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- Going Ethnic
- Growers turning to niche varieties
- By Karen Gentry
Managing Editor
- As many fruit and vegetable growers move away from selling wholesale, they seek out niches that work for them. Many growers have found their niche with ethnic vegetables.
David Cleverdon is an Illinois grower who has found his niche with a line of Italian greens that he sells at farmers’ markets and Italian restaurants. Cleverdon bought his farm in the late 1980s and is following in his grandfather’s footsteps.
Cleverdon, who farms six to 10 acres of organic vegetables in Caledonia, Ill., near the Wisconsin border, showcases what he grows at farmers’ markets. He takes part in the Evanston Farmers’ Market and the Chicago Green City Market in Lincoln Park.
He said an old friend of his got him started growing Cavolonero, a kale. “When we started growing it nobody was growing it,” said Cleverdon. He said chefs, who regularly shop at farmers’ markets fell in love with it. He later began growing two kinds of flowerless broccoli called stigariello, one with a flat leaf and one with a curly leaf.
After a trip to Italy, Cleverdon has started growing Bietina, a leaf chard that tastes something like a spinach. “I fell in love with the green,” Cleverdon said. He also grows Treviso, shaped more like a Romaine lettuce.
He said he found a small European seed company that sells the open pollinated, rare seeds and has been growing the specialty greens for nine years.
“We used the farmers’ markets basically to showcase,” said Cleverdon. “We did farmers’ markets to see what we could sell.” He said the chefs now approach them and he now sells his greens to Fortunato, a new upscale restaurant in Chicago and he grows a special arugula, an aromatic salad green, for Campagnola, a restaurant in Evanston. In all, he now sells to 13 restaurants including smaller establishments that “just love great ingredients.” Restaurants receive deliveries once or twice per week.
Customers like their greens “not because they’re organic but because they’re just drop dead, incredibly good stuff.” Cleverdon said in his first year of growing vegetables they grew everything they could before they began to pare down.
Today, he has 29 acres reserved for growing vegetables. He grows greens, tomatoes and roots on about six to eight acres. Although his acreage is small, growing his vegetables is very labor intensive. He regularly employs six to 10 people everyday.
“Our packinghouse looks more like a prep kitchen,” said Cleverdon. There’s a lot of culling and cleaning going on to maintain the taste, quality and texture of everything that leaves the packinghouse.
Two-thirds of Cleverdon’s business is with farmers’ markets and one-third with restaurants, although he would like to increase the number of restaurants he sells to. He plans on installing an irrigation system to be able to expand production.
“More chefs are coming to me for business than I can handle,” he said.
Cleverdon said selling retail is a whole different mindset than selling wholesale. “Think small and consider where your crop margins are,” he advises growers. “You got to be able to think retail, not just growing, storing and shipping,” he said.
In Chicago, Cleverdon believes the supply of organic produce hasn’t even begun to meet the demand.
At farmers’ markets Cleverdon believes the trend is for more and more growers specializing and doing one thing well. At a farmers’ market one guy will be known as the hydroponic tomato guy, one will be the potato guy.
“If you want greens and tomatoes, come here,” said Cleverdon about himself.
Henry Brockman is one of the more popular vendors at the Evanston Farmers’ Market with his line of organic vegetables. Brockman, who operates Henry’s Farm in Congerville, Ill., more than 150 miles from Evanston, attracts a lot of attention with his organic Asian vegetables.
Brockman said he spent a lot of years studying abroad including seven years in Asia. “I learned about a lot of different vegetables,” said Brockman, whose wife Hiroko is Japanese. He originally started growing vegetables his wife could use for cooking and is now in his 10th year of growing vegetables.
Brockman applied to be a vendor in the Evanston market because of its reputation. He said a lot of people visit the market who are willing to try new things.
“The interesting thing about my farm is that I’m not trying to target an Oriental clientele,” Brockman said. He said they hand out a lot of recipes and do a lot of explaining about how to cook certain vegetables. Brockman stressed that you don’t necessarily have to sell ethnic produce to specific ethnic groups as long as you have an outlet to sell where people are willing to try new things.
“I grow a lot of different kinds of Asian greens,” said Brockman. He grows 10 different kinds of Choi.
“All the different kinds of Choi are good sellers,” said Brockman. He said Komatsuna, a Japanese variety has good flavor. He sells it as “Henry’s favorite stir-fry vegetable,” to help many of his customers remember it.
He also raises burdock with its edible brown roots. He also attracts attention with a Chinese melon, weighing in at 10-20 pounds apiece, that are dark green and white and look like a huge apple. Also popular are Chinese cucumbers and eggplant that are longer and skinnier than typical varieties.
Over the years a Japanese turnip has been very popular, according to Brockman. “It’s a pure white turnip, tender and sweet,” he said. Brockman also grows Daikon, a huge radish 14 inches long. He grows Kabocha, a winter squash with really good flavor, dry and sweet with an edible peel. People cook Kabocha in different ways including deep frying, Brockman said.
When Brockman places his seed order in the winter he’ll end up with 400-500 different varieties. He grows 25 or more varieties of lettuces and 20 different varieties of tomatoes.
Asian vegetables are a big part of business in spring and fall. “Maybe 20 percent of my total volume is Asian varieties,” he said.
Brockman said he doesn’t necessarily charge premium prices for his Asian vegetables although a Japanese squash may fetch a higher price compared to more common varieties such as acorn or butternut. He said Japanese eggplant is a little bit more difficult to grow and susceptible to disease and insects.
Brockman relies on mostly family for help as well as some interns. He is helped by his wife and three young children and two sisters who live close by.
Brockman also operates a CSA (community supported agriculture) that includes 120 families in the Bloomington/Normal area. One of his Japanese customers will often help teach how to cook with the Asian vegetables.
Becoming aware of what certain ethnic groups eat and determining a market for them could be a potential niche for growers, according to Evelyn Thomson.
Thompson leads ethnic food tours in Chicago and has made a career out of keeping up on the ethnic stores, bakeries and eating habits of many ethnic groups in the city. In Chicago there are more than 25,000 people from India, more than 8,000 from Vietnam and more than 31,000 Chinese, all with varying eating habits and culture. Smart marketers figure out how to meet the needs of these populations , many who are recent immigrants with no desire to adopt American cuisine.
On Oct. 12 she led a group on a tour of Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, Pakistani, Korean and other markets. Fresh Farm Market at 2626 W. Devon St. in Chicago displayed a wooden bin of Michigan apples on the sidewalk of the bustling street. This market is owned by young Greek men who are astute businessmen, according to Thompson. It previously served a Jewish neighborhood and Greeks who lived close by. Twenty years ago Indians moved in and many Jews moved out.
“This market has done a wonderful job of maintaining the old base of business plus accommodating the newcomers,” Thompson said.
Thompson said many of these stores buy produce from their own ethnic groups. For example, the Vietnamese stores buy from Vietnamese growers in Florida, California and Texas while Middle Eastern stores buy nuts from California. Other stores take direct shipments from their home countries, according to Thompson.
Thompson said she believes some growers could sell directly to some of these ethnic stores. Many immigrants create their own Web sites. Growers could study these sites and read recipes to gauge what produce may be desired.
“You’ve got to find your niche. It (produce) has to be delivered consistently - consistent quantity and quality,” said Thompson.
For more information on ethnic tours in Chicago, call Thompson at (773) 465-8064 or e-mail evelyn@ethnic-grocery-tours.com.
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