Rural bricks white-label goldmine

[rcjordan]

So in our rural areas and small towns we have dozens of roadside vegetable stands, farmers' markets, & country stores.  Someone is producing jams, preserves, pickles, canned fruits & vegetables and packaging them in plain Mason jars with simple, amateurish paper labels to make them look homemade.  They are white-labeled for that particular vendor. I happened to have to have been to 5 or 6 places in about 100 mi radius (looking for jerusalem artichoke pickles -I've been addicted since childhood) and the identical cut of the label and border tipped me off.  PREMIUM priced because they are "homemade" and flying off the shelves. 

[littleman]

Jen is a pretty big canner, she's going to be doing bunch of tomato canning tonight.  Every year she gives homemade jam away for the Holidays. Maybe she should get into the white label business?

I love jerusalem artichokes (roasted) but they are really hard for me to digest.

[rcjordan]

It might work if you could find a small outlet or two.  Another similarity; these amateurish labels do not list nutrients.

It would take an industrial producer to deliver the number & assortment of products I've seen. Some of the larger, more popular roadside markets (one on the way to a major resort area) had a couple of hundred mason jarred items on display. Peppers, pickles, chow-chow, okra, peaches, green tomatoes, beet pickles, a dozen different salsas ---you name it, they have it in a jar. Well, except jerusalem artichokes --ONE place has them, but they keep selling out.

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> hard for me to digest.

Yeah, they are like eating rocks. Their unique texture is part of my addiction.

[Brad]

> labels do not list nutrients

It used to be, if the producer was not shipping across state lines then federal labeling laws did not apply. 

> Farmer's markets

Oy! Every town seems to have a farmer's market now.  Most are good sources of locally grown produce.  Some of the bigger ones have frozen local organic beef and bison meat.  But the canned preserves all cost a small fortune.

[rcjordan]

> Most are good sources of locally grown produce.

You're being naive, Brad.  I've seen food wholesaler trucks dropping off crates of produce.

The big ones around here are on the resort routes and they were packed with city slickers this past weekend.

[Brad]

> naive

hhh Guilty.  I've wondered. 

I used to think the preserves made at the local orchards were high priced, but they are a bargain compared to the stuff in jars sold at the tourist heavy farm markets but people from the big cities scoop that stuff up.  Ditto at the local "organic" store.

[rcjordan]

>if the producer was not shipping across state lines then federal labeling laws did not apply.

Aah, that makes sense.  All markets were in state, and my top suspect of likely manufacturer is, too.

[ergophobe]

You're being naive, Brad.

I was about to say the same. It depends on the farmer's market. Same with a lot of the roadside fruit stands in California. In most cases, they are just buying produce from the same wholesalers as the grocery store and often charging more.

That said, when we were broke grad students, my roommate and I would go to the Madison Farmer's market 15 minutes before closing. Lots of the farmers would sell produce at a dollar a bag (I mean *grocery* bag, not plastic produce bags) just to save themselves the hassle of having to cart it home and compost it. All local, much of it organic, but not much choice at that time in the day.

[rcjordan]

>15 minutes before closing

Good tip.  But our farmers are making too much money to bother with retail.

Go to Aldis.  Narrow-ish selection, but absolutely the best looking produce around.  Walmart follows in 2nd.  But you have to go in, so no instacart pickers, Brad.

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Meanwhile, in Sweden...

Our local shop grows its own salads and herbs on site
https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/qajrzr/our_local_shop_grows_its_own_salads_and_herbs_on/

[ergophobe]

As I wrote that, I was wondering if that opportunity still exists for poor students. This was late 1980s, early 1990s. There was no Aldis and there was no produce at Wal-Mart. My rent was $169/mo.

[DrCool]

>federal labeling laws did not apply

In most states jams and jellies and pickled vegetables fall under the cottage food laws so they don't necessarily need all the ingredients, nutritional info, etc. on the labels. If they are selling across state lines, selling wholesale, or selling to restaurants/stores the laws are usually different.

There are a bunch of orchards and farms just outside of town here and many of them have all sorts of pickled vegetables and jams with surprisingly similar labels. The products are all similar but if one stand has pickled onions and pickled tomatoes the other stand won't have those but will have pickled asparagus and pickled carrots. Guessing they are all made in the same place and labeled slightly different.