Finding Niche Markets

Finding Niche Markets

Tim Hammerich
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
It’s time for your Farm of the Future Report. I’m Tim Hammerich.

The commodity markets have been hot so far this year, but farmers know they take the good with the bad when it comes to commodity cycles. Some farmers are starting to diversify into more niche or branded products. Jason Persall farms in Ontario, Canada, and decided years ago to try selling cooking oils. He found early traction with urban chefs.

Persall… “We made good connections with some good key chefs, and that was kind of just the beginning of where we are now. Starting out with chefs and realizing that that is really our focus of where our brand is going to be widely accepted. Chefs just love new products, something that's local to them. We have the ability to invite them out to the farm. Several times they'll bring their team out. Just do crop tours, farm tours, and go through our mill.”

Today Pristine Gourmet has a thriving business of selling oils that Jason produces and sources from other nearby farms.

Persall… “So those very humble beginnings in the beginning, I look back and you kinda laugh and you go, wow, what were we thinking? And then today we've kind of expanded out into different areas, not just in food service, but we're also key ingredient suppliers for food manufacturing.”

This is one example of a farmer find ways to capture more value from his production.

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