It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint with Robert & Paula Grosz

The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses

Robert and Paula Grosz live in Murray, KY and sell jams and jellies with their cottage food business, Whisky Ridge Farm.

When they started their farm in 2015, they planned to sell microgreens and other produce, but after a couple of years, they learned that their value-added products (like jams, jellies, and pickled items) were both more popular and profitable.

After a few years of significant growth in 2021, Robert and Paula finally decided to take the leap and go full-time with their business. But then a few months later, the ag department told them they could no longer sell pickled products, wiping out a huge part of their business.

But they adapted and have made their business work on jams and jellies alone, while also investing a huge amount of time, effort, and money into building a certified manufacturing facility on their property.

There aren’t too many people that have scaled a homemade jam and jelly business like Robert and Paula have, and this episode is packed with tons of insights they’ve learned from their unique business journey.

What You’ll Learn

• Why Robert & Paula switched from selling produce to preserves
• Why you must offer samples of your products
• Challenges you’ll face when starting a jam/jelly business
• How to manage the financial side of a business and avoid common mistakes
• Techniques for finding quality produce at a low cost
• How Robert & Paula survived the “Jarpocalypse” during the pandemic
• Why there is no “magic number” price that will lead to success
• The benefits of using a fixed pricing model for all products
• How a jam & jelly business changes across each season
• Why you should focus on being memorable at markets
• The story behind their unique silo store and silo trailers
• About Kentucky’s cottage food and micro-processor laws
• The complexity of building a certified manufacturing facility on your property

Resources

Whisky Ridge Farm website (Facebook | Instagram)

Kentucky Home Bakers group

Kentucky Cottage Food Law

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Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/95