Skills books › Market Gardening in South Africa

Where to sell your vegetables: finding buyers for a small plot

A sale is not a sale until the money is in your hand. Have several buyers, agree every order clearly, deliver what you promised when you promised it, and get paid before you give more credit.

Kinds of buyers

• Households and neighbours: small amounts at a good retail price, for cash. It takes your time.
• Spaza shops: spinach, cabbage, onions and tomatoes every week. Prices are good, but each shop takes little.
• Hawkers and street traders: often buy daily, for cash, at a lower price because they resell.
• Your own stall: the best price, but it costs your time, and you need a trading permit from the municipality.
• Schools and crèches: regular quantities at a fair, agreed price. Payment is often monthly and sometimes late.
• Restaurants, takeaways and caterers: pay well for consistent quality and expect delivery on the day, every time.
• Fresh produce markets: take larger amounts at the day's price, less commission.
• Supermarket supplier programmes: need large volumes and food-safety audits. They are a goal for established growers.

Most small market gardens do best with several local buyers: a few spazas and hawkers for steady sales, a school or restaurant for a larger regular order, and a stall or households for the best prices.

Selling to schools

The National School Nutrition Programme feeds millions of learners every school day. How schools buy differs by province. In some, schools buy directly. In others, food is bought centrally.

• Ask the principal and the school's nutrition committee what they buy and from whom.
• Ask the district office's nutrition coordinator how your province buys.
• Be ready to show that you can deliver every week of term, with a delivery note and an invoice.

How a fresh produce market works

1. You deliver graded, packed produce to a market agent of your choice.
2. The agent sells it that day, at whatever buyers will pay.
3. The market deducts its commission of about 5%, and the agent deducts about 5 to 7.5%.
4. You are paid the balance within a few days.

The market is a useful outlet for surplus. But prices change daily, and on a cheap day very little is left after commission, transport and packaging. Direct buyers usually leave you more. Visit the market and follow its prices for a few weeks before you send anything.

Agree every order clearly

Write it down, even for a spaza:

• what, and in what form: bunches, heads, kilograms or crates;
• how much and how often, for example 30 bunches of spinach every Tuesday;
• the quality expected;
• the price, and how it can change;
• the delivery day, time and place;
• payment: cash on delivery, or credit terms;
• what happens if you cannot deliver, or the buyer does not take the order.

Give a delivery note with every delivery, have it signed, and keep a copy.

Getting paid

• Prefer cash on delivery, especially with new buyers.
• Give credit only to buyers who have paid reliably, and set a limit, such as two weeks' produce.
• Stop delivering on credit to a late payer until they pay.
• Do not let one buyer take most of your produce. A rule that many growers use is that no single buyer should take more than about a third of your sales.

A buyer who does not pay is more dangerous than no buyer.

This guide is based on Chapter 9 of Market Gardening in South Africa.