Vermicompost Marketing: Applications to Commercial Growers and Retail Outlets

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1 Vermicompost Marketing: Applications to Commercial Growers and Retail Outlets Thomas Herlihy NC State Vermicomposting Workshop RT Solutions, LLC -Worm Power June, 2009

2 A Word of Caution We will hunt down any vermicomposter who gives away product Tom Herlihy & Jack Chambers NC State 2008 This stuff is hard to make and if you don t value it, don t expect the customers will

3 Differentiate Vermicompost Compost Inconsistent process controls result in variable quality end product Variable feedstocks Variable microbial communities Inconsistent results Vermicompost Excellent and uniform process control = uniform product Moisture Temperature Aeration Substrate Mesophillic process produces plant-viable microbial communities Earthworm and microbial communities truly alter the nutrients (form)

4 It s All About The Quality To market vermicompost for top value the product must be uniform, consistent and reproducible Don t think of castings" as the end product it s NOT, Truly understand your targeted growers expectations, production methods and costs Don t over promise results better to exceed than come up short

5 Vocabulary Industry needs to settle on a single term for the end product from vermicomposting No such thing as a pure castings Ask what are the benefit to claims of castings vs. vermicompost Nutrients Microbial diversity With conflicting terms & claims its difficult to educate consumers Quality comes from production and validation testing

6 Retail vs. Commercial Understand the Differences Retail Consumers Less demanding Willing to believe Higher maintenance More logistics Extensive packaging Higher return ($/lb) Commercial Growers Exacting specification Profit is King Scientifically driven Knowledgeable Fewer clients Minimal packaging Lower return ($/lb)

7 Marketing Worm Power to Commercial Growers We targeted high end horticulture Higher value growers can justify the use of vermicompost products Markets Vineyards Nursery Greenhouse Turf Vegetable growers

8 Small Vineyards Worm Power has 17 New York vineyards as clients Used to establish new acreage Side dressing established vines

9 Vineyards Empirical Case studies Silver Thread Established 4 ac vinifera Increased survival Shale Stone Side dressed 8 ac vinifera Owner reports increased vigor

10 Vine Nursery AA Vineyard Produces 3,000,000 vines (rootstock) for sale annually Three year study Year 1Si Significant ifi results Year 2 Mixed poor data Year 3 No Significant economic difference

11 Greenhouse Highest value for vermicompost Large volume consumers Very knowledgeable/scientific e/sc e c High liability Accustomed to high price inputs $1.2 Billion industry Highly mechanized Requires agronomic experience

12 Unknown to us this future grower performed tomato and pepper production trials. Compared seedling flats (plugs) with Worm Power to his conventional plug production system

13 Pepper Plug Production Commercial lgrower 11/2007

14 Elzinga Greenhouse Single customer has purchased 150,000 lbs of vermicompost Required OMRI certification Extensive 3 rd party support Worm Power required to provide product liability insurance, Guaranteed specifications range delivery schedule No BS! Uniform Consistent - Repeatable

15 Elzinga Greenhouse Worm Power used as 10-15% of the potting soil Worm Power is also top dressed don the plug trays Worm Power used as the primary ingredient in a tea that is applied weekly OUTSTANDING RESULTS Happy grower & Happy vermicomposter

16 Greenhouse Filling of plug trays, seeding, topdressing and plug transplants all done by mechanical and automated equipment. Vermicompost MUST flow and behave in a consistent, reproducible manner.

18 Vermicompost in Potting Soil Mixes Worm Power has participated ii din two organic potting mix studies with Cornell University 1.40 Two vermicomposts (dairy 1.20 and hog) tested had highest 1.00 plant growth (biomass) of mixes studied Vermicompost is only a 0.40 component of the mix 0.20 Worm Power is now part of 0.00 the official University base mix wt (g) pe er plant Base Base +Blood meal DairyTherm DairyTherm+ Blood meal Dairy Verm Dairy Vermi + Blood meal Hog Verm Hog Verm + Blood meal Organic Transplant Media and Tomato Performance 2007 Betsy Leonard and Anu Rangarajan, Cornell University i

19 Table 2. Final plant weights, medium ph, EC and germination rates of 21 potting mixes. Per plant Final media treatment fresh wt(g) dry wt(g) ph EC(uS/cm) % germination Base 0.58 i z 0.11 j 4.8 j 139 g 95 ab Base plus Blood meal 0.86 hi 0.10 j 6.0 f 184 defg 94 ab Bradfield 1% 2.12 fg 0.34 fgh 5.0 ij 168 efg 94 ab Bradfield 2.5% 3.61 de 0.47 de 5.0 ij 193 defg 94 ab Bradfield 5% 5.41 c 0.65 c 5.3 gh 224 cde 90 bc Alfalfa 1% 1.58 gh 0.28 fghi 5.0 ij 167 efg 93 ab Alfalfa 2.5% 3.32 de 0.46 de 5.2 hi 191 defg 93 ab Alfalfa 5% 3.84 d 0.52 d 5.6 g 197 defg 91 ab Sesame 1% 2.78 ef 0.39 efg 4.8 j 147 fg 93 ab Sesame 2.5% 3.53 de 0.39 ef 5.6 g 199 defg 94 ab Dairy Vermicompost 20% 3.33 de 0.49 de 6.7 cd 250 bcd 93 ab Dairy Vermicompost 20% plus Blood meal 9.68 a 1.19 a 6.0 f 250 bcd 93 ab Dairy Vermicompost 20% plus Bradfield Alf 1% 3.58 de 0.53 cd 6.6 de 272 bc 93 ab Dairy Thermicompost 20% 0.78 hi 0.11 j 7.3 a 302 ab 94 ab DairyThermicompost 20% plus Blood meal 6.98 b 0.78 b 6.4 e 356 a 95 a Dairy Thermicompost 20% plus Bradfield Alf 1% 2.66 ef 0.39 ef 7.0 bc 356 a 96 a Hog Vermicompost 20% 3.74 d 0.58 cd 7.0 bc 216 cdef 94 ab Hog Vermicompost 20% plus Blood meal a a c 199 defg 95 ab SunGro 1.59 gh 0.27 ghi 7.2 ab 185 defg 95 a Soybean meal 1% 2.73 ef 0.27 hi 5.4 gh 251 bcd 85 c Soybean meal 2.5% 1.64 gh 0.16 ij 6.3 e 358 a 66 d Organic Transplant Media and Tomato Performance 2007 Betsy Leonard and Anu Rangarajan, Cornell University z Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at p<0.05.

20 Tomato Plug Production Two year Study with Cornell Horticulture Two treatments used Worm Power in 20% of the potting soil Worm Power also used with blood meal as a nitrogen supplement

21 Tomato Plug Production Vermicompost show as an excellent supplement Nitrogen content of vermicompost exhausted 35 DAP Worm Power and a nitrogen supplement yielded outstanding results (sum greater than parts) Organic Transplant Media and Tomato Performance 2007 Betsy Leonard and Anu Rangarajan, Cornell University

22 Cabbage Production Worm Power used as 10-20% of the potting soil Worm Power top dressed on plug trays Research done with Cornell and growers under a grant.

Horticultural Clients Worm Power products in

Organic Garlic Production Fraser s Garlic Farm -

- Tomatoes and Cauliflower production Hemdale Farms

Farms - Strawberry (Jewel variety) Cobblestone

23 Horticultural Clients Worm Power products in production agriculture: Honeyhill Farm - Certified Organic Garlic Production Fraser s Garlic Farm - Certified Organic Garlic Production Pederson Farms - Tomatoes and Cauliflower production Hemdale Farms - Certified Organic Cabbage Production Grisamore Farms - Strawberry (Jewel variety) Cobblestone Valley Farm Strawberry (Jewel variety) Glover Perennials - Cut flowers

24 Greenhouse Lessons Learned Do your homework and don t BS Vermicompost used as 10-20% of a potting soil mix performed as well as (better?) than the best available commercial mixes in large-scale l horticultural production Consistent physical, chemical and microbial properties was key! Combining vermicompost and a supplement (nitrogen or extract) yielded best full season results Worm Power is only a part of the fertility program..not a silver bullet

25 Vermicompost in Turf Worm Power successfully marketed to three (3) golf courses Part of a divot mix 8 parts sand - 1 part Worm Power - 1 part diatomaceous earth As a top dressing after core aeration (mixes with sand 9:1) Huge underserved market for sustainable turf management in golf

26 Worm Power Retail Experience Worm Power dragged kicking and screaming into retail product markets in Steep learning curve new sets of issues (packaging, distribution, ib ti product support, displays and financial) Packaging is King, product is 2 nd Labeling is a complex and regulated environment People love vermicompost in spite of cranky vermicomposter (me)

27 Worm Power Retail Experience Examples of Worm Power packaging ag g

28 Retail Experience With Greenhouse client entered over 100 Meijer superstores in the upper Midwest. Dropped Meijer in 2008 and focused in 2009 on expanding to local lawn and garden centers

29 Worm Power Retail Experience Worm Power built an internal product packaging line and filled 5,000 units in 3 days. Be careful what you wish for! Cash flow is more difficult - (container, label, labor, shipping) slow pay 2009 is better than 2008

Vermicompost Extracts, Teas & Colored Water Worm worked vermicomposts and castings are soluble.

(QUALITY is a MUST) What extracts are A product with the potential to move vermicomposting and

What vermicompost extracts are not Well characterized Standardized (type of vermicompost)

30 Vermicompost Extracts, Teas & Colored Water Worm worked vermicomposts and castings are soluble. Think about the claims you want to make Different vermicomposts will yield different extracts (QUALITY is a MUST) What extracts are A product with the potential to move vermicomposting and production organic agriculture into highly promising and profitable areas. What vermicompost extracts are not Well characterized Standardized (type of vermicompost) Material with widely documented results Currently ready to be marketed as a biocontrol think prescription i drugs (i (time and $)

31 Future Commercial & Retail Products Slowly entering the extract (tea) field. Awarded a research grant to develop a stable extract product (subcontractor Cornell University). JUST awarded a major USDA grant with Cornell to develop disease suppressive products based on vermicompost (Allison Jack) Likely to expand production by 300% in 2009

32 Current Future

33 Work the channels Work the market

When evaluating a potting mix for tomato transplant production, consider the following properties:

When evaluating a potting mix for tomato transplant production, consider the following properties: Organic Transplant Media and Tomato Performance 2007 Betsy Leonard and Anu Rangarajan Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 bai1@cornell.edu Successful transplant production begins