Pricing vegetables

[Stonehead]

Does anyone sell their surplus vegetables and, if so, how do you work out pricing?

We've just had someone stop and ask if they could buy some lettuce, so we said "sure", but then had no idea what price to ask.

In the end, we decided on 50p each (four different varities, but all the same price), which the buyer was extremely happy with as they're good quality and organically grown.

Looking at supermarket websites, whole lettuce (depending on variety) seems to sell for between 42p and 70p for non-organic while organic lettuce starts at about 90p and goes up to £1.12. Packets of washed leaves fetch appalling prices - people must be daft!

Now, we're not after supermarket prices but it's a lot more complicated to work out the cost than it was for eggs and pork.

If we were in the US, we could use the Organic Price Index (a market reference) as a baseline to match against costs but there's nothing like this in the UK.

Has anyone worked out a simple method for calculating the cost of growing vegetables? Ours are grown almost entirely with lots of labour and piles of muck, so other than those the only other direct cost is seed.

However, the indirect costs include pumping water (although the water itself is "free"), cloches (mainly recycled), cold frames, fencing, materials for the raised beds, tools, etc.

I'm just wondering if it's worth selling more vegetables as well as our pork, lamb, chicken and egg. We may well have surpluses of potatoes, beetroot, onions and cabbage this year as well as lettuce so it would be useful to work out proper pricing.

In future years, I'll have half acres of vegetables in the fields (on rotation, so potatoes, then beans/peas, then neeps, then grass), so there will probably be surpluses from these - even though some will be going as pig feed.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Han&Matt]

Hi Stonehead

At my local grocers (most produce local grown on estate) this weekend I noticed to my disbelief a bunch of newly pulled carrots complete with bush of leaves cost £1.15 (for 6 carrots). The local organic pork sausages are £4,85/kg, braising steak £5.36/kg. All quite expensive, but extremely popular due to local demographics of busy, middle-class professionals seduced by 'rustic charm' (bleugh), organic labelling etc - knowing where it came from etc. All very fashionable.

I stop at a local farm for eggs which cost £2/dozen and grow my own veg but before getting the allotment loved to buy direct from the grower for obvious reasons. Often this is a more expensive option.

Can't help with pricing as a generic index, but shoppers do use price comparison methods when working out whether they should buy (and are often suspicious when 'too' cheap!!) - so I'd recommend going to take a look at a local farmers market/grocers to gauge prices. Big chalk board outside the farm and you're onto a winner. You should just be aware that it might take off - the grocers I mentioned earlier started selling strawberries as PYO and are now a huge store complete with gardens, gift shop, cafe and miniature railway...

Best of luck,
Hannah

[The Chili Monster]

Are you just fishing for prices? If so, the best thing to do (as Hannah has suggested) is to see what is charged for similar items at Farmers' Markets, although this will probably be a better guide as to what the local consumer will pay.
If you have an idea as to the return you would like to make, then the mark up is a simple formula to calculate end price. If you are keen to keep agrip of all types of costs then an appropriate method of pricing is the marginal costing approach which also lends itself quite nicely to break-even analysis (in terms of £ or units).

[Stonehead]

Are you just fishing for prices? If so, the best thing to do (as Hannah has suggested) is to see what is charged for similar items at Farmers' Markets, although this will probably be a better guide as to what the local consumer will pay.
If you have an idea as to the return you would like to make, then the mark up is a simple formula to calculate end price. If you are keen to keep agrip of all types of costs then an appropriate method of pricing is the marginal costing approach which also lends itself quite nicely to break-even analysis (in terms of £ or units).

No, not fishing for prices. I'm trying to work out what I'd need to charge to recover my costs, then how much more to charge for any profit, what the market expects to pay etc.

The pricing information from the local Business Gateway service is very basic - aimed at small businesses like sandwich delivery services (so cost of van, fuel, buying in sandwiches etc) without the wide cost base that something like a small farm has.

At the same time, I don't necessarily want to go down the fully fledged business route - growing vegetabes and raising livestock for us while selling surpluses to offset some of the cost is my preference. However, I still need to get a reasonable return on what we sell or barter.

