Marketing Fresh Produce to Restaurants

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Marketing Fresh Produce to Restaurants
University of Kentucky                     CCD Home                   CCD Crop Profiles                  College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

  Marketing Fresh
  Produce to Restaurants
  Introduction
  A 2006 survey of Kentucky restaurateurs revealed
  substantial interest from restaurants across the
  state in purchasing typical local products such
  as tomatoes, bell peppers, greens, and melons.1
  The same survey also documented interest in
  sourcing less widely cultivated crops, such as
  shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, herbs, berries,                                            willing to develop a personal relationship with
  and table grapes. Restaurateur and chef interest                                          the restaurant and shows an interest in producing
  in serving locally grown cuisine was one of                                               excellent food. While many chefs say they
  the most commonly documented trends in the                                                believe that locally sourced produce is of higher
  American restaurant industry during the 2000s.                                            quality and safer than non-local produce, growers
                                                                                            marketing to restaurants must take every care to
  Three general reasons for purchasing locally                                              maintain the safety of the food they deliver.
  grown produce commonly given by chefs
  include:2                                                                                 A greater focus on local food appears to be a
     • Locally grown foods are fresher and have a                                           lasting trend across the foodservice industry for
     higher or better quality                                                               the 2010s. Produce growers wanting to explore
     • Customers have requested local products,                                             the restaurant market will need to:
     especially after the restaurant has previously                                            • Develop relationships with chefs
     carried local foods for a period of time                                                  • Understand the effects of pricing on their
     • Unique or specialty products are available                                              financial returns
     locally                                                                                   •  Manage potential risks from a new or
                                                                                               developing market channel
  Many chefs interviewed for a 2009 producer                                                   • Prove their reliability by offering consistent
  training curriculum for restaurant marketing also                                            product quality and superior service to chefs
  viewed locally produced items as being safer                                                 and restaurants
  than those purchased from traditional wholesale
  channels. The chefs surveyed frequently cited                                             Relationships
  a greater trust for produce that is grown locally                                         A key for marketing produce at any level is
  — even if the chef has never                                                                             developing a good relationship
  set foot on the farm where the                                                                           with the customer.         When
  produce was grown. Chefs also                                                                            selling to a local restaurant, it
  tend to trust a grower who is                                                                            is critical that you get to know

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Marketing Fresh Produce to Restaurants
• Providing additional information about your
                                                       farm, production practices, and/or products
                                                       through communication channels requested
                                                       by the chefs. Common methods used for
                                                       communication are farm Web sites, e-mail,
                                                       Web-based social networks, mobile phones/
                                                       voicemail, and direct e-mailed price lists.

