cross country sale prices.

I have a friend who is a snowbird (someone who travels to warmer climates in winter), that is leaving sunday and heading to San Diego California for awhile, then Texas for the remainder of winter. Had a idea of him takeing cases of syrup and see how it would sell at the different r.v parks he stays at. Does anyone know what the going rate for syrup goes for in those 2 states? I would think San Diego would be outrageous!?!? I would sell to my friend the price i get here in Wis. but i want him to make good on it also for messing with selling it. He has one of those big coaches so room isn't a factor but i thought of sending him with 1/2 pints and pints to test the market over there. And i think people in smaller r.v's wouldn't want to have a big quart in the small fridge. Anyone who knows what my friend could sell it for it let me know. Thanks.......Rhino

Rhino,

I try to sell most of my syrup out of state. This is because the WIS market is so low. Too many people here just want to give it away. For retail you could sell for $9-$10 a pint. What do you sell them for now?

Bison, We charge $5.00 a 1/2 pint $7.00 a pint Our quarts are $13.00 I know what you mean about Wis. low prices. I see some producers selling their quarts for $10.00 at times!! I was thinking of my buddy doubleing the price and see what happens, I know to ship it out there almost doubles it anyways. Thanks for the response.

I ship a lot of syrup to NV and AZ. 12 pints fit in a large flat rate box and that costs around $18 with insurance. I charge $130 per box so I'm making $9.33 a pint. We shipped over 120 pints so far this year and people are so happy with the price. Hope this helps.

I sell in several states. My pints are $8, qts $15 etc. I sold lots at 9 and 16, just dropped the price to spur even more sales. Bottling all sizes again tomorrow because I'm almost out. Need product, Christmas sales will start pretty soon. However, I've not sold to Wis. I refuse to cut my throat to sell. You guys need to wake up.
Last year I sold out ('10 crop) with $9 pt, $17 qt, $31 half G and $54 gal. Then I decided to try for even more volume with double the taps, so I dropped the price. I am more than doubling again so I cut slightly more to my new prices. My thought is that it's better to sell most retail rather than bulk prices. I'm even blending med with good tasting C to make dark, and B, both of which I have a good market for. After I pack tomorrow I'll be out of all my med but will still have up to 50 gal C with a great flavor. I have no off flavor C in stock.

Mapleflats, you are right when you say Wisconsin needs to wake up as far as our prices go. Like i said before though, we see so much of that $10.00 to $12.00 a quart prices. My buddy who lives where alot of producers are,.. is one of them who sells for $10.00/ quart. He makes a beautiful product with a flat pan. I crunched the numbers to him explaining the bulk price and his expense and labor bottling etc. and he said it would be hard to get more for it when so many are selling it for $10.00. I bought 12 cases of quarts from him at that price and made the easiest $432 dollars ever raiseing it to our price of $13.00 a quart which is still to cheap also.

we make around 1000gal a year, and pretty much sell out at $20qt. if we have a couple of barrels left over,we consider it money in the bank. if we have a poor year,thats one less barrel we have to buy. as for lowering prices, did it cost you less to make that gallon of syrup? if its too cheap,people think there must something wrong with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rhino

Mapleflats, you are right when you say Wisconsin needs to wake up as far as our prices go. Like i said before though, we see so much of that $10.00 to $12.00 a quart prices. My buddy who lives where alot of producers are,.. is one of them who sells for $10.00/ quart. He makes a beautiful product with a flat pan. I crunched the numbers to him explaining the bulk price and his expense and labor bottling etc. and he said it would be hard to get more for it when so many are selling it for $10.00. I bought 12 cases of quarts from him at that price and made the easiest $432 dollars ever raiseing it to our price of $13.00 a quart which is still to cheap also.

---

I am thinking of doing the same thing with someone near me but then I saw his operation. WOW, maybe the state should get more involved. Nasty falling apart shed full of mice with a very dirty evaporator. he draws it off at 217 regardless of brix, then takes it into his chemical room(farmer) to bottle it into used mason jars(not hot packed) then sells it for $10.
I wish some of his neighbors would see that, but maybe they don't care. this year I was at 6-3/4pt 8-pt 15-qt with a few half and gals also sold. after crunching the numbers I ended up at an average of $52/gallon. Next year prices are going up 10-15%.
I just sent some of my last 3/4 and pts with my parents to florida and they sold them for $8 and $10 without a problem. They have talked to alot of people that want to preorder so thats going to be nice.

So when we all speak bad about people in Wisconsin and low prices its only a few places and if there all like this guy I can't beleive that someone hasn't died from there syrup yet.

there seems to be some sort of warped thinking (or time warp) in Central Wi regarding syrup prices. As recently as a year ago I saw a local business offering quarts for $6.50 each. My hide isn't thick enough to argue prices, nor do I enjoy dealing with the public enough to entertain customers. My crop goes out in bulk to a reputable packer, and I am grateful for the time and effort they put into marketing it profitably.

At 6.50 a qt you could actually buy every drop they have and resell it to a bulk packer and make about 5 dollars per gallon(2.75/lbs). They still got it there?