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Envirorational
Environmentalist/ Father
Registered: 06/16/05
Posts: 54
Loc: Dorawoodycross
Last seen: 17 years, 5 months
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Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts
#4562145 - 08/21/05 10:16 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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I'm thinking about going hunting for Chantrelles today, and I'm wondering how would I go about selling these to restraunts. Specifically:
1) What is the going rate? 2) Is there a minimum quantity I should have for a restraunt to be interested? 3) How clean do they need to be? 4) What do I say when I call a restraunt to ask if they are interested?
Thanks in advance for the help!
-------------------- Expand Society with Knowledge - ESK
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: Envirorational]
#4562169 - 08/21/05 10:24 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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1). differes from area to area, ask them 2). not really, they buy by the pound or ounce usualy 3). I didnt know you need to clean them, i always just sold them how they were. I mean getting ahold of them in the first place is more towards their main objective right? 4). ask to speak with their manager, tell them you hunt chants, ask them if they would like to purchase any from you after your next hunt, then ask the price per pound/ounce.
good luck.
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BigBallZMaN
Knowledge Quest
Registered: 06/28/05
Posts: 125
Loc: Washington, USA
Last seen: 18 years, 6 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: CptnGarden]
#4563428 - 08/21/05 04:31 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Yeah, what he said. I have only sold them by the pound.
-------------------- Our body is light, we are immortal. Our body is love, we are eternal. Eternal.. Omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, without judgment.
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: BigBallZMaN]
#4563565 - 08/21/05 05:02 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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I found a patch of about 160 black trumpets today. i was pissed cause they were all too spoiled to eat. wish i had been there sooner
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mjshroomer
Sage
Registered: 07/21/99
Posts: 13,774
Loc: gone with my shrooms
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: Envirorational]
#4566056 - 08/22/05 09:24 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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First off, In order to sell edible musrhooms in Oregon or Washington you need a permit.
2nd, Restaurants buy their edible shroosm from market places or from friends who they know are qulaified to pick and sell them mushrooms.
Chantrelles go from $1 - $2 dollars a pound fresh to a market vendor or restaurant.
The only real way for most to make money selling wild shroom and chantrelles is to own your own restaurant.
Even Wayerhauser lands which lease picking spots and permits to shroom sellers in the fall from northern California to Washington have buyers who wait in trucks outside the logging road picking locations who buy in quuantity from most pickers who come out of the woods with their finds.
And competion is extremelty close.
The markets only pay so much for their shrooms and they buy from people they have been buying from for many years.
In Seattle we also have public weekly and weekend only markets. There are two three individuals who have been selling wild shrooms at those markets for more that 30 years.
They are hard to compete with.
in Washington and Oregon and northern California, permits are needed by pickers to verify that they have taken a course or two in mycology and are ligitmately able to identify and pick edible shrooms wiothout picking poisonous species. And each year, there are many in the PNW who have picked and eaten poisonous shrooms by mistake. Even some musheroms in Russia and Asia are picked here and make people sick. So it is not as easy as one thinks it is.
Also if you personally know of a four or five star restaurant which has a market on their menu for edible shrooms, then you might be able to sell some shrooms to them, ususaly only if you know the owners of the restaurant and they want such shrooms in their menus.
But the peopple who generally buy them from public pickers usually pay very little for them. The chantrelles sell in the markets here for about $6.99 a pound. And they buy them from such pickers at $1-2 dollars a pound.
In 1974, the vendors at the pike Street Public market use to sell them for $35.00 a pound. now it is 6-$7 dollars a pound because many people pick and sell them in the region.
have a shroomy day and good luck with your idea.
mj
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: mjshroomer]
#4566142 - 08/22/05 10:08 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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heh well ive sold a couple pounds of mushrooms to the local new leafs (health food stores), and the managers knew what they were as soon as i put them under their nose. they were glad to give me 3.50$ a pound cause theres not many pickers in the area. there was no questions asked, i just brought them in, someone said "hey are you trying to sell those?" and pointed me to the manager, which he swiftly checked them out and gave me a price. im sure this wouldnt be as easy for most people, but this guy seemed to know his mushrooms pretty well and knew they were all good.
thats interesting and it makes sense about the permit, but ive personaly never ran into needing it in my area. then again, i could be just out of range for where its required.
but mj's quite right, making money off wild shrooms only works if its your own restaurant or store, or if your picking morels by the thousands
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Envirorational
Environmentalist/ Father
Registered: 06/16/05
Posts: 54
Loc: Dorawoodycross
Last seen: 17 years, 5 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: CptnGarden]
#4566708 - 08/22/05 02:24 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well ... I harvested about 3.5 pounds in an hour or so, and I found a couple of restaurants that would take them after a short phone interview. They asked me how much I wanted, and being an idiot for local prices (Atlanta), I asked for $45 for the lot, and they just laughed at me, so I decided to keep them for myself because it wasn't worth the hassle for me. At least my dog and I were able to get some exercise.
