Road trips to visit value-added farms

Kansas

The Guided Explorations in Value-Added Enterprises Project is sponsoring two days of "road trips" to visit established value added processors, retailers, wholesalers, and educators.

These day trips are for small farm entrepreneurs, those working with producers interested in value added processing, or anyone who is interested in examining the "value added" experience up close. It is directed to those who have an idea for value added products and for those already in production of a value added product.

Each of the day-long road trips will start at the Best Western Red Coach Inn, 1301 E. 1st St., Newton. Each trip will leave at 8:30 a.m. and plans are to return to Newton by at least 6:30 p.m. each evening. Comfortable chartered buses (with restroom) will also allow extra speakers to talk to the groups about items of interest such as marketing ideas and packaging. The cost of each day trip is $30, which includes lunch.

Each trip will feature a diverse variety of processors, from dairy products, meats, produce, jams and jellies, and salsa, to prepared mixes, herbs and cookie dough. You will learn how experts have added value to agricultural products. Attendees will learn from host processors, not only the procedure of making their product, but also marketing ideas, business histories, and future dreams.

The two trips and some of their stops are as follows:

Tour #1

March 9

Little Ol' Cookie House, Little River

"No Ordinary Cookie Company" In 1995 the "Little Ol' Cookie House" started to market cookie dough to organizations for fund raisers. The company has been built on two basic philosophies:

"We Treat Our Customers As Our Friends" and "We Make Simply The Finest Cookie Dough."

Pantry Shelf, Hutchinson

The Pantry Shelf Company product list is focused on an extensive variety of muffins. Exceptional Flavors include Coconut Macaroon, Gingerbread, Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberries N Cream, and of course Cinnamon Fudge. Additional baking mixes include Seasoned Pizza Dough Mix, Pancakes with Fruit, and Bread Mixes for the Bread Machine or Oven.

In May 2000, The Pantry Shelf Company moved into their new building in Hutchinson. A total in-house operation, the Company continues to do its' own product development, blending, packing, warehousing, and shipping.

Yoder Meats, Yoder

Yoder Meats is located in Yoder, seven miles south of Hutchinson. We will visit their recently built retail meats store just off K-96 Highway. Their spacious sales floor provides a full selection of retail cuts, Amish cheese, baked goods, and Kansas products produced by local residents. The meat plant continues to custom butcher and process beef, hogs, lamb, buffalo and elk.

Yet Yet Foods, Wichita

Marketing a line of salsas across the country, started as a sideline that has grown into a real business. With no processing facilities of its own, this food company utilizes a co-packer to produce a full line of salsas. We will learn how to bring a product to market with a small amount of up-front capital.

The Jelly Lady, Sedgwick

Judy started making homemade jams and gift sets as a hobby before venturing into the business full-time 10 years ago. She utilizes many wild fruits in her line of jellies which includes wild blackberry jam, wild elderberry jelly, and wild Sandhill plum jelly.

Tour #2

March 10

Prairie Harvest, Newton

Prairie Harvest is a specialty food store that concentrates on naturally produced and bulk foods. They carry a line of From the Land of Kansas products, and will share ideas about how a company should approach a retailer to carry their value-added product.

Voran-Goertzen Peppernuts, Goessel

Denise Goertzen owns and runs this small business out of a building that used to be part of her father's dairy near McPherson. Its product can be found in 80 gourmet and specialty shops all over the United States, and there are hundreds of individuals on its mailing list. Goertzen uses her great-grandmother's recipe that was "brought over from Prussia in 1874 along with her family Bible and a few other personal possessions."

The Old Muffin Factory, McPherson

Formerly, Mason Marketing Co., this company has created some of the most unique "designer" baking mixes available. Over 15 years in the business, the company's 100+ products can be found in hundreds of specialty stores, nationwide, particularly in resort and tourist destinations.

Jason Wiebe Dairy, Durham

The Wiebes make their Farmhouse Cheese from top quality Grade A, pasteurized milk. To use the name Farmhouse, the cheese must come from the milk of cows raised on the farm and the cheese must be made on the farm. Their first batch was made on their kitchen stove. The milk comes from cows that graze on pesticide-free grass, and are given no sub therapeutic antibiotics and no hormones. It takes one gallon of that milk to create one pound of their special Farmhouse Cheese.

Walter's Pumpkin Patch, Burns

This agritourism stop has a wonderful gift shop that includes many Kansas products. The Walter's have developed a new Pumpkin Salsa in a unique jack-O'-lantern jar. We'll talk about their experiences of getting a new product off the ground and into stores!

Anyone, who is interested in these value added agriculture tours, may contact Karen Pendleton, farmer coordinator for the project, or send in the following registration. She can be reached by phone at 785-843-1409, or e-mail karenp@pendletons.com.

The Guided Explorations of Value-Added Products and Enterprises Project is a cooperative project of the Kansas Rural Center and K-State Research and Extension. It's being underwritten by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

Date: 2/23/06