2016 Prices

PureHarvest · February 22, 2016

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.

BigVanVader · February 22, 2016

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.

reddeheddefarm · February 23, 2016

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.

PureHarvest · February 23, 2016

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 marketing and quality would drive these features.

PureHarvest · February 23, 2016

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

Uncle Doss · February 23, 2016

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

reddeheddefarm · February 23, 2016

what area are you ?

joseph · February 23, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Doss

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.

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.

PureHarvest · February 23, 2016

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

BigVanVader · February 23, 2016

is that 8$ for the whole box of peaches?

Cole_Robbie · February 23, 2016

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.

joseph · February 23, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

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

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

joseph · February 23, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

is that 8$ for the whole box of peaches?

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

Hellmanns · February 23, 2016

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

Salsacharley · February 23, 2016

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.

February 22, 2016	#1
PureHarvest Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b Posts: 1,369	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.

February 23, 2016	#6
Uncle Doss Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: zone 5b/6a Posts: 134	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 __________________ Anything in life worth doing is worth over-doing. Moderation is for cowards.

February 22, 2016	#2
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	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.

February 23, 2016	#3
reddeheddefarm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: delaware ohio Posts: 81	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.

February 23, 2016	#11
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	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.

February 23, 2016	#14
Hellmanns Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: kentucky Posts: 1,116	I primarily sell at a produce auction these days and am quite pleased.

February 23, 2016	#15
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	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.