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
