If you want to make a living as a farmer, but you're more interested in quality than quantity, growing vegetables for restaurants may be an ideal niche for you. Restauranteurs tend to be deeply committed to sustainability and flavor. They can be demanding customers, but they can also be great customers because they want their produce to be the best available and they're willing to pay for it, within reason. Their attention to quality and detail provides opportunities for enterprising farmers to experiment with interesting varieties of heirloom vegetables, and work with clients who share their passion for fine produce.
Write a weekly fresh sheet listing the particular vegetables you have available each week, and their current prices. Email this sheet to your regular customers each time you update it.
Develop a product line based on the information you glean from the chefs you interview, your particular type of soil and microclimate, and your own interests and passions. Focus on heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables that a committed small-scale farmer can produce better than an industrial operation, such as types of tomato with optimum flavor but short shelf life. Heirloom vegetables come from old, established seed stocks. While the range of seeds used to grow commercial vegetables on an industrial scale tends to be quite limited, there is a much greater diversity of heirloom species, with a tremendous range of flavors, colors, and textures.
Update your product line continually, based on evolving demand and your own growing familiarity with different vegetable varieties. Read seed catalogs and restaurant trade magazines to keep abreast of trends, and build your skills and knowledge by experimenting and sharing information with other farmers.
Interview restauranteurs in your area about which specialty produce items they might be interested in purchasing from you.
Build your soil by composting and fertilizing conscientiously. The better you care for your soil, the better your produce will taste, and the more repeat business you'll get from your restaurant clients.
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