Anyone sell fresh veggies to resturaunts?

I respectfully disagree. I have been selling exclusively to restaurants for 18 years. Many of my customers have been with me for over 10 years with several over 15 years. Chefs are extremely loyal to someone who has shown they can perform consistently. I don't ever have to look for new businesswhen one of my customers opens a new restaurant they call me. If a sous chef leaves to open his own restaurant, they call me.

I have added one new customer a month for the last 3 months.

One was a former customer who I hadn't dealt with for over 3 years becuase he left to open a new restaurant that was in a area I don't deliver to, and wasn't larege enough to make it worth my while. He opened a 150 seat (plus the bar and a 30 seat private room) ultra high end/pricy restaurant in early Nov and called me in and said "Is this big enough for you?" His chef de cuisine had worked at a restaurant in another city where I didn't sell, he also wanted my product. In just 3 months they are a consistent $500/week cusotmer,.

Second one opened the 1st week of Nov. The chef call 3 weeks prior to opening and said he had been referred by a long time customer. I didn't get right back to him so he called again a week later saying he was referred by another customer. It is a 65 seat+bar+large patio for summer neighborhood place. It started out as 1 $70/week delivery. 4 weeks ago, they "blew up" and they now take 3 $100 deliveries every week.

Third one just opened 3 weeks ago. This is a long time customer who just opened his 4 th location. They only do $100/week now. This customer always startes out with only coffee/pastries in the morning and lunch service M-F until they get everything running smooth. Then he opens Sat&Sun for brunch, then he opens for dinner. In 2 years this will be a $300/week account.

As for "wholesale pricing" I wrote the following premise in my 1st business plan and it has never been wrong:

If the farmer growing the product that is being sold to a broker, shipped on a truck to my area, and then marked up and sold again by the local produce company can be profitable, then I can be profitable by selling direct at the same price as the local produce company.

I keep my pricing 10-25% higher than the local produce companies. I sell direct so I don't have to give a share to any middle men-their share goes to me. I am local so I don't have the transportation cost of shipping well over 1000 miles to deliver my product. If you can't make a decent living under such an arrangement, your production costs are way out of whack and you are doing somehting seriously wrong.

Chefs are looking for blemish-free top quality products -- understandably. That is what I meant by picky. Organic farmers know and understand that a few bug holes or a worm or two is to be expected. It bothers some people -- others not so much.

People around here would love to be able to price their produce to restaurants (and markets) at the same cost as big agribusiness wholesalers. We know the restaurants want cheap, large volume, and produce out of the normal growing season or they will buy elsewhere. They won't spend their time buying this from this farmer, that from another, and out of season produce from big growers. Money and time -- all in short supply. AND they don't much care if they serve organic produce or not.

Then you are in a unique position. You should write a book on your experiences -- no kidding. Many people would be interested in how you started your business, how you managed to maintain such a good relationship with the chefs and the restaurants, your techniques for growing, harvesting, hauling and selling. Seriously.

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"Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth." — Li Zhaoxing

You might consider doing a series of articles for Countryside and Small Stock Journal, specifically keeping the copyright. Then see if they are worth compling and putting out in small book form. With today's instant publishing services quite easy to do. However, selling the books is the problem.

Perhaps a title such as: Market Farming for the Restaurant Trade

I think that is a wonderful idea! Instructional type books and techniques from experience that help people/business be successful will always sell --- just do it!

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"Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth." — Li Zhaoxing