Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and they produce dozens of varieties of each. "The markets allow farmers to find niches,"
Alex says.
His ideas for new things to plant come from a variety of sources. He is constantly
scouring seed catalogs and Web sites ("farmer porn," one family member calls them), and
the markets work not only as a place to sell crops but also as a source of new ideas. Some-
times Alex will see things at a competitor's stand that he wants to try. For instance, during
the spring lilacs are a big moneymaker at farmers' markets. The Weisers had always had
lilacs on the farm, but it wasn't until they saw the lines forming at another vendor's stand
that they thought about selling them.
More frequently, a customer will ask about a fruit or vegetable she has bought some-
place else or remembers from her childhood. And quite often chefs will make special
requests. At the begging of one regular restaurant customer, Weiser planted something
called crosnes, a knotted white tuber that is all the rage in France. Other farmers have even
gone so far as to venture out into the hillsides to dig wild stinging nettles, arugula and fen-
nel when their customers have asked for them.
The restaurant connection is one of the most important links in the Weiser family's mar-
ket chain, and it was established slowly and almost accidentally. The number of chefs who
shop at farmers' markets is relatively few, but they can make a significant difference to
small farmers. First, they buy in bulk. It is much easier to sell eighty bunches of beets to
one customer than one bunch to eighty people. Because chefs buy in such large quantities
(and because, unlike home shoppers, they really need those beets if they have put them on
the menu), the Weisers began to let them call in their orders in advance to reserve their
purchases.
The next step was subtle but critical: some chefs who couldn't make it to the market
every week started asking the Weisers to deliver to their restaurants. The family didn't
have the trucks or the manpower to do that, so they arranged with the restaurants' normal
produce purveyors to make the deliveries. And then those purveyors started asking about
picking up a little extra to sell to their other clients.
Thus, without really trying to, the Weisers got back in the wholesale business. But this
time, because of the reputation they had earned by working the markets, they were able to
get well above standard wholesale prices for their crops. Indeed, Alex points out, some-
times their wholesale customers are willing to pay even more than the folks at the markets.
Pretty soon the Weisers were selling to a dozen different wholesale companies - a couple
of them with national distribution - and their produce began showing up at high-end su-
