|
|
Hobby turning into lucrative business
HARDESTY, Okla. (AP)--After Russell Gift lost his job a year and a half ago, he decided to take his hobby--cheese--to the bank. Gift bought a dairy and artisan cheese factory near Hardesty. Its cheese only had two customers--the part-time distributor and a small grocery store in Guymon. Luckily the risk paid off and Hardesty Cheese is a growing business. Gift has expanded into the Kansas and Colorado markets and sells to cheese importers, retail chains and health-food stores. Recently he bought a Colorado dairy, which will enable Hardesty Cheese to better serve that state. But he'll be the first to say getting the cheese onto store shelves was no easy task. "Most were just cold calls," he said. "We put together lots of sample packs." Once there, how could he ensure customers would buy the cheese? Gift quickly learned that if he handed out free samples, the cheese would sell itself. "Without them knowing the difference in quality, they're not going to understand why our cheese is worth more," Gift said. "It's made the way it was made 100 years ago. We don't cut corners. We make the highest quality product possible." That push-pull marketing strategy landed him at craft shows and local fairs--anywhere to meet the public and promote Hardesty Cheese. Jason Harvey, agricultural marketing coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, counsels food and agricultural entrepreneurs such as Gift through the Made in Oklahoma Program. "The retail market is so competitive. It's fierce whenever you go into a grocery store," Harvey said. Carving out a space on store shelves is tough enough without factoring in the cost of advertising. The Made in Oklahoma Program joins forces with small companies by aiding them with marketing strategies and shouldering advertising costs at certain events while putting them on the bill of various trade shows throughout the state. "It's better to start locally and regionally and try to get your product base. Grow as demand and income provide," Harvey said. Janet McDonald, the co-owner of Gourmet Gallery, which sells a large variety of Made in Oklahoma products, doesn't deny that clever marketing is key to getting the product on the shelf, but she stresses other skills are important, such as consistency and a good relationship with retailers. "We get a lot of calls from Oklahoma companies that want to know how to market and how to distribute," she said. "There's a lot to it." Gourmet Gallery in Edmond sells more than 100 different cheeses. "Cheese is huge," she said. "Cheese is a growing industry, like anything else in the specialty food market." Harvey and McDonald both recommend that startup companies take workshops at Oklahoma State University's Food and Agricultural Products Center, where business owners learn everything from product development to creating trademarked names. Most importantly, Harvey said, business owners must know where they want to end up. "Know what market that you want to be in. I always tell people, you need to know who you want to be when you grow up," he said. "Some companies are perfectly fine with two or three employees and having a market in gift shops." Date: 8/28/07
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2012. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
|
Copyright 1995-2012. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com
|
Inside Futures |