Fellow PYO growers,
If some people don't complain about your prices, then you can be assured that you are not charging enough! Kurt W. Alstede General Manager Alstede Farms, LLC P. O. Box 278 Chester, New Jersey 07930 United States of America Tel. 908-879-7189 From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ginda Fisher Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 7:47 PM To: Apple-Crop Subject: Re: Apple-Crop: U-Pick whining U-Pick operators near major metropolitan areas who don't understand that they are selling a day in the country, and not just produce, are leaving money on the table. When I lived in NYC I once rented a car for the day to take my kids apple picking. We found a nice orchard, picked our fruit, and bought some cider and veggies. The owner bragged to me about how his prices were more reasonable than some of the other orchards in the area. And all I could think of was that I'd spent about $100 renting the car, and I was pretty nearly indifferent to whether his bag of apples cost $12 or $18. (Or whatever the prices were.) You don't want the prices to be so high that you anger your customers, but they don't have to be especially cheap, either. Probably a good strategy is to charge a lot for the smallest quantity, and progressively less for more apple, so that those who actually want bulk fruit can do so, without giving up the profit from the families who want a nice day in the fields, with kid-picked apples to take home. Ginda Fisher apple consumer On Oct 25, 2007, at 12:36 PM, Maurice Tougas wrote: The overwhelming majority of consumers who are looking to pick their own apples are NOT looking for a price bargain in our neck of the woods, but they recognize the treemendous value spending a couple of hours of "high quality time" with their family. My proof of that is simple. We charge $18.00/ half bushel for pre picked apples, $23.00/half bushel for PYO. We will sell 200+ bags PYO for every pre picked bag. Enough said. Maurice Tougas Tougas Family Farm Northboro,MA www.tougasfarm.com On Oct 25, 2007, at 11:28 AM, Ken Hall wrote: A couple of the commenters at the linked article made a key point--apples fresh from the tree ought to be worth something more than apples that may have traveled extensively and done time in CA storage. That doesn't make the latter bad apples by any stretch, but I doubt many would argue that fresh-picked (and hand-picked by the end user) are better. Add the value of the experience to the presumably superior quality of the fruit, and the price premium can be justified easily. It's up to the market whether to bear it, and the community should make sure it is making that case. Best regards, Ken _____ From: Matt McCallum [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 10:38 AM To: Apple-Crop Subject: Apple-Crop: U-Pick whining Apple crop gang, I thought you would find this interesting reading. As the former owner of a pick-your-own operation I was not very happy to read her opinion. Matt http://www.wisebread.com/who-saves-money-when-you-pick-apples-the-grower