                                                     Returns
                                                     Local producers can sometimes demand a
                                                     premium above the wholesale prices that
                                                     restaurants usually pay for produce. These
                                                     premiums commonly range from 5% to 25% (and
                                                     sometimes more) above the current wholesale
                                                     market price.  Specialty or hard-to-find items may
the person who will be buying and using your         be grown locally at a lower cost and that savings
products. This is most often the restaurant’s        may be passed on to wholesale customers. In
chef, but it might also be the business manager,     general, chefs are often willing to pay a little
kitchen manager, owner, or even a pastry chef.       more than wholesale for high-quality, reliable
                                                     local produce.
You may already know a restaurant’s chef or
personnel from your local community. If you          Producers should realize, however, that selling
are approaching a restaurant with which you          to restaurants is a wholesale market; retail prices
are unfamiliar, always remember that you are a       (such as those received at a farmers market) are
salesman for your farm’s products. Strategies that   usually unrealistic to expect from restaurants. It
help begin a sales relationship with a restaurant    is important to understand the wholesale prices
include:                                             that restaurants are accustomed to paying for
   • Dressing professionally and presenting          produce.  Growers can find links to various price
   yourself honestly                                 reports at the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Market
   • Making an appointment at a time when the        News Web site.
   chef is not busy
   • Finding out as much as possible about           There may be additional costs affiliated with
   the restaurant before you visit — signature       marketing to restaurants. Growers that are
   dishes, target clientele, awards won, chef’s      spending extra time preparing a product
   background, and education, etc.                   specifically to a chef’s specifications should set
   • Developing a neat and professional handout      a price that accounts for their extra production
   or brochure about your farm/market garden         time. Another “hidden cost” can include the
   that describes you and your products              expenses of time and fuel required in delivering
   • Bringing samples of your produce for the        the produce to the restaurant. A properly prepared
   chef to taste or prepare                          production budget will help a grower determine
   •  Making sure the chef knows when and how        if additional profits from selling to restaurants
   to contact you                                    cover the additional costs of delivery. In less
   • Asking the chef or restaurant manager what      common instances, smaller restaurants may be
   the best ways are to contact him/her in the       willing to pick up produce when a grower is in
   future                                            town at a farmers market.
Marketing Fresh Produce to Restaurants
There can be non-financial returns for               understand that producers can encounter disease,
growers selling to local restaurants. Some           bad weather, or other production problems; it
establishments, including Kentucky’s state           is just critical that growers take the initiative to
resort park restaurants, may feature the name of     notify the restaurant as soon as they are aware of
the farm or grower who supplied certain items        a problem.
on their menu, thus providing free advertising.
Producers who establish good relationships with      Another risk for producers is slow customer
chefs may find that they are able to generate        payment. Some restaurants will pay monthly;
additional sales.  For example, the chef                                    others pay on delivery.
may be willing to purchase lower-grade                                      When Kentucky’s state
produce for soups, sauces, salsas, and                                      resort park restaurants
other processed foods.                                                      started purchasing produce
                                                                            directly from farmers in
Some restaurants may demand highly                                          2004, they advertised
perishable specialty crops. High-end                                        payment within a week.
restaurants are sometimes willing to                                        Producers may reduce
pay whatever it takes for a producer to                                     the risk of slow or default
deliver hard-to-find specialty produce.  A                                  payments by having a well-
producer may find that offering a product                                   organized invoicing system
a restaurant cannot get anywhere else                                       and keeping all accounts
is a good way to build new markets.                                         current. Both the seller
Growers marketing to restaurants may                                        and the buyer should have
need to adapt their production system                                       a clear understanding at
and products to supply exactly what the                                     the start of the season
chefs are looking for.                                                      regarding how payments
                                                     will be handled. In some cases, a simple contract
Squash blossoms and other edible flowers,            or written agreement may prove an effective tool
pawpaws, specialty peppers, organically grown        for both the restaurant and the grower.
vegetables, raspberries, shiitake mushrooms,
and heirloom tomatoes are examples of specialty      Certain customers may request a grower carry
crops that have been successfully marketed to        product liability insurance (PLI).   Others may
restaurants by Kentucky producers.                   presume the grower is insured for product
                                                     liability.  PLI, which usually costs a few hundred
Risks                                                dollars for $1 to $2 million in liability protection,
The most significant risk when marketing to local    is one of the most comprehensive means available
restaurants is losing the customer by repeatedly     for protecting yourself from potential product
failing to deliver on time or delivering poor        liability when selling to foodservice institutions.
quality product. A grower simply cannot deliver
an inferior product to the chef, who is often        Reliability
purchasing the product for its quality. Similarly,   Selling Your Produce
you need to realize that chefs are depending on      Selling to restaurants can be both personally and
you to deliver products when you say you will.       financially rewarding for growers.  Marketing to
Failure to communicate with chefs about delays       local restaurants also offers growers the opportunity
in delivery can result in the loss of a customer.    to develop their direct marketing skills, perhaps
                                                     leading to other market opportunities. To
