Greetings from Hammerstead Farms!
This month's newsletter has been a bit late in getting out, but that's not because we've had no happenings! Far from it, we have been very, very busy at Hammerstead Farms this past month and a half.
Gas Prices
Unless you're living in Saudi Arabia, I'm sure you've noticed the rather large jump in gasoline prices of late. When we started our home delivery service, gas was roughly $2/gal. - last week I filled up at $2.63/gal. And there's no end in sight.
Additionally, Trader's Point dairy recently had a small wholesale price increase. This was due to increased energy costs for their production: it takes gas (or diesel) to run tractors, after all, and electricity to bottle milk. I expect the bakery to do the same in the near future, and I know that it's going to cost me more to run heaters in the hen house this winter.
I may be the oddest businessman ever, but I feel that pricing transparency is important: the consumer should know what they're getting for their money, and how the price of the goods and services they purchase are derived.
Essentially we mark our items up by $1 over the wholesale cost. Expressed as a percentage, this works out to roughly a 50% markup - which is a lot less than most retail stores, and certainly less than other home delivery services. But we still turn a profit, in part because we don't maintain a fancy store, and we use the most fuel efficient vehicles possible to deliver our products. But our profit margins are tight. And the high cost of energy is eating them away, slowly but surely.
But rather than pushing an across the board price increase, I'd like to "spread the pain", if possible, by adding on a small delivery fee. A one dollar charge tacked on to each order would cover my excess gas costs. It would also mean that I could hold the line on prices, wouldn't have to carry a ton of coin, and could easily reduce or eliminate the extra fee if gas prices ever go back down to reasonable levels.
I'd really like to know how you, my potential and current customers, feel about this. I've got to do something, but should it be a delivery charge or a general price increase? Let me know what you think: drop an email to dave@hammerstead.com with your thoughts! I've like to resolve this by September, so please send me your feedback as quickly as you can.
Eggs
This has been a very hot and mostly dry (until recently) summer here in central Indiana, and as a consequence my hens far prefer laying in the shade to laying eggs. Production has dropped considerably, not only at Hammerstead proper, but also at the other farms we've purchased eggs from when we've run short in the past.
We are taking steps to increase our production: I just got a new batch of an additional 100 chicks in this morning, but they won't start egg laying until fall. We've also established some new contacts in Amish country in western Indiana to purchase farm fresh, free range eggs. But it may not be enough ...
The bottom line is: it may be necessary to ration eggs - the way I'll do this is to set a limit of 1 dozen per order. I won't know if this is necessary until Monday of each delivery week, so if I have to do this I'll let you know when the delivery is made. If you pay by check, and have paid for 2 dozen when I'm only able to leave one, I'll leave change in cash with your order.
Chickens
They're finally in! Yes, that's right, I have fryers and broilers again! But only about 60 of them, and half of those are very small (by our standards, anyway): less than 2 pounds. I do, however, have about 20 that are in the 3 to four pound range, and a few that are over six pounds!
They're still gonna be $2.50/lb., but because of the demand I am going to enforce a limit of one chicken per order. Let me know if you'd like one, and what size you'd prefer, and I'll do my utmost to get it to you. It is, however, first come, first served, so be quick about it!
Expanding Delivery
I've been trying to purchase a new delivery trailer: this one is a fully refrigerated unit from Polar King in Ft. Wayne that is almost perfect for our job. However, banks are reluctant to loan money to businesses with no more of a track record (less than a year) than we have at this, so it's not a done deal yet.
The extra capacity is really going to be needed to expand our delivery area, as we're already at capacity in our equipment now. I do have a couple of other options that I'm exploring, and a bunch of folks in NE Marion and Hamilton counties that have indicated an interest, so stay tuned! We're moving on this as fast as we can!
Thanks again for your interest in (and patronage of) Hammerstead - we're really excited about our farm, and hope to continue serving you in the future.
Be well,
Dave Haxton