How To Improve Profit Margins For Your Farm's Produce Sales

Looking for ways to increase your profits without having to grow another few acres of produce for sale? Here are a few things you can do to get the job done:

Start and Manage a CSA Program Managing a community supported agriculture program is an excellent way to fill in any gaps your retail sales leave throughout the year. If you grow more tomatoes, greens, eggplant, or other veggies than you can sell to the stores, you can provide them to community members through your CSA. At the beginning of every growing season, community members will buy shares of the produce you grow said season upfront.

Once a week, they'll pick their share of produce up from your farm or a designated community meeting spot. You'll pack the boxes for your CSA members full of produce that you couldn't sell to stores that week. You can expect to increase your profit margins throughout the year while providing a valuable service that your community members are sure to appreciate.

Consider Offering Some Discount Options

Another great way to minimize your produce losses and increase your profit margins is to offer some discount options for older produce to customers in your area. Put together produce packages for stews and stir-fries that include veggies that are still edible but aren't pretty enough to sell in a market. Or you can sell each type of produce separately for a lower price than customers might find in the store. Those who enjoy making soups, casseroles, and smoothies won't mind that the produce doesn't look great as long as it's of quality and still tastes good – they'll be cutting up and processing most of the produce anyway.

Incorporate an RFID Inventory Navigation System

You can effectively improve your profit margins when it comes to selling to retailers by incorporating an RFID inventory navigation system into your production process. Using identification tracking chips and GPS technology, an RFID inventory navigation system or retail mapping system will allow you to track what happens to your fruits and vegetables from the time they're harvested until they're delivered to the store. You will know when each piece of produce is:

• Harvested

• Processed

• Packaged

• Picked up for Delivery or Loaded on Your Delivery Trucks

• Delivered to End Stores

The information you gain from your RFID inventory navigation system will allow you to determine when produce is being held up too long on the road so you can figure out how to get it transported faster. It will also give you insight into how quickly or slowly processing and packaging takes, and the store's satisfaction when your product is delivered to them.