Herbs are incredibly versatile plants. They can be culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, ornamental and used in aromatherapy. If you’ve decided to set yourself apart from the majority of market vendors who sell the same things – vegetables, bedding plants, flowers, etc.- you can use the versatility of herbs to create a profitable niche including value-added, herb-based products.

Before you consider selling value-added products, make sure that it is legal to make and sell these in your locality without the use of a commercial kitchen. Some states may require you to be licensed. You may have to register with the federal government as a food processing facility. Their web site (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~furls/ovffreg.html) will explain more and allows you to register online. For more information about regulations please refer to the excellent article by Joan Vibert in the March 2004 issue of Growing For Market.

Some states allow farmers’ markets vendors to sell home processed food within certain categories without a license. Some states mandate a dollar limit and number of days these products can be sold in a season. Most require signage indicating the products were made in the home kitchen and there are labeling requirements that must be adhered to. Most farmers’ markets have rules regarding what may be sold. Check with your market manager to find out if a variance is required to sell processed food or other wares.
As our name Herb’s Herbs implies, our main business is herbs but we decided to add yet another niche. We grew over 20 varieties of peppers – from the sweetest to the very hottest. We chose peppers because they are easy to grow and harvest. They were grown on heavy landscape fabric and we rarely needed to wash them.

The peppers were displayed on our front aisle tables in washable plastic baskets. Each variety had a sign listing the heat level, characteristics, uses and the price. I developed recipes using specific varieties of peppers and these were free to the customers. It didn’t take long before the pepper aficionados visited us each market day! We sold limited amounts of veggies most often used in our recipes – Roma tomatoes, tomatillos, sweet onions and leeks. We dried and sold various pepper varieties and Roma tomatoes each season.
Many customers are knowledgeable about using fresh herbs but just as many said they needed education about cooking with fresh herbs. To that end I developed the “Recipe of the Week” feature. Each week we presented an original recipe using fresh herbs and in-season produce. The recipe was given away free and the herbs used in the recipe were conveniently bunched together. The herbs were displayed in a vase containing a bit of water for freshness and placed next to the sign we used each week. Free samples of the recipe were brought on occasion. We always had the previous week’s Recipe of the Week and its herbs available for the many customers who wanted more. Teach your customers how to use fresh herbs and watch your profits rise.

Our local newspaper has a weekly recipe section and we took note of any recipes that contained fresh herbs. I obtained permission from the newspaper to reprint any recipes with herbs on a weekly basis. They gladly granted us permission since we were giving the recipes away and the newspaper was given credit on each recipe. Each week those recipes were available along with the herbs already bunched for the recipe. It is surprising how popular the newspaper recipe area was!

Our fresh herbs were displayed in three coolers along the front aisle. The coolers sat on folding stools so they were at table height. The coolers contained a few inches of water to keep the herbs fresh. Plastic 6-packs lined the bottom of the coolers to keep the herb bunches upright. Signs describing the herbs within were taped to each cooler at a slight outward angle so passing customers could easily read without bending over. Herbs sold from the cooler were replaced with those from backup coolers kept out of the sun.
What follows are a few of the items we sold and marketing techniques we used to maximize the profits from selling herbs. There are many more ways to use herbs, both fresh and in value added products, so let your creativity flow!

We offered salad herbs packaged in trays enclosed in cellophane bags. These contained at least 4 herbs and 6 edible flowers. Packages of edible flowers were also quite popular. In late summer we packaged our #2 basil tips (those with holes or cosmetic damage) and sold them as “Pesto Specials”. They were available in half- and 1-pound bags and were packaged in vented poly bags and labeled with a pesto recipe.

Lavender is a very popular herb and we sold it many ways: fresh bunches with recipes for cooking, jelly, dried bunches, jars of dried florets and even the dried leaves sold in packets as “potpourri” material. Fresh, long-stemmed lavender bunches were sold along with printed instructions for making lavender wands.

Rosemary topiaries are a big seller for us although they are time consuming to make. We offer both the standard types (the tall stem with the “ball” on top) and those wound around frames. Part of the fun of owning a topiary is shaping it and so we offer some that are incomplete for the customer to finish. All topiaries are sold with an information and care sheet tied onto the plant.

Our Cat’s Corner was always very popular. The sign had a photo of Amazing Grace (my cat) looking right at the customer and her recommendations of items to keep their cats happy. We sold catgrass and catnip plants here as well. Our dried catnip consists of 90% flower tops as these contain more volatile oils that cats love. Ours is sold in clear cellophane bags with our computer printed label stapled over the top and we always sell out each year. Catnip mice would sell well if you have the ability to make them. We heard from customers frequently that our catnip was the very best they have ever found.

Value-added products
Because I am a craft-challenged person it was necessary to focus on the culinary aspect of herbs. There are many items that can be made with herbs if you are handy and creative and there are many herbal craft books to help you along the way. Soaps and dream pillows are a common herbal craft item. I can think of many more items to bring if there were only time and skills to make them all!

Here is a way to make use of those herb bunches that didn’t sell at the market: Layer several different herbs together, bind them tightly with a rubber band, hang them upside down and allow them to dry in an dark airy place. When they are dry, tie a ribbon around the rubber band with a loop on the back. These can be sold in the fall as kitchen bouquets. We sold dried herb sprigs, dried flowers and grasses in our “Crafters’ Corner”.