-------------------- Expand Society with Knowledge - ESK
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: Envirorational]
#4566758 - 08/22/05 02:38 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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heh well if you ever need help eating those, dont be shy to invite me for some omlets
Edited by ShroomieOfDoomie (08/22/05 02:45 PM)
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ihaveacow
ilovehumidity
Registered: 06/10/05
Posts: 470
Last seen: 16 years, 8 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: CptnGarden]
#4567123 - 08/22/05 04:25 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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more for you brian!
i actually found my first chants the other day, they had been rite under my damn nose for months...
the taste is very nice when cooked rite.
next its the weilli
-------------------- im me on aim... bennettbike i dont smoke, drink, or abuse drugs, but because i trip spiritually twice a year i got a felony!
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mattymonkey
Feel Like aStranger...
Registered: 11/07/04
Posts: 973
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: Envirorational]
#4573578 - 08/24/05 12:17 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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1, NEVER ACCEPT LESS THEN $15/LB FOR WILD MUSHROOMS, this is a gourmet treat, the gourmet restaurants will pay. there arent a lot of pickers in most areas, cali/oregon/washington excluded. what you can do is a skill, that not most ppl have.
2. Id say minimium quantity you should have is 2lbs
3. Clean THEM! perception is everything, if they are nice and clean, and in a basket and looking awesome, they are more inclined to buy them.
4. DONT CALL. They will most likely always turn you down, find the good restaurants, the expensive ones, $15/plate places.. GO THERE. Talk to the chef. Show Him the Mushrooms, in a basket, looking nice. Look/Act professional. Answer questions, be prepared. Believe in what you do.
I sell chanterelles for $16/lb here, and i cant pick enough.. I only sell to two restaurants as I am just starting and really cant find enough to go to more. I luckily have some good expert advice on the marketing aspect of this as I have friends who MAKE A LIVING SELLING WILD MUSHROOMS. There are not a lot of wildcrafters here but there are some, and its a competitive business. Get a market, create relationships, AND ABOVE ALL BE CAREFUL. Sell only what you KNOW, dont take risks, its not worth it. If something is known to cause stomach upset in even 1% of people that is a mushroom you CANNOT sell.
Hope this was some helpful advice, this is a great hobby and a profession for some people. Selling mushrooms for $2, even $3.50 is CRAZY. That puts the real people making a living off this out of business, and eventually just makes it so the restaurants arent going to get mushrooms, as the people who do it for a hobby stop, or move on.
Good luck, and try again, find some good restaurants. GO THERE! Make it look nice, they like that..
-------------------- "listening for the secret.. searching for the sound.."
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: mattymonkey]
#4573624 - 08/24/05 12:32 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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restaurants offer more than little healthfood stores. new leafs sell them for like 8$ a pound, i was glad to help them out by selling them for 3.50 a pound. my mushrooms must have pleased many taste buds
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flowstone
blustering
Registered: 01/25/05
Posts: 6,485
Loc: precious
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: mattymonkey]
#4575135 - 08/24/05 02:16 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
mattymonkey said: 1, NEVER ACCEPT LESS THEN $15/LB FOR WILD MUSHROOMS, this is a gourmet treat, the gourmet restaurants will pay. there arent a lot of pickers in most areas, cali/oregon/washington excluded. what you can do is a skill, that not most ppl have.
2. Id say minimium quantity you should have is 2lbs
3. Clean THEM! perception is everything, if they are nice and clean, and in a basket and looking awesome, they are more inclined to buy them.
4. DONT CALL. They will most likely always turn you down, find the good restaurants, the expensive ones, $15/plate places.. GO THERE. Talk to the chef. Show Him the Mushrooms, in a basket, looking nice. Look/Act professional. Answer questions, be prepared. Believe in what you do.
