Peach time!

[MikeC]

One bowl full of Contender peaches from 2018. We did over 44 lbs of peaches after pitting and peeling the skin off. It was a busy week for making preserves.

[thecityman]

I don’t know how I missed your peach selling story from 2017 but I still had to tell you how much I loved that post!!! The neat thing is the buyers also got much better fruit than they normally would at a retail store, the store itself made some money, and you made a little yourself. I’ve always said I don’t want to get into the peach selling business, but I must admit that sometimes I do have the temptation to take some to a local fruit stand and see if he wants to sell them for a % of the take-much like you did.

Did you end up doing this again in 2018?

BTW- gorgeous peaches!

[SpokanePeach]

Love all those peach pictures you guys. Especially this time of year!

[jeremymillrood]

I know some are in the midst of a deep freeze so I thought I’d share my blooming tropic snow peach.

Not sure if it was confused or what, but we’ve had some pretty chilly temps since it’s started blossiming…anyway, I’ll be curious to see what if any of the fruit will survive this year.

[blueberrythrill]

Lots of rain here which makes it hard to get the peach trees pruned. Just 4 months until peach time unless we get a huge frost. Considering the amount of work and the risk, I believe a price increase is in order.

[SpudDaddy]

Are you pruning your trees this early? I would have thought middle to end of February would have been appropriate for NC.

[blueberrythrill]

Yea, I started 2 weeks early this year because I ran out of time and did not get them all pruned last year.

The extension folks for my area suggest starting around Feb 1

[Sara_in_philly]

Kevin, I am glad you like my story! Yes, I did sell peaches again 2018. I made about $100 gross. I think I spent it all on nearby restaurants​:smile:. Not a very profitable business ️

My problem is that even though people knew my peaches taste really good, and they sold out really fast at store, people still expect to get it at bargain price. ️ And I spent a lot of time making sure to pick each peach at the right time.

To make more money out of my peaches, I really have to treat it like a business rather than labor of love.

I think it’s fun to sell some, you should try it. Just don’t expect to get rich from it​:smiley:

But check a few places about the price first. I think I talked to one farm stand, they said $10 for a big container that probably holds 20-30lb, can you believe it?

[Olpea]

I think I talked to one farm stand, they said $10 for a big container that probably holds 20-30lb, can you believe it?

That’s stupid cheap, even for a peach populated county in PA. Don’t listen to them. At 50 cents/lb. they are lying. Or at that retail price, they will soon figure out they are paying money to go to work. Lots of money.

You have a good product, don’t be afraid to charge a fair price for it. As you know, it’s hard work. Let some of your customers figure out how hard it is to deliver a good quality tree ripe peach to their counter. Will cost them way more than 50 cents/lb. Like 10 times more.

[SpokanePeach]

Oh, I’m way over 10 times more…lol.

[Sara_in_philly]

Mark, thanks for the advice! I have lots of questions about selling peaches, I will ask you later.

No, I didn’t sell to that farm stand. I thought that was a ridiculous price.

The local grocery store can sell local beaches at $2.49-$2.99/lb.
I know my peaches taste a lot better than those, so I am frustrated that mine couldn’t get as good or better price.

I need to figure out how to sell to rich people who are willing to pay good price for a good product. I like Allen’s business model a lot!!

[Sara_in_philly]

So, are you saying you are selling your peaches at more $5/lb? That means you figured out how to sell to rich people, so what’s your secret? Do tell​:smiley:

[SpokanePeach]

No. Unfortunately. I’m not selling anything, just giving away to friends, but I’m sure I am spending way too much time and money. I doubt, if I could sell at $5.00 per pound, that it would be profitable. I figure I could make a small fortune… but only if I start with a large one!

[Olpea]

So, are you saying you are selling your peaches at more $5/lb?

I doubt very many people are actually selling peaches for 5 bucks/lb. But I think back to the first peaches I grew and probably had more expense than that in them.

For the heck of it, I Googled some expensive peaches and came up with this Amazon link.

TREE RIPENED PEACHES PRODUCE SWEET FRESH FRUIT PER POUND: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

Right now, looks like one can buy 2 lbs. of peaches for $28.69 plus $8.75 in shipping, lol.

Some of the reviews are funny. It’s like people are surprised how expensive it is, after they get them.

[Sara_in_philly]

Mark, I don’t think I can sell my peach for $5/lb😀 It’s interesting that people actually sell and buy that 2lb peach for $28.69! Maybe just as a joke?

[Olpea]

Maybe just as a joke?

Sara,

Actually, I don’t think it’s a joke. The reviews seem like people are pretty unhappy once they get the peaches.

I’ve found some people really don’t have any idea how much fruit weighs. Sometimes I get first time customers who ask me how much I charge. When I tell them $2/lb (tax included). They say, OK, “I’ll take a couple pounds”.

If the peaches are really running big, they will get, like, three peaches in the box. Most of the time they will see that it’s not very many peaches and tell me to go ahead and fill up the box.

Like Rick, I plan to increase the price some going forward. Grocery stores around here generally sell their peaches for around $2.50/lb., plus tax, and they generally aren’t very good.

[Sara_in_philly]

Mark,
I hope you sell your peach for good price this year. Good product deserves better price😀

[MikeC]

Grocery stores around here generally sell their peaches for around $2.50/lb., plus tax, and they generally aren’t very good.

Exactly right about peaches in stores. Mealy , tasteless orbs. I have been so disappointed in the peaches I used to buy in the stores. I started taking them back and getting my money back. It is too expensive to just trow away because the fruit is horrible to try to eat. I’d prefer to pay more for good tasting fruit from an orchard stand. Normally the grocery peaches are always earlier or later than the local varieties. The peaches look beautiful but tasteless.

[blueberrythrill]

The peaches look beautiful but tasteless.

Yep. Hard as a rock and they never ripen if left on the counter. I expect peaches from the west coast to be picked green, but even the peaches from South Carolina are green and hard as a rock in the supermarket.

Sometimes people buy and resell peaches at a farmers market and act like they grew them. Any peach without fuzz is probably not local because most local peach growers do not have a packing line which removes the fuzz.

Fresh peach consumption per person in the US has been declining for a good while. I believe the poor quality of the peaches in the supermarket is the reason for the decline.

We have noticed that many customers are willing to drive 30 minutes in order to get fresh local peaches so peach demand is still good for fresh local peaches of good quality. Our peaches are sold by volume in 1/2 pecks. $15 for 1/2 peck of fresh local peaches may be the “magic” price.

[Ahmad]

I drive 50 minutes to an orchard that sells home grown quality nectarines, when I go there I usually buy a minimum of a bushel. One time I picked more than 100 lbs of Zephyr nectarines from them.