If baking is your forte you could make and sell baked goods containing herbs such as breads, bars and cookies. Herbal vinegars are a common product with wide customer acceptance. It would be best to forgo making another commonly requested item-herb flavored oils. Commercially made herb oils contain preservatives to prevent the growth of botulism (Clostridium botulinum). Your homemade version of these oils will probably not contain these preservatives and that could be dangerous to your customer and you.

Many of the herbal products we sold were made during the winter months when there was more time to devote to indoor activities. Numerous items were made with dried herbs. We sold 24 different dried herbs in jars. These included some herb blends: Herbes de Provence, Italian blend, poultry soup blend, stuffing blend, beef rub/marinade blend and more. Dried herbs were also packaged in recipe quantities in little packets and sold with the recipe making it easy for the customer. All they had to do was open the packet and drop the herbs into the cooking food!

Dried herbs stems were cut into 1 inch pieces, packaged in large size tea bags and sold as “Grilling Herbs” with instructions for using with charcoal grills. Rosemary stems were stripped and sold as “rosemary skewers”. We used dried herbs to make 5 different tea blends. These were packaged in tea bags and packed 20 bags to a package. Dried herb stems can be bundled and sold as “Fragrant Fire Starters” in the fall.

We marketed 12 different herbal jellies and two types of hot pepper jellies. These were incredibly popular for us since they are difficult to find. If you decide to make herb jelly I offer a few hints. Herb jelly is made using an infusion of fresh herbs. However, you can freeze the fresh herbs for making jelly during the winter. Freeze more than the recipe calls for to compensate for the slight loss in flavor and freeze them in the quantities you will need. Use the best quality sugar since lesser quality can result in clouding of the jelly. Your recipe should use liquid pectin rather than powdered since the powdered tends to cloud the jelly as well. Use food coloring judicially since too much can provide an unnatural appearance. Some recipes call for placing an herb sprig in each jar but I have found that this is less than appealing.

Cooking with the Herb Ladies! is a 23-page booklet I wrote with my friend. It features 19 of our Recipes of the Week from the 2000 farmers’ market and information about using and caring for fresh herbs. We obtained a variance from our market to sell this book and it was a very popular item since it focused on fresh produce as well as herbs.

Marketing techniques
Essentially you are setting up a store every market day and it is important for your store to look full, inviting and orderly. Customers are more likely to shop in your store if it has much to offer. Set your store up the same way each market day because this helps with customer recognition.

Another way to help your customers remember you is to wear the same colors each market day. We had T-shirts and light blue denim shirts embroidered with our company name and logo. The customer never had to ask who worked in our stall or what company we were with. The other benefit of having company shirts it you never have to think about what you are going to wear at the market!

We have well over 200 people that receive our e-mail newsletter. We usually discontinue the newsletter during the market season but begin signing up new customers during late summer. This is a great way to keep in touch with your customers during the winter and to keep them involved with herbs.

If you would like to draw more ethnic groups into your booth print signs in their native language listing the herbs they most often use in their cuisine. We had signs in Spanish (cilantro and epazote), Arabic (flat parsley, mint, dill), Chinese (garlic chives/Chinese chives) and more. If you ask your customers to help you with the translation for your signs they will become steady customers, as will their family and friends.

Make signs suggesting gift ideas for Mothers Day, birthdays and weddings listing the various items you sell that would make good gifts. Include free gift tags (with your company name included) and bows with each purchase.

Selling Yourself
Lastly in this 3-part series of articles are a few words about marketing yourselves because you have to sell yourself as well as your wares. The first impression that you give a potential customer is the only one you will get. It takes only a few seconds for a passer-by to form an opinion about you. When a customer passes your booth they will subconsciously judge you based on your appearance and body language. Research shows that the words you speak on the initial contact makes up only 7% of their first impression.

Those passer-bys will notice your hair and face first. Surprisingly, research shows they will look at your shoes next. Of course, we are farmers and are not expected to look like business people but our image should be as professional growers. If our customers feel that we don’t take care of ourselves they may wonder if we are suitable to take care of their food. Presenting a well groomed and clean appearance doesn’t mean that you are not a good farmer. Instead it means that you care as much about yourself as you do your crops.

Be busy and energetic. Studies show that busy people and those who walk fast are viewed as being important with things to do, places to go. Isn’t that they way it is for us as growers anyway? How inclined would you be to buy from someone who was sitting around looking bored and sullen? Would you stop to buy if you had to interrupt two vendors involved in a long-winded discussion?
Smile, enjoy your work and show your potential customers that you like what you are doing. Make eye contact with them so they know you are interested in them and their needs. Be interesting yourself! If you take the time for yourself it will show in your work and your profits.

**Clear food grade cellophane bags, large and small tea bags and spice jars can be purchased from San Francisco Herb Company, 1.800.227.4530 or www.sfherb.com

Herb’s Herbs has decided to forgo the rigors of selling at farmers’ market and will be operating from their farm this season. This will allow Sandie to focus on speaking, consulting and writing more books. If you would like further information e-mail Sandie at HerbsHerbsTwo@aol.com