REX OBERHELMAN: $27,000 (Net!) from Five Organic Acres

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PLOWBOY: Rex, I'd imagine it's harder to sell something than it is to grow it. What are your secrets to marketing produce?

REX: I show buyers that my product is fresher and better than California-shipped produce. A fresh, vine-ripened tomato is a lot easier for those buyers to sell than a hard, chewy imported one. As our slogan says, "Minnesota grown — tastes 2,000 miles fresher."

I also point out that since my produce is fresher, it'll have a longer shelf life and less chance of spoiling.

But the real secret to my success is that I fulfill buyers' needs without overloading them with excess inventory. If a restaurant uses a case and a half of tomatoes a week, it normally has to buy two cases — supply companies won't split a case. Well, half a case goes down the tubes, which makes the restaurant's cost of production higher. I sell exactly what the buyer wants to buy.

PLOWBOY: If there's any surplus, it's your surplus.

REX: That's right. That way I can charge restaurants the same price their other suppliers were getting, but they save money by not paying so much for shipping and for produce that they don't use.

PLOWBOY: Was it hard for those buyers to use your foods when they were available and then switch back to their old sources when you ran out? Didn't their suppliers say, "Look, give us all your business or none"?

REX: Some of them tried to do that, but the buyers felt like they were the ones running their businesses, so they called the suppliers' bluff.

PLOWBOY: If an individual wants to try to duplicate your operations, how should he or she start out?

REX: Go to four or five restaurants or grocery stores — restaurants are probably easier to get a foothold in — ask for their produce buyers, tell them what you'd like to do, and ask them to work with you. If you make them feel a part of what you're trying to do, they're much more likely to cooperate with you than if you just show up with a bunch of produce and say, "What'll you give me for it?"

You want to have every crop sold before you put a seed in the ground, so start working with your buyers before your growing season starts. They can tell you what they move, how much they move, and how much they pay for it, so you can figure out if you can produce it profitably. I've never found a market that wouldn't work with me if I was fair and honest with the people there and showed them that I could save them money and give them fresher produce.

And you do have to be honest with them. If something happens and you're not going to be able to supply a crop they need, you have to give them plenty of warning so they can line up another supplier. Then once you've got a proven track record of supplying a few grocery stores and restaurants, you can start trying to work with wholesalers. But you have to prove to wholesalers that you can consistently meet their needs.

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