants you may sour to is the remedy .

chef can be picky . I impart one guy rope mâche I thought was of lapidary precision , and he said the parting were too freehanded . ( I stopped dealing with him . ) A lot of chefs will call you on calibre . You must be able to take that in step ; go somewhere else or reduce your Leontyne Price .

Aesthetics are a liberal factor for chefs . I bid more chefs would accept greens with big leave , but they do n’t . The room intellectual nourishment looks on the plate matters , and you need to understand the plating considerations of each chef .

Some chefs will start buying your produce , then find a gravid cultivator who can cut costs and offer better promotional material and perhaps even near lineament . I had been supplying one eating place with Asian green when abruptly a retiree with lots of money hire ten laborers and start out grow just for fun . His product was brilliant ; no manner could I contend . So I moved on .

Shipping and manipulation can make or get out your operation . Plan to deport your produce no more than two hours after you harvest it . Package your produce in “ vegetable grade ” aerated plastic bags and refrigerate it immediately or store it in a cool , shaded area prior to saving . And by all mean value , pick too soon , specially on a hot day .

Loyalty does intend a lot to some chef . Keep those happy , and they ’ll keep you in stage business . And since you ca n’t contend on volume , focus on strange crops no one else is growing . One last affair : Be humble . you may make a profit if you have the calibre and at least some volume , but the chef will get all the credit for using your unusual ingredients ; you will get little , if any . They ’re the ones in the glamour line of work , after all .

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