sell produce or nitty-gritty from your farm to eating house can be an attractive opportunity , especially when you have an teemingness of nutrient that you postulate to move . However , it is not always as gentle as just calling up a restaurant and call for if it needs anything . Even if it does require to purchase something , it is a honorable idea to have a scheme for handling orders from eatery .
With that in thinker , let ’s bet at some of the greater nuances of sell to restaurants and some tips to keep those cut-rate sale going and growing . Restaurants can offer the James Leonard Farmer an tremendous chance to move a lot of food for thought in a short amount of time , but these arrangements have their challenge . Here are some thing you ’ll need or at least want .
1. Develop Good Relationships
frigid - calling chefs in the midsection of the summer to see if they wanttomatoesis not always the secure road . Certainly , you could get favourable . However , for the most part , chef tend to stick with the growers with whom they ’ve already developed relationships . So selling Lycopersicon esculentum orbeefor whatever when you have an abundance is about build a family relationship with each chef , getting to know them and understanding their computer menu .
2. Dine at the Restaurants
Speaking of understanding a menu , it ’s hard to work restaurants what they want if you do n’t know how they employ the product they already get . For our farm , an all-important part of selling to any restaurant , even when that establishment is high - end , is knowing the menu and eating there . It starts with conform to the chef and seeing whether an chance exists for our production , but the next step is to dine . A $ 100 repast is a small investiture in a relationship that could yield ten-spot of thousands of dollar sign in sales event over the next few years . In that time , you will also get to get it on to the kitchen staff — many of whom will go on to startle their own restaurant and look to you for product .
3. Have the Ability to Forecast
Chefs bang Fannie Merritt Farmer who can predict , intend that you should be capable to passably tell how much of this or that item you have coming up . This also means if there ’s an gap in the Cartesian product you provide , you may provide adequate poster so they can plan their menus accordingly .
4. Provide a “Fresh Sheet”
If your product offering change every week , you must render what is called a overbold piece of paper . This can be a simple email with a list of what ’s available , or a spreadsheet — whatever you and your chefs prefer . This should heel what is in time of year and what is out of season , with pricing .
5. Sharpen Your Organizational Skills
Selling to restaurants requires the ability to track the orders , send out invoices , and keep up with who has paid and who has n’t . This can get overwhelming tight in the heart of the season , especially when different restaurant have unlike preferences for receiving fresh sheets and paying invoices .
6. Have at Least One Specialization
Go into the season knowing your farm ’s strengths , then tell chefs what you’re able to get and for ululation long . I urge having one yr - round harvest ( lettuceorcarrots , for instance ) and a few specialty crop . lease the chefs sleep together and then keep them updated on how those crops are coming along . Also get samples . Always bring sample .
7. Be Consistent and Reliable
Chefs are sticklers for timeliness . If you say you ’ll be somewhere at a sure time , be there — or call to tell whoever you ’re meeting that you have to reschedule . Nothing will endear you more to a chef than being consistent and dependable .
8. Consider GAP Certification
Some restaurants and retailer might require you to have a certification called GAP — Good Agricultural Practices — before they buy from you . This is true mostly for larger restaurants but it is becoming more common at all restaurants .
