Misguided entrepreneurs

[Glenn 50]

I sort of hovered over whether this was discussion or conversation but seeing it's about tomatoes here it is.

I have noticed over the years comments on Tomato Forums about selling tomatoes to restaurants.
Usually someone enquires about the viability of this and is usually encouraged by the multitude.
" People will flock to restaurants that have fresh tomatoes on their menu." "Chefs love heirloom tomatoes".
Yeah well maybe.
I know Chez Panisse does wonderful things with Green Zebra according to books and I know other top restaurants use tomatoes however....

Fresh tomatoes are mainly used for garnish or very sparingly in salads. 95% of the tomatoes I spy in restaurant kitchens are in #10 cans filled with Thai tomatoes. These have NZ or Aussie labels on them but when you look at them closely they have Product of Thailand in small print.
These are used in all cooking.
Why? Product on hand when they want it. Product already peeled and processed. Price is stable. And cheap, cheap, cheap! Product is stable. This counts in winter. And above all...Profit, profit profit. The three words that keep a restaurant going.
I supply restaurants with items they can't get out of a can thank god but I cringe when I read the hopes of amateur heirloom growers hoping to sell megabucks of tomatoes to them.
I grow them and sell them but really it's a hobby connected to my business.
I think selling surplus produce is great but I think there are better and more profitable avenues than restaurants.
Admittedly this is from a New Zealand perspective however I think it is the same everywhere.

[montanamato]

Glenn,

I have noticed the same. I do a little catering with another gal and we both have extensive gardens, yet at times it is more profitable to use canned too. It is a fine line, trying to stay in business, yet supply the best and freshest. Certain high end customers will pay for the difference, but many won't.
I personally find it easier to sell seedlings than to try and time my harvest. Not that I will get rich doing that, but I find it more rewarding, and it fits are life style.
the chef last summer at the main ranch was flying heirloom tomatoes in to MT weekly from somewhere in Ohio...but he didn't have a budget either.
Personally, I think so many people have been subjected to substandard food for so long, they accept it. You oughta see what they serve school kids for lunch in this country...pretty sad.

Jeanne

[clay199]

I have to think that Glenn is right. One of the things I investigated prior to our move was if there was any kind of market for heirloom tomatoes. One of the guys I grew up with has a cousin who was THE premier chef in the area. His kids were in my kids classes. I talked to him, gave him samples and sounded him out. He said that as a restaurant owner he had to go with price and supply. He would be happy to do one or two single event occasions over the growing season but because of our climate would not incorporate the tomatoes into his menu. And with the price of natural gas climbing sky high here it would not be economical to provide one restaurant with fresh tomatoes and maintain a greenhouse. He said he would be very very happy to trade meals at his restaurant for tomatoes in season for his own personal use.

I plan on selling my tomatoes at the farmer's markets that abound within a 50 kilometre radius of where we now live. I have noticed that there is a dearth of canning tomatoes available locally and that is the market I am trying to capture. I do not expect a premium over the cardboard types that abound but I do expect to build up a clientale that will come back every year. And I will try selling seedlings as well.

[nctomatoman]

Interesting discussion point - and I see all of the points being made. Whether it is because there is a relatively high concentration of relatively well educated people near me (the Research Triangle area - Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham) or not, there is a surprisingly high and growing interest in heirlooms here. One restaurant supplies their produce from their own farm - the plants that provide the produce is from seedlings I started, so I am influencing what people are subject to. Another restaurant works with me on the occasional special meal, and when they are not doing that, they are frantically trying to locate heirlooms tomatoes all summer long.

So, I think that your point, Glenn, is a good generalization, admitting that there are some pockets of hope out there (some higher levels of sophistication of taste?!). One thing for sure is that betting the bank on making a living selling heirloom tomatoes would not be wise. Way too many variables that can ruin things - even aside from ability to market (bugs, disease, weather, etc).

[Gimme3]

Glenn, hoping to offer encouragement , here...Friend.
Last night (thursday) i spent a long time poring over an organic grower residing about 30 miles from me....their website.

The thing that intrigued me most, in poring over and viewing pics, comments....was this...

They dont even grow....the quantities, nor the variety, in some areas,that i would grow...yet...according to the chronologically posted updates....selling out at a local Farmer's Market for organic /natural grown products happenned every Weekend...)))

People are wakin up....read the book...." Mad Cowboy"...or the follow-up to it...The Demand is there, lets jus not compromise, in a sense of greed...lets keep doin, what we've learned...an addin to that...)))

Hierloom vegetables have to stand upon 2 legs...their own heritage and taste, ...and HOW...they were grown...remember that...)))

Think about the word....Hierloom...think about the era of Time, and what folks used, to grow the plant...)))

Call it Ramblin, call me Dickey Betts....my thoughts, meant to lift ya...there, Glenn...)))

[GreenInk]

I've made good money selling tomato seedlings.
I've really bombed trying to grow the fruit to order. Spotted Tomato Wilt - I think - hit the crop and it was wasted.

Right now I'm getting $4 a lb through our craft co-op shop. Which is twice the price the supermarket is getting for their toms right now, so people do appreciate good tommies. Funny, though, I can't seem to sell the bigger fruit through there, they really go for1-1.5" diameter stuff though.

Will see what happens when the larger fruited varieties come in numbers this year. We have a new french tratteur(sp) opposite this year. He might take/trade for some. I'll settle for fresh baked baguettes and his brie in return for my toms.

[feraltomatoes]

Fancy tomatoes are a big thing at all fancy restraunts in the S.F. Bay Area.
Small high end grocery stores around here go through hundreds of pounds a week as do restraunts that serve Heirloom tomato salad(with hybrids mixed in)
Even Safeway and Albertsons carried Heirlooms last year, although they were always mushy, old and refrigerated.
Competition has become fierce with many growers now growing them so making money on them is another thing(hey we do it because the voices tell us to, not for the $)