We are big on goals here. Dave and I both are goal oriented people. We usually set daily goals as well as weekly. Some are as simple as get the dog food, to the complexity of draw out how we can mechanize our washing system to work for elderberries more efficiently. We are all over the place.
We have had an exciting 4th quarter with our operation. We saw an increase in raw material sales that we have never had before. We started reaching out to companies that produce products with "elderberry flavor" and elderberry ( Sambusus Negre - European). All the responses were the same.... we use European elderberry - it's cheaper. So, the bottom line was the dollar, not the quality or how adulterated the materials might be. This had Davie B stewing over how to educate and continue to move this American market we are growing. Because the data supports the superiority of the American Elderberry. But it costs more to grow, because we are not going to undersell our growers to attempt to compete with an inferior product.
Fast forward to December. We start getting calls. While we are not getting major orders, we are getting orders for raw materials. This is exciting for the farmer and the consumer. My guess is the supplies coming out of Europe have been impacted by the Ukraine war, and tarrifs on the imports have gone up significantly. I don't know, thats just my educated guess. However, it is promising for the 300 million dollar industry in the United States. Oh. I didn't mention.... elderberry sales globally were 6 BILLION dollars last year, with 300 Million in sales in America. Since we only have around 1500 acres in commercial production in the US, guess where most of those dollars went? Not to American growers......
I'm looking out at the snow this morning, and it is 6 degrees. Call me crazy but I love the winter. I love the farm in the winter. I think the creativity for the coming seasons is high, the possibilities to imagine and plan are easier and the earth resting is inspiring. Spring and summer on a farm is daylight to dark and as hard as you can go, and you still don't get everything done. Winter, moves at a pace that allows dreaming, scheming, planning and wishing to happen. Those are when some of the best plans formulate in our life. I think every major change we have done has been in the winter actually!
So in the new year we are grateful for our clients. We are grateful for the opportunity to grow more, impact more, and educate more. What we consume and where we consume it from impacts every human the same way. I think we are all becoming more aware of we literally are "what we eat." Wishing all of you a healthy, joyful and peaceful New Year.