Posted: Wed May 14, 14 10:57 am Post subject: Another string to my bow?
Pinching Richard W's title, I'm considering adding another string to my bow.
Following the much published death of Pru the GOS sow ( I told everyone ) I was in receipt of a humungus amount of extremely tasty sausages and burgers. We retained what we wanted for our own consumption and then flogged the rest off to friends and family.
I also sold a couple of hundred pounds worth off to a friend who owns a local gastro pub. He sold out of the lot in just over a week. He managed to sell three GOS sausages on a fancy bap and with few trimmings for just under thirteen pounds a throw.
Now I may not be the quickest but this has set what few grey brain cells that I have left whirring. if I can sell my wares directly to the person whose going to eat them, then surely this is going to maximise my profit margin.
Yesterday I phoned the EVO' my idea is to sell Gloucester Old Spot hot dogs and burgers on the 21 days that I sell my cider in the farmyard. The EVO wanted a few of the obvious things like hand washing facilities but everything else seemed quite simple and straight forward. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to need PP for just a few days a year. I'm thinking of possibly a gazebo and buying a couple of those simple electric griddles that you can pick up for around twenty quid.
We've already got one and it works brilliantly. OK you don't quite get the same tantalising aroma of smoke and charcoal but on the plus side you, nor do you have to eat the cremated burnt offerings that are associated with BBQ'S .
We could use either a cool box or a small fridge to keep the meat cool while its waiting to go on the griddle and we already have some of those probes that we could use to check the temperature in the cold box.
I'll have to check whether or not the insurance that I have for selling my cider will or could cover me for the sale of hot food. I'm sure that things shouldn't be this simple but at the moment, things seem fairly straight forward.
The burgers and sausages really do taste heavenly and I'm really going to play on the fact that they represent genuine locally produced food. Seeing the raw materials rooting in the fields should also be an attraction. I think that this idea could be a winner for us, has anyone got any views or ideas?
I don't want to do this full time, just for the ten weekends at the height of the summer while the holiday makers are down here. Whose for a burger and a pint?
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Pilsbury
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 5645 Location: East london/Essex
Posted: Wed May 14, 14 11:01 am Post subject:
I think thsts exactly what i suggested in the thread asking what you would do with 200lbs of sausages.
Its a great and simple idea that shpuld be easy to pull off if you price it right.
You csn also get cases of frozen mini baguettes thst cook in 10 mins, i lay about �5 per 50 i think so you could bake them as you need them and no need to worry about the rolls going stale.
Sounds like a good idea, but you won't get restaurant prices for them. I would go for a smaller hot dog or burger in a roll that is reasonably priced so people coming for the cider will be willing to pay for them.
gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
Posted: Thu May 15, 14 10:27 am Post subject:
I would go for supplying the restaurant regularly, as well as your own bash, if you have the facilities as long as the economics make sense.
vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
Sounds like a good idea, but you won't get restaurant prices for them. I would go for a smaller hot dog or burger in a roll that is reasonably priced so people coming for the cider will be willing to pay for them.
With the price that I'm paying to have my own sausages made, I don't need anything like restaurant prices for them. I may have dropped on a second hand stainless steel portable handwasher too.
gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
Posted: Mon May 19, 14 2:52 pm Post subject:
I was at a smallholder show in Wales at the w/e and the concensus of the producers is that it is hard to make money from pigs unless you are 'growing' for a specific end user and not on spec. All say that pedigree is all well and good, but! They all say that the great unknown is feed prices and always will be+/-. It was interesting that one chap for merely fetching the feed in a tonne bag saves a lot of money over having it in small bags also collected, but that by shopping around he could get a better feed �80/ tonne less and only 5 miles further to go for it. In your shoes I would look for more than one pub customer, along with doing pork roasts and burgers, for your own cider 'bash' before you go too far down the line with the kit buying-in my opinion a really good thing to be doing and I wish you good luck.