Selling chickens to restaurants

Thank you all for your advice.

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I agree that you need to know what you can get per pound before you start.

I however disagree about "why would someone pay more". I see people pay a premium every time I visit a farmers market for all kinds of products. There are lots of higher end restaurants that will pay and charge a premium for a great product.

You need to know what they expect and how often you need to provide it. For example do they want fresh chicken a few times a week, all year round or frozen chicken once a month? You need to be able to schedule your supply to their needs.

It is one thing to do something as a hobby and then to do it as a job.

I was approached by a major retailer of outdoor equipment on my wholesaling to them one of my items. Thought about it for maybe as long as two seconds and said no. It is one thing to know I need to go out and make up six units to last me two weeks of sales and knowing I had to turn out 144 of them in the next five days.

Reasons: I'd have to purchase at least one piece of equipment and likely upgrade two others for the volume. I'd have to hire an employee. While volume would be higher, my net per unit would be significantly lower. Payment would be delayed through their accounts payable cycle. And, probably, the major one - the fun would be gone out of it.

Accounts payable is the bugaboo for most small businesses. Just think about all those providers to GM who last 60-90 days payments after bankruptcy.

If you can, make all your sales cash only. If the business wants to finance it, tell them to use a line of credit from their bank or their own credit card. If they are unwilling or unable, why should you do for them what they can't get.

This is why I SO like selling online, everryone pays up front, and tehn I send them their product.

Of course, that does not work for produce & livestock as well. But lookin into farmers markets as mentioned.

And the reason people mention the feds... because they can crush you if they choose to, and there is nothing you can do short of violence to change that, which is not worth doing of course. It is a reality of the tyranny we currently live under. Sad but true.

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We will meet in the golden city, called the New Jerusalem,
All our pain and all our tears will be no more.....

happened upon this though some might make use of it

http://www.apppa.org/legalstates.pdf

and I stand corrected on my states regulations they let the feds call all the shots, seems we need a new bit of legislation to correct that.

As far as USDA rules and regs it depends on which rule or regulation is the Strongest~!.
If the State laws are more strict then the federal one then THAT is what the USDA goes by is the State one. If on the other hand the Federal law is the strongest that is what the USDA goes by.
I got that from my dad who was a Health inspector for a large city in WI. and how USDA rules and regulations are enforced.

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Tell us a little more about your operation. Are you selling whole ducks and chickens for them to cut up and cook? What quantity do you think you'll need to do to be able to see a profit? 1,000 is only 18 per wk. so it won't generat a whole lot.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

Seeing some discussion about why a person would pay premium price for free range poultry vs caged, etc. Now I admit I am a bit of weirdo, so keep this in mind... I prefer to pay higher for a guaranteed "guilt free" carcass. In my personal opinion, it's the difference between living meat and dead meat. Also, I am not the only person that is this weird :-)

OK, but what will the market bear for the restaurant? $15 for three pieces of chicken, fries, cole slaw and ice tea?

As note above, a restaurant would need a large cliente of upscale foodies.

This is not a low end chicken and fries market.

Look at these links and the prices charged.


http://www.rehobothranch.com/images/...ricelist.pdf?1

http://www.weathertopfarm.com/id32.html

http://www.petesgreens.com/chicken_order.html

Two of these are in Vermont and one is in Texas. Looks like the two in VT are off-the-farm for the most part and the one in TX mail-order. Yeah, Omaha Steaks prices are outrageous, but they largely cater to the high-end airline traveler. They are also doing some national advertising.

(In the first link what is a securing fee?)

What will YOUR local market consistently bear over time?

How much other direct competition will you have. If any, what happens if you get in a price war with them?

And I would be worried about having only a single quantity buyer. What happens if they change the menu or close? You may be left hip deep in chickens for which you do not have a market.

It seems like well over half of the local restaurants have either closed or are under new management within the past couple of years. At least two which went under new management are closed again. It is a rough business.

We aren't trying to discourage you, just tryiing to help you look at all the angles involved.

To able to fill the needs of a resturant will 18 birds a week be enough? Will you be hatching your own or buying starter chicks? If so what is the availability of the chicks year round? With feed prices as high as they are what does it cost in feed to get a chicken to slaughter weight?

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

I originally was going to post about the insurance dilemma, but got distracted... If you don't have some pretty stout insurance, you're gambling with your farm. One of the reasons I'm gun shy about having goat milk sold off the farm here. I've saved, scrimped, and struggled to get my place and I ain't gonna gamble it for a few dollars.

In a perfect world, if people got sick and died, their family'd dig a hole and bury them, and that'd be the end of it. No lawsuits, just bad luck. We don't live in a perfect world though, and if you're the cause of someones hangnail pain, you're apt to lose it all.

So, after all the investment in time, feed, stock, fuel, security, marketing, etc. also add a half million or more insurance policy on top of the other expenses.

Of course, you might live where folks don't sue.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Nothing weird about it. Quite a few people feel the same way.

Question is, is Mr. P.T. Barnum standing in the area when the transaction takes place...? In other words, do you believe what someone tells you? or do you verify for yourself. If you called me on the phone, during daylight hours, you'd pretty much "know" my poultry is free range {at this moment roosters are crowing, and I hear geese right below the house frolicking in the creek}.

Unless you go out to the farm and pick up the animals yourself, it's all a question of faith. For me to pay a premium, I need eyes on verification... I can't ascertain the life history of an animal by looking at it's carcass.

btw... I pretty much always eat my meat cooked and dead. Alas, my circus days are behind me (when I had to eat my meat alive)...

...........just kidding..........

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming