What would you pay for organic, GMO-free. soy free chicken and eggs?

[The Storyteller]

I've been selling eggs and chicken and turkey meat locally for the past couple of years. All of my animals are "free range" and kept on pasture. I charge $3.50 a pound for whole chickens, $3.00 a pound for turkeys, and eggs for $4 a dozen.

I just found a source for certified organic feed that is GMO/soy free and want to switch to it. However, I'm not sure how much to charge once I have made the switch. This feed is about 3 times as expensive as my current locally mixed feed.

So, what would you be willing to pay for a product like this?

Any and all comments welcome! Thanks!

Jim

[bae]

Perhaps $1/pound more for the meat, not much more for the eggs, but I'm not a good egg customer as almost everyone I know has chickens and gives me eggs. Perhaps in the abstract $1/dozen more for the eggs?

[catherine]

I just paid $5.79 for organic eggs.

[iris lilies]

GMO free is worth 0 to me. Well, you asked.:)

Also, now soy is bad? I don't know how I'm supposed to keep up with these things. I suppose it is the Big Ag aspect of soy in the feed that is bad.

[sweetana3]

I get my eggs from a local gal who raises and loves her chickens. The eggs are alll different sizes, colors and oh so delicious. They are free range and the yolks are dark dark orange. She charges $2 a dozen. I would pay $4 a dozen for these gorgeous eggs from well cared for chickens. Dont care what she feeds them so long as they get the pasture and bugs to eat.

[awakenedsoul]

Around here we pay $5.00 for free range eggs. I buy whole free range chickens for about $16.00.

[SteveinMN]

I would think you could figure out how much feed you use per chicken (or close enough) and calculate the difference in the cost of using the organic feed. Do you know if your current prices are clearing your costs?

[jp1]

I get my eggs from a local gal who raises and loves her chickens. The eggs are alll different sizes, colors and oh so delicious. They are free range and the yolks are dark dark orange. She charges $2 a dozen. I would pay $4 a dozen for these gorgeous eggs from well cared for chickens. Dont care what she feeds them so long as they get the pasture and bugs to eat.

$2 is too cheap. Safeway charges that much for regular eggs. I'd happily buy those eggs!

[merince]

I think you need to ask your current customers. See how much the change will impact your bottom line and ask them if they'll continue to pay it.

[Gregg]

I'd probably max out around $4 for the eggs, $4.50 tops. Even with all the obvious benefits I still mentally compare them to the factory eggs that my local store puts on sale for $.99/doz. about once a month. I'm pretty sure most folks make that same link in their heads so charging 4x or more is a tough marketing hill to climb. I would pay more for the meat and probably wouldn't squawk too much around $5/lb. for chicken on that diet. We just don't buy enough turkey for me to have a real educated guess, but I would think the same bump of $1 - $1.50/lb. would be reasonable.

Curious if you've ever tried selling chicken parts? No doubt in my mind DW would pay $7/lb. or more for breasts as you described. I know all the benefits, but still roll my eyes at paying $15 for a chicken, but probably wouldn't blink at paying $15 for a 3 lb. pack of thighs. Heaven knows wings just seem to have a stupid tax on them in our haute-tailgate frenzied society. Is it a big step up in required equipment, packaging, production costs, etc. to break the chickens down a bit (assuming you could get advance orders to help minimize waste)?

[Rogar]

I only buy eggs for baking recipes and price really isn't an issue because I buy so few. I pay about $3 for a half dozen organic. When I buy chicken I look for organic and assume organic implies GMO free. I'm not sure if that is correct. I think I pay about $4.00 a pound for organic chicken, which still seems reasonable since regular beef or fish is in the same price range. I think there is a large difference in the taste and texture of organic chicken and am willing to pay a premium. Chicken parts might be a better seller because it is quicker to prepare and avoids the bony less desirable parts, but I get a lot of mileage out of the whole chicken by making chicken stock and chicken soups.

[The Storyteller]

GMO free is worth 0 to me. Well, you asked.:)

Also, now soy is bad? I don't know how I'm supposed to keep up with these things. I suppose it is the Big Ag aspect of soy in the feed that is bad.

This is a case of giving my customers what they ask for. Frankly, I think feed milled from local farms is more important, but this is what they want. I'm only responding to market pressures, as long as it doesn't go against my personal ethics.

And yes, many of my customers have been asking for a soy-free option. Most want GMO free. And a few even want corn free (ain't gonna happen!). I think soy-free is a health concern. GMO free is political, environmental, and ecological. Organic is... well, organic. :)

Organic forbids GMOs, so it is automatically GMO free. And about 97% of soy grown in the US is GMO, so it is very hard to get GMO free soy. Easier to substitute another protein source than find it, so most organic feed is going to be soy free.