I sell chanterelles for $16/lb here, and i cant pick enough.. I only sell to two restaurants as I am just starting and really cant find enough to go to more. I luckily have some good expert advice on the marketing aspect of this as I have friends who MAKE A LIVING SELLING WILD MUSHROOMS. There are not a lot of wildcrafters here but there are some, and its a competitive business. Get a market, create relationships, AND ABOVE ALL BE CAREFUL. Sell only what you KNOW, dont take risks, its not worth it. If something is known to cause stomach upset in even 1% of people that is a mushroom you CANNOT sell.
Hope this was some helpful advice, this is a great hobby and a profession for some people. Selling mushrooms for $2, even $3.50 is CRAZY. That puts the real people making a living off this out of business, and eventually just makes it so the restaurants arent going to get mushrooms, as the people who do it for a hobby stop, or move on.
Good luck, and try again, find some good restaurants. GO THERE! Make it look nice, they like that..
Good advice. Although ALWAYS calling first is a great idea. Trust me, hit the phone books, you will have to call about 20 places before you find a buyer. Why drive to 20 places when you can ask first over the phone? Also, the price of chanterelles dropped as low as $8 a pound this year in Atlanta because it was such a CRAZY season. I made $600 in one month selling chanterelles so I know the market pretty well. Another tip is ALWAYS cut the mushrooms with a knife!! Not only to preserve the patch but also because it keeps them clean. Chefs will pay up to $3-4 more for CLEAN SPECIMENS. Don't wash them yourself, keep them dry as possible, and in the fridge if you can't sell them right away. They keep for TEN DAYS in the fridge if picked when they are prime. If you pick them after the rain, put them in front of a fan for about 20 minutes.... not to dry them out, but because they are waterlogged and if they are really wet when you store them you go from 10 days storage to about 3.
-------------------- these long agonizing months without you...have been long and agonizing.. "War Doesn't Decide Who's Right... It Only Decides Who's Left."
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flowstone
blustering
Registered: 01/25/05
Posts: 6,485
Loc: precious
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: CptnGarden]
#4575146 - 08/24/05 02:19 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
ShroomieOfDoomie said: for 3.50 a pound.
What an insult to the picker! I'd never sell for less than $6 a pound even if the market was extremely flooded. And normally I ask $12-15 straight up, AND GET IT! Don't undercut yourself. I've probably seen 50+ pounds of fresh chanterelles this season. Also, trading is a good idea.... try to trade a pound of chanterelles for some porcini or oyster mushrooms to eat yourself. Also, you can get gift certificates to nice restaurants on a two to one ratio( thus a pound is worth $12-20 in gift certificates instead of 6-10 in cash.... Five star places= key. Living in a big city helps.
-------------------- these long agonizing months without you...have been long and agonizing.. "War Doesn't Decide Who's Right... It Only Decides Who's Left."
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flowstone
blustering
Registered: 01/25/05
Posts: 6,485
Loc: precious
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: Envirorational]
#4575159 - 08/24/05 02:23 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Envirorational said: I'm thinking about going hunting for Chantrelles today, and I'm wondering how would I go about selling these to restraunts. Specifically:
1) What is the going rate? 2) Is there a minimum quantity I should have for a restraunt to be interested? 3) How clean do they need to be? 4) What do I say when I call a restraunt to ask if they are interested?
Thanks in advance for the help!
1- $6-20 a pound depending on the market. 2- five pounds at least 3- cleaner, the better. And keep them whole, try not to crush them or break off the 'fan leaves' 4- Hi my name is (slim shady) and I am a local mushroom hunter in ( say your city) I have some nice fresh chanterelles picked this morning and was wondering if you would like to buy some. If they need them they will say bring them in, and if they are as good quality as you describe over the phone, you're in.
-------------------- these long agonizing months without you...have been long and agonizing.. "War Doesn't Decide Who's Right... It Only Decides Who's Left."
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flowstone
blustering
Registered: 01/25/05
Posts: 6,485
Loc: precious
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Re: Selling Chatrelles to Restraunts [Re: Envirorational]
#4575165 - 08/24/05 02:25 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Also, fuck selling all of your mushrooms. Keep at least 3 pounds yourself.
I've eaten chanterelles every day for two weeks. LITERALLY! They are so good. They make me feel good. It's a clean food feeling, they sit easy on your stomach. Not only that but they are healthy and contain beta carotene for night vision and other essential nutrients. What I really like even more than fresh chanterelles to eat are fresh oyster mushrooms.
-------------------- these long agonizing months without you...have been long and agonizing.. "War Doesn't Decide Who's Right... It Only Decides Who's Left."
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