The most successful farms are willing to explore multiple income streams. Sometimes,
that means selling to local restaurants. The premise can be appealing—guaranteed weekly
customers can relieve stress.
Still, many factors go into selling to chefs that the average farmer hasn’t considered. It requires specific skills for success; otherwise, you’ll wind up wasting everyone’s time.
Here’s a closer look at what’s involved with marketing and selling to restaurants as a farm to
help you determine whether it’s the right fit for your farming operation.
Advantages of Selling to Restaurants
There’s plenty to like about selling to restaurants as a farm:
Guaranteed sales: Weekly restaurant orders minimize the risk of growing more than you
can sell at farmers’ markets.
Efficient packaging: With restaurant bulk orders, you can minimize single-use plastic.
Creative expression: Chefs tend to be more adventurous than home cooks. This gives you a market for the obscure produce you’re dying to grow.
Does Selling To Restaurants Make Sense for You?
Not every farm is set up well for selling to restaurants. It’s essential to understand your
strengths as a farmer and business owner. Asking these questions will help you determine
whether working with restaurants is worth pursuing.
Communication is Key: Are you a good communicator? Chefs need frequent updates on what’s available and whether they need to pivot. Failing to communicate will get you blacklisted fast.
Sell Your Story: What (if anything) sets your farm apart? Restaurants often want to sell a story as much as your produce. Are you growing heirloom pumpkins from Great Grandpa’s seeds from the
motherland? Emphasize the human connection of your farm compared to wholesalers, and you’re more likely to make a sale.
Frequent Deliveries: Can you tolerate frequent deliveries? Restaurants will likely require weekly produce drop-offs. Will that throw off your work schedule? How will you add this to your schedule?
Inventory: Can you offer a consistent inventory? It’s the rare restaurant that will tolerate unpredictable ingredients from week to week. If you can’t become a supplier that restaurants can count on, they’ll take their business elsewhere. Harsh but true.
If you like this post, check out this video on selling to restaurants as a farm.
Is this your path to profitability? Selling to restaurants might be on your bucket list, but it needs to make financial sense. If economies of scale are working against you, it might be better to find a different sales route.
Pitching To Restaurants
If selling to restaurants is your end goal, then you are going to have to first sell yourself to them. For some farmers, this comes easy, but for others who might be a little more reserved, this feels hard. We've added this section to help give you some tips on pitching your farm products to restaurants.
Market research On your Local Restaurants:
First things first, do your research. Here are some things to consider when picking restaurants.
Identify target restaurants: Look for restaurants that promote local food, farm-to-table menus, or have a focus on seasonal ingredients.
Analyze menus: Study their current dishes to understand what produce or meats they might be interested in. If you don't see something, this might be an opportunity to suggest it to them. This is a great way in.
Chef research: Find out who the head chef is and what types of foods they like to prepare and sell. After you do this, you might try to contact them directly.
Prepare your restaurant pitch:
Now that you've done your research on the restaurants, menus, and chefs, it's time to talk about you.
Highlight your unique selling points: Showcase your farm's sustainability practices, variety of produce, and exceptional quality.
Develop a product list: Create a list of your available produce with quantities and pricing.
Offer samples: Prepare a selection of your best produce to give chefs a taste of what you can provide.
Initiate contact:
Now that you've prepared the information, it's time to put your best foot forward and reach out to the restaurant directly.
Direct approach: Schedule a meeting with the chef or restaurant manager to present your products. I have had farms go right to their door with freshly picked food and gain entry that way, but I'm not sure that will work for everyone. The doors are often locked during off hours. It would be better to instead reach out and make an appointment when you know you can speak with the right people.
Networking: Attend local food events, farmers market events, or community events to connect with restaurant owners and chefs.
Professional communication: Be clear about your intentions, provide detailed information about your farm and produce, and be prepared to answer questions about availability, packaging, and delivery.
Build relationships with restaurants:
Once you've made contact, start to develop yourself as an asset to their restaurant.
Be flexible: Adapt to the restaurant's needs regarding quantities, packaging, and delivery schedules.
Consistent quality: Ensure your produce is consistently fresh and high quality to maintain customer satisfaction.
Regular communication: Stay in touch with the restaurant to discuss seasonal changes and potential new items that you are growing or would like to grow.
Be a good communicator: Be easy to get a hold of. Make sure that they can order easily from you. It will make all of your jobs easier.
Important considerations when working with restaurants:
There may be more considerations that you need to know about when selling to restaurants. It's important that you do your research and find out if there are local laws or regulations to be aware of.
Legal requirements: Check if you need any specific licenses or permits to sell produce to restaurants in your area.
Pricing strategy: Research market rates for similar products and set competitive prices.
Packaging and labeling: Present your produce professionally with clear labeling and branding.
Delivery logistics: Always discuss with the chef or manager the best way to deliver your product. This will cut down frustration and wait time.