Fortunately, many chefs understand the risks         emphasize our previous points, the two most
of producing high-quality produce. Chefs may         important factors for successful produce sales
Marketing Fresh Produce to Restaurants
to restaurants are                                   it is realistic to expect a restaurant client to pay
(1) growing high-                                    you that frequently.
quality, tasty crops
and (2) growing                                      Suggestions for New Products
good relationships                                   Once you have established sound relationships
with chefs.                                          with your customers, they will be more likely
                                                     to consider purchasing new products or services
Servicing Your                                       from you.   For example, showing a restaurant
Product                                              that you can deliver consistently fresh tomatoes
“Servicing” your                                     may make them open to trying a higher-priced
product can be as                                    heirloom variety.
simple as keeping
in regular contact                                   Producer Networking
with the chef, or                                    You may know other producers that offer crops
whoever      makes                                   you do not. Suggesting these suppliers to a
the     purchasing                                   restaurateur may help them serve up even more
decisions. In addition to their scheduled delivery   local options.   Be sure to recommend growers
time, most growers who successfully market to        that you are confident will not try to undercut
restaurants are in contact with the chef at least    you or sell produce you are already supplying.
once more per week.   Below are other ways           If there is the opportunity for you to coordinate
growers can “service” produce they have grown.       the transport of these products in a consolidated
                                                     delivery or at a single time, investigate those
Provide Product and Seasonal Updates                 options. Chefs and restaurants tend to be
Restaurants may not only purchase your product       favorable to receiving more products in fewer
because of its superior quality, but also because    deliveries. Some producers have even added
offering locally grown products is attractive        profit to their existing restaurant marketing by
to customers. Providing news about how the           charging other growers a reasonable fee for
produce is grown and how the season is going can     delivering their produce to restaurant clients at
provide the restaurant with information useful to    the same time as their own products.
marketing its food. It can also help you keep a
good marketing relationship going in the face        MarketReady Training
of extraordinary weather or pest problems that       Producers who are considering or developing
might interrupt your planned harvest schedule.       a market to restaurants can obtain valuable
                                                     instruction through the University of Kentucky
Good Business Practices                              Food Systems Innovation Center’s MarketReady
Restaurants will appreciate your providing           Training Program. Those already selling product
a simple method of billing.   Use consistent,        to restaurants will have an opportunity to explore
straightforward invoices. If the restaurant has      ways to improve and expand their business. The
the option to pay you by direct deposit using        unit on restaurant sales includes a panel of chefs
an electronic fund transfer, this will save them     and restaurant buyers. Issues such as food safety,
the expense of delivering you the check — and        insurance, pricing, invoicing, storage, product
could result in quicker payment for you. Some        quality, and traceability risks are addressed
restaurants may also be interested in using third-   during this unique training opportunity.   For
party payment services (such as PayPal) that are     more information about the program, as well as
readily available to producers. Restaurants are      training locations and dates, visit MarketReady
used to paying wholesale vendors monthly, so         on the Web.
Selected Resources                                  • Local Food Connections From Farms to
• Food Systems Innovation Center (University        Restaurants (Iowa State University, Revised
of Kentucky)                                        May 2008)
http://www.uky.edu/fsic/index.php                   http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/
• Kentucky MarketMaker                              PM1853B.pdf
http://www.marketmakerky.com                        • Selling Directly to Restaurants and Retailers
• Kentucky Proud (Kentucky Department of            (University of California SARE, 2003)
Agriculture)                                        http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/sfs/files/selldirect.
http://www.kyproud.com/                             pdf
• Kentucky Restaurant Produce Buyer Survey          • Selling Directly to Restaurants (University of
(University of Kentucky, 2006)                      Wisconsin, 2005)
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/cdbrec/restaurantsurvey.      http://www.mosesorganic.org/attachments/
pdf                                                 productioninfo/uwrestaurants.pdf
• MarketReady (University of Kentucky)              • Selling to Restaurants (ATTRA, 2004)
http://www.uky.edu/fsic/marketready/index.php       https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/
• ABCs of Marketing to Restaurants (Rodale          summary.php?pub=266
Institute)                                          • Tips for Selling to Restaurants (ATTRA, 2012)
http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0802/   https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/
restaurant.shtml                                    summary.php?pub=388
• Approaching Foodservice Establishments
With Locally Grown Products (University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, 2003)                             1 Woods, Tim, Matthew Ernst, and Jeffrey Herrington.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.      “2006 Kentucky Restaurant Produce Buyer Survey.”
cgi?article=1000&context=fpcreports                 http://www.uky.edu/Ag/cdbrec/restaurantsurvey.pdf
• Direct Marketing (ATTRA, 1999)                    2 Zumwalt,     Brad.   2003. “Approaching Foodservice
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/         Establishments With Locally Grown Products.”   Food
summary.php?pub=263                                 Processing Center, Institute of Agriculture and Natural
• Fruit and Vegetable Market News (USDA             Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  p. 4.
Agricultural Marketing Service)                     http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article
                                                    =1000&context=fpcreports
http://www.marketnews.usda.gov/portal/fv

Prepared by Matt Ernst & Tim Woods (tawoods@uky.edu) UK Department of Agricultural Economics
400 Charles E. Barnhart Building, Lexington, KY, 40546-0276 Phone 859-257-5762
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agecon/index.php (Issued 2005; Revised 2010; Revised 2011)
Photos by Matt Barton, UK Agricultural Communications Services (p. 2);
Scott Bauer, USDA-ARS (p. 1); Peggy Greb, USDA-ARS (pp. 3 & 4)                                March 2011
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