[The Storyteller]

Curious if you've ever tried selling chicken parts? No doubt in my mind DW would pay $7/lb. or more for breasts as you described. I know all the benefits, but still roll my eyes at paying $15 for a chicken, but probably wouldn't blink at paying $15 for a 3 lb. pack of thighs. Heaven knows wings just seem to have a stupid tax on them in our haute-tailgate frenzied society. Is it a big step up in required equipment, packaging, production costs, etc. to break the chickens down a bit (assuming you could get advance orders to help minimize waste)?

Yes! I've had many customers ask for this. We are going to start this season. I ordered some decent knives to make it easier and will be cutting some up tonight. There is no additional cost to us, just a lot more work packaging.

[The Storyteller]

I only buy eggs for baking recipes and price really isn't an issue because I buy so few. I pay about $3 for a half dozen organic. When I buy chicken I look for organic and assume organic implies GMO free. I'm not sure if that is correct. I think I pay about $4.00 a pound for organic chicken, which still seems reasonable since regular beef or fish is in the same price range. I think there is a large difference in the taste and texture of organic chicken and am willing to pay a premium. Chicken parts might be a better seller because it is quicker to prepare and avoids the bony less desirable parts, but I get a lot of mileage out of the whole chicken by making chicken stock and chicken soups.

Pretty much the way we do it around our house, and we get a discount! ;)

Wish all our customers thought like you do Rogar.

I'm very excited about making this change. I was sitting on the stoop of my rolling chicken house out in the pasture watching my girls scratching and pecking around last night. I felt a deep sense of satisfaction thinking about what I am doing for them and for our customers. It just seems right.

[Gardenarian]

I saw organic soy-free eggs at the farmer's market in Ashland going for $8/dozen. Not going fast, tho'.
I won't pay more than $5 a dozen unless I'm given a really good reason for doing so.

[The Storyteller]

This is what I found in a recent publication of the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association. These are national averages:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1446&d=1414435949

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1445&d=1414435898

These are all raised on grass pasture.

So, I already know what people are charging (and paying!) nationally. I'm just curious what you would do, and why. :)

[kib]

The whole GMO thing is irritating. I've just been looking at it, and it's impossible to find unbiased info. Monsanto says it's fine, they've done 3 month studies and nothing's shown up. There's a nice unbiased source. Research led by Gilles-Eric Seralini in France says the first three months show nothing, but rats fed a diet of gm corn got extremely sick over the course of their lives.

"The animals on the GM diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage.

The researchers said 50 percent of males and 70 percent of females died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/monsanto-corn-study-france_n_1896115.html

now of course the methods of the second study are being contested. So the official word is, the jury's still out. And it could be the genetic modifications, it could also be that the GM crops are saturated in Roundup and other life-killing chemicals. Personally, I try to avoid GMO because I'd trust Jack the Ripper before I'd trust Monsanto, but as Storyteller says, it's really hard to know unless you just buy organic, which by definition is GMO free.

I agree with asking customers. Or perhaps putting it to them like this: I like the idea of GMO free, but if I switch feed I'll have to charge $2 more per dozen. Would you be willing to pay that much?\

ETA: I think I'll have an omelette for lunch, this is making me hungry!

[The Storyteller]

I saw organic soy-free eggs at the farmer's market in Ashland going for $8/dozen. Not going fast, tho'.

At that price, they don't have to. :)

[The Storyteller]

The whole GMO thing is irritating. I've just been looking at it, and it's impossible to find unbiased info. Monsanto says it's fine, they've done 3 month studies and nothing's showed up. There's a nice unbiased source. Research led by Gilles-Eric Seralini in France says the first three months show nothing, but rats fed a diet of gm corn got extremely sick over the course of their lives.

"The animals on the GM diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage.

The researchers said 50 percent of males and 70 percent of females died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/monsanto-corn-study-france_n_1896115.html

now of course the methods of the second study are being contested. So the official word is, the jury's still out. And it could be the genetic modifications, it could also be that the GM crops are saturated in Roundup and other life-killing chemicals. Personally, I try to avoid GMO because I'd trust Jack the Ripper before I'd trust Monsanto, but as Storyteller says, it's really hard to know unless you just buy organic, which by definition is GMO free.

I agree with asking customers. Or perhaps putting it to them like this: I like the idea of GMO free, but if I switch feed I'll have to charge $2 more per dozen. Would you be willing to pay that much?

My customers are very excited about it.

Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with GMO, in itself. It can be used to do good things, and in fact has been (Google yellow rice, for example). It is how the technology is used, and the idea that living genetics can be patented and owned are the things that bother me. Monsanto is the greatest sinner of them all, in both cases.

Kind of like nuclear technology, I guess.

[Suzanne]

It costs me $8/dozen for pastured eggs (not corn free) and around $30/5lb chicken, when I can get them. Grassfed beef: $7/lb for stewing meat or mince. I could do better on the beef if I could buy a quarter or a half at the time, but have a very resistant spouse and no freezer space.