Keep Organized: Being disorganized in your approach or delivery to a busy restaurant does not promote your professionalism. Make sure that you are using a farm record-keeping software to help manage all aspects of your agricultural operation.
15 Tips for Success with Selling To Restaurants
If the questions asked didn't deter you, then it’s time to talk logistics for selling to restaurants. The easiest option for every chef is to continue buying from their preferred wholesaler, so it’s a bit of an uphill battle for you to make that first sale. While every path to success will look different, these tips can help you move in the right direction.
Figure out your story
Remember that you’re selling the idea of your business as much as the broccoli. Successful restaurant growers can succinctly share what makes them stand out. Take the time to write down a few paragraphs about yourself, your farm, and what you’re working towards. Have these talking points handy when on sales calls.
Don’t shy away from free samples
Buying wholesale is the easier option for most chefs, so you’ll need to convince them your product is worth the change in routine. Free samples speak louder than words, so bring along a dozen free-range eggs or that almost-too-crisp arugula to your prospective meetings. A well-timed freebie on regular deliveries can also lead to future orders.
Be picky about prospects
Selling to restaurants is a business relationship that must work on both ends. Do your market research and approach places that focus on local, seasonal menus. They’ll be the most forgiving of harvest fluctuations and have branding in place to best capitalize on local produce. On the flip side, don’t be afraid to end a restaurant relationship that isn’t working. Many growers start with several prospects and narrow down deliveries to the best fit. Finding the right fit requires trial and error for both parties. Promising prospects should change their menus every six weeks or so (to best accommodate
seasonal bounty) and offer numerous specials at a time to utilize unexpected bumper crops.
Stay organized
Maintaining successful relationships between farmers and restaurants comes down to
managing expectations and being organized. It’s important to let your buyers know what’s available as early as possible. Many growers manage weekly Google forms or email newsletters that share what’s in stock along with pricing, delivery times, and heads up on what’s peaking or waning. The easier you make the ordering process, the longer you’ll maintain repeat customers.
Clarify packaging expectations early
Chefs value efficiency, and your packaging strategy may impact their whole day. Talk with every potential restaurant about what would work best on their end. What’s the easiest to unpack? To store in fridges? Are they willing to hold onto reusable packaging until your next delivery date? Make sure the packaging is durable enough to withstand the rigors of the restaurant industry. There’s nothing worse than having beautiful (expensive) produce get ruined because of ripped bags.
Build relationships with the entire staff
Chefs are notorious for jumping from one restaurant to another. Make connections with
everyone at your drop-off location so you aren’t convenient to cut during staff changes.
Use chefs for market research
Restaurant professionals will have their fingers on the pulse of what’s trending. Mine their expertise for plant suggestions and make farming plans accordingly.
Consider pricing carefully
Pricing is a tricky component for all small farms. There are many schools of thought. Some farmers prefer to eliminate any reason for a restaurant to say no and aggressively match or beat the prices of wholesale sellers. Others emphasize their difference (freshness, variety) from national wholesalers and aim to compete in other directions. Local produce tends to be ultra-fresh, meaning it might last longer in the refrigerator and require less frequent reordering. Likewise, small farms tend to have a stronger buffer against price increases. One egg farmer shares that his costs don’t increase even as national prices skyrocket, meaning he can offer consistent prices to restaurants when
wholesalers come short.
Lean into social media
Today’s most successful farms often have a social media footprint. It’s a fun way to build brand awareness and get people invested in your products. All the better if you can combine marketing efforts with local restaurants to pick up extra customers.
Prioritize unique yet hardy
While restaurant partnerships offer opportunities to broaden your product selection, it’s
essential to prioritize hardy varieties above all else. Restaurants are foremost a business, and you’ll lose partnerships fast if your produce doesn’t last.
Get paid early and often
Farm-to-restaurant relationships often lean towards casual. But that’s a problem if you’re as casual about money. Have a predetermined payment system that ensures you won’t be waiting weeks for unpaid invoices. The restaurant business can be volatile— you don’t want yours to be a victim of it.
Patience is rewarded
Finding successful relationships with restaurants doesn’t happen quickly. Expect to hear many no’s and go through several false starts before finding the ideal partnerships.
Be Reliable
Restaurants are stressful environments to begin with— the last thing a chef needs is unreliable food orders. Communicate early if there’s going to be a supply issue and be willing to offer alternatives. Deliver what you promise, when you promise it, and you’ll prove your farm is easy to work with.
Accept feedback
Growing for restaurants must work for both parties. Ask for feedback on where things are complicated. Maybe the chefs would prefer cleaner root vegetables or tomatoes sorted by varieties. Being open to hearing what’s not working gives you the opportunity to pivot and make a change
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Selling to restaurants as a farm can be a rewarding and mutually beneficial partnership when approached with the right strategy. By focusing on quality, consistency, building relationships, and understanding the unique needs of restaurant owners and chefs, farms can establish a consistent and reliable market for their products. With thoughtful communication, relationship building, and flexibility, farms can not only increase their sales but also help support the local food movement.