By Stan Sauerwein
A value-added product idea she had nine years ago is approaching a scale of real commercial success for a small farm operator in the Okanagan.
Donna Denison operates a bustling small-scale food processing concern as part of Little Creek Gardens, a 6-acre family farm near Kelowna being worked by her husband, Dale Ziech. Their efforts in combination are an inventive example of cross-marketing.
While Dale focuses on growing gourmet salad greens for Okanagan customers, Donna puts her upbeat energy into selling delectable output from a 500 sq. ft. commercial kitchen on the farm - salad dressing.
"I had been a potter in Summerland and my intention was to have a studio. It sounds really idealistic, art and agriculture. A great lifestyle but not a lot of income."
When the couple first moved to their property on Okanagan Lake in 1984, they had to clear forest on the most arable 4 acres and build their own home like pioneers. With experience as an orchardist, Dale's first idea was to plant fruit trees. Instead, he seeded salad greens and worked towards organic certification, which finally happened in 1991.
By 1995, Dale had secured several fashionable restaurants and a community supported organic food delivery business called Urban Harvest as regular clients. He now grows a unique combination of greens including arugula, claytonia, Brussels chervil and Kyona Mizuna along with more staple fare like tomatoes. He mixes the greens in ready-to-use packs under his Truly Gourmet label as: Tangy Spicy; Country Garden and Ultimate Salad.
Donna had been working off the farm to help support cash flow and was searching for ways she might create a value-added product. Salad dressings were an obvious choice.
If Paul Newman could do it, why shouldn't she give it a try? Trouble was, Donna didn't know where to begin. However, with some guidance about processing regulations and labeling provided by the Summerland Research Station, Donna decided to bottle her recipe as a test dressing.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," she says. "I had no business or marketing plans, just an idea which came totally from the heart."
Donna bought some bottles retail, used a photocopy machine to reproduce labels she'd drawn and coloured by hand and then convinced a Kelowna green grocer to allow her demo space. That day, to her surprise, she sold 10 bottles of her dressing. "The taste sold itself," she says. The Blackfoot Trail Organic Market in Calgary bought five cases soon after. A tasting booth at Granville Island landed her a customer in the trendy Vancouver market. That led to placement in other popular organic and natural food markets, both in Vancouver and the Okanagan.
Neighbours and family rallied to help, preparing ingredients and even organizing a fundraiser to get power to her tiny commercial kitchen. Bumpy beginnings, but success became a reality with their support. Today she has two distributors selling three varieties of dressings (Little Creek Original, Spicy Strawberry and Cherry Balsamic) in Vancouver, the Okanagan and Alberta.
"The distributors sell an average 100 cases every couple of weeks and locally we sell another 50 every three weeks or so," she says proudly.
To anyone interested in creating a value-add, she advises small beginnings. Start by direct selling at farmers' markets. Test your product and see what kind of support you're getting from the community. Investigate groups like the Small Scale Food Processor' Association (SSFPA) and farm direct marketing organizations first.
"They've taken all the things people like me had to learn and put them together as a great resource on their website." That includes business plan tips and pricing strategies.
Network with other local producers. Cross-market where possible. It expands your market reach cheaply and helps promote the products of everyone involved, she says.
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