[Martin]

I'm very sceptical of the organisations that purport to exist to help new businesses - often they're little more than a collection of local firms trying to get their hooks into another company.......
In our area there are several "enterprise hubs", "enterprise agencies" and similar organisations - a quick look through the list of member firms shows that they are usually populated by the dull as ditchwater companies that seem to exist by "networking", rather than selling a product or service on it's merits!
As to "farmer's market" prices, again, in my area, I often find them horrendously pricey!

[Shirley]

As to "farmer's market" prices, again, in my area, I often find them horrendously pricey!

But.. is that compared to supermarket prices or compared to how much it would cost you to grow your own??

I was thinking about this the other day after visiting the farmers' market at Inverurie and hearing a little about the expenses that are borne by the stallholders JUST to have a stand in a windy carpark in the middle of town. They even have to pay the council for loss of revenue at the carpark site even though there is a large carpark around the corner which will no doubt take MORE as a result of the farmer's market being in town. Doesn't make sense to me.

[Martin]

I'm rather partial to a good banger - often the local farmer's market is £1 more a lb than organic sausages from my local butcher! It may well be that they have to charge the hefty prices to cover greedy councils and venues!

[The Chili Monster]

The local Chamber of Commerce rents out the stalls here! I find that some stallholders believe that Joe Public will pay huge prices for any old crud labelled "organic" or "local" simply because it's trendy.
Slightly off thread but there's now an eating disorder where the victim will only eat locally produced, organic food and starve if they don't get it.
I'm all for locally sourced fresh produce, and if it's organic then it's a real bonus, but I'm not into putting pressure on people who through circumstances such as low budget or housing situation can't access it, and Farmers who rip off the very poor are just as bad as Tescos. RANT OVER.
Anyway, Stonehead, I've asked around some accountants that I studied with and who have farmers, nurserymen and market gardeners on their books, to see if there is some "unwritten method" that you could use; I shall keep you posted if anything comes up.

[Millymollymandy]

I've just noticed the price of lettuce in the supermarket today - twice the price of normal summer price!!! That will be due to the drought. Thank god I grow my own!

[glenniedragon]

You also have to be aware of how you're selling it- by the bunch/bag/punnet whatever is OK, if you start saying 'per kilo' then its a whole kerfufel(?) getting accurate scales and the like to avoid getting in trouble with the trading standards.
sorry to give you something else to worry about!

kind thougths
Deb

[Chickpea]

I'm interested in this thread because my local farm shop has offered to buy any surplus from my allotment. No surplus this year because we've just got going but it's an interesting offer.

[Smooth Hound]

Hi, there is a trade magazine called something like Horticultural or Growers or something like that , but I am not certyain what it is called, It is weekly and you have to subscribe annually so can work out i bit dear , Like about 70 pounds per yr, But if you look at the site below it gives some basic prices, I am presuming that the prices shown are the trade price that a farmer gets when he sells them which is basically what a green grocer will buy it for that week, If you were to visit a greengrocer (a proper one) not a supermarket or agrocer with a few veg, but a proper Greengrocer, if you can find one still that is, then you can make a comparison and work out roughly what % a green grocer works on and then add that percentage to what ever the weekly trade price is, then you will have to add a bit because it is organic, thats presuming you are registered as organic, if not be careful it could end up being more trouble than you expected ,you could sell it as chemical free if it is of course, but I dont know whether that would cost much more than a non organic farm vegetable, but if you were to sell at the going rate people would snap your hand off.Or I would suggest about 10% more than normal.
Mike




http://www.farmersweekly.co.uk/StaticPa ... prices.htm

[gunners71uk]

i dont sell my produce i swap it ie 3 courgettes for half a doz free range eggs,a lift round trip a bag of mix veg, a marrow for carrots courgettes for sweet corn that type of thing, on sellng stuff to local farm shop be careful your not ripped off make a note of farm shop price minus 20 percent and sell your stuff on that basis.
farmers markets are generally a trendy rip off set up some stalls are ok but others are taking the pee.i am amazed how much people charge for runner beans as they are an easy crop once set up.
also get to know other buisnesses ie barbers how much for a haircut in veg dont just look to money transactions every needs to buy veg so swap it for something.