Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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on fourteen certified organic acres. Much of the citrus is sold to distributors
for major natural foods grocery stores throughout the United States. Plus a
small part of their business is mail order or “cash in yard” as people stop to
buy a box of oranges.
The direct marketing component of their business has been shrinking,
to their relief. Mary explains, “Most of mine go out of here right on these
trucks. That is the market I want. Because with mail order it is feast or
famine. The customers may be able to afford it one year and not the next.
Plus the extra handling. Really when you figure it out, we are making more
money wholesaling. Because you don't have the extra time, you don't have
the more expensive carton, and you don't have the shippers banging you for
$5 if you misspell a last name or if your customer gives it to you wrong.”
Rob, as always, is more blunt, but still notes the pros and cons of direct
marketing to consumers. “We used to do a ton of it. I always liked it because
it is just another avenue to get rid of fruit. But it has its advantages and
disadvantages. One of the advantages is 'you send us the bread, we send
you the fruit,' but you have a million phone calls to deal with. Somebody is
always going to complain, 'I got a dry orange. I had one bad piece of fruit.' It
can be a real pain in the ass. Everything has its good points and bad points. I
have always liked doing the mail orders because they are the only ones who
call you and say, 'That is the best fruit I have ever had. Send me more.' You
get more compliments, and then you get some pain in the ass things to deal
with, too.” In any case, Rob says that “direct mail, I'm going to say, is about
5 percent. That and cash in the yard. City slickers who have a lake house
down here. They eat 'em up.”
As with all successful organic farms, marketing is key for Rob and Mary.
And they have come a long way. Mary explains, “Oh, gosh, when we started,
nobody would help. They would not tell you anything about who the buyers
are and how to go about it. And then one night we saw something on the
news, and they mentioned Whole Foods, and we were like, where is that?
So we got on the phone and started calling around until we found one in
Maryland. So I get ahold of them and find out who their organic buyer
is. He told me about other stores in Boston. Then we go through another
wholesaler in North Carolina, but the distributorship is Georgia, North,
South Carolina, Maryland, New York. They're all over.”
When she's dealing with the big distributors, she has learned to stand
her ground. Nobody pushes her around. “Now I get right back in their
faces.”Distributors try to change truck schedules and price quotes at the last
minute, and she really has little flexibility. She describes one recent example
of a conversation she had with a distributor. “I said, 'We are growers, we are
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