Asking all chefs and Asian foodies - is this a potential good little side hustle

[Spidey]

So, during these 'quiet times' I've been exploring the science of seed germination and growing. One of my favorite plants to cook with is the Kaffir Lime leaf - very popular in Thai, Cambodian, Indonesian and Vietnamese cooking. Search as I might, I could not find any greenhouses in Canada that had any plants for sale. The rare Canadian seller I found was out of stock, but I noticed that these trees around 18" to 24" were selling for about $100 - $150 a pop, and they couldn't produce them fast enough. So, I thought I'd take a stab at ordering seeds from Thailand and Indonesia. My first attempts at germinating failed miserably but after a lot of research, I got better. My germination rate went from less than 5% to around 40%, which is pretty good for this seed.

My question, now that I've got a nice little production line going - is this something foodies would be interested in buying? Also, I'm not sure if it's best to sell them smaller for cheaper or grow them for a year and then set up an Etsy account. Who knows, this could be my retirement gig in a few short years!

Here's some pics of 1 to 2 month old sprouts, and they are going strong. It's a nice feeling to grow things...

[fishtank]

will the survived the canadian winter or will it be kept as a indoor plant ? i saw some exotic fruit plant selling on facebook for $50-100 a pop .

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by fishtank

will the survived the canadian winter or will it be kept as a indoor plant ?

Nope, it won't survive below freezing. In Canada it's meant to be a potted tree kept indoors in the winter and outdoors (lots of sun) in the summer. I got them started using heat mats and grow lights. Even as indoor trees, they can grow to 5+ft.

[fishtank]

saw some listing of exotic fruit plants for $30-100 each on facebook , as for kifer lime leave, they are fairly cheap to buy the dry ones . might be better to sell it as a exotic house plant.

[EZM]

One of my friends grows herbs, specialty greens, micro greens and lettuce, rare peppers, etc... and sells them direct to fine local restaurants.

For him and his wife it's a nice hobby that supplements their retirement income.

If I'm not mistaken, they have maybe a 1/4 acre dedicated to this with a few small green houses / starter houses and finish some crops there in the winter when it's too cool for some of the stuff to be viable.

It's really a niche foo-foo type business but they enjoy it.

They are in North California, near the wine belt, so there are many restaurants and buyers for the stuff they grow.

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by fishtank

saw some listing of exotic fruit plants for $30-100 each on facebook , as for kifer lime leave, they are fairly cheap to buy the dry ones . might be better to sell it as a exotic house plant.

I've tried using dry lime leaves but I much prefer fresh. I used to be able to find fresh the odd time at T&T. But a close second is fresh-frozen. Yes, I would plan to sell them as whole trees.

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by EZM

One of my friends grows herbs, specialty greens, micro greens and lettuce, rare peppers, etc... and sells them direct to fine local restaurants.

For him and his wife it's a nice hobby that supplements their retirement income.

If I'm not mistaken, they have maybe a 1/4 acre dedicated to this with a few small green houses / starter houses and finish some crops there in the winter when it's too cool for some of the stuff to be viable.

It's really a niche foo-foo type business but they enjoy it.

They are in North California, near the wine belt, so there are many restaurants and buyers for the stuff they grow.

That sounds exactly what my wife wants to do. We still have a few years before retiring on a plot of land somewhere so we're dipping our toe in the water with kaffir lime trees, lemongrass, various herbs, hot peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and about 8 kinds of basil. So far so good, but we've about maxed out our growing space in our house and deck!

[Off in the Bushes]

Purchase a grow light and put them under 24 light of the can tolerate it. Then you turning out your product faster.

[MyAlberta]

Typically, you need volume to create and maintain a market for food stuffs. As a house plant it needs to thrive in a typical climate. A know a gal who leases plants for commercial spaces. She rotates them, nursing them back to health after a couple of months abuse.

Sold this guy last year for $650, with many compliments. It continuously produced sizeable prunes.

[calgarychef]

It would be really nice to be a able to buy these fresh instead of dry!
I think there’s a market but also not much of a barrier to entry so anyone could compete with you. You should do it but understand that you’ll make money for awhile then be driven out by someone else.

I worked with Mike Chow a few times. Mike was the guy who pioneered growing
Sprouts in those clam shells, here in Calgary. He had lots of money...

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by Off in the Bushes

Purchase a grow light and put them under 24 light of the can tolerate it. Then you turning out your product faster.

Yep, I've got lots of grow lots and heating mats. They seem to love it under there.

[Spidey]

Nice tree! I was just thinking of growing 2-3 dozen small trees and selling them next spring, once they come out of their winter slumber. I'm not looking to create a business, but trying to recoup some of the costs of my grow lights, heating mats and other growing paraphernalia - maybe pivot into a little retirement hobby and make some fun money.

Most green houses and online retailers (eg. Etsy) seem to do this with those lime trees. Put 'em up for sale and once they're gone, they're gone.

[Spidey]

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[Spidey]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

It would be really nice to be a able to buy these fresh instead of dry!
I think there’s a market but also not much of a barrier to entry so anyone could compete with you. You should do it but understand that you’ll make money for awhile then be driven out by someone else.

I worked with Mike Chow a few times. Mike was the guy who pioneered growing
Sprouts in those clam shells, here in Calgary. He had lots of money...

I'm banking on that people will prefer to pay for a well established tree than go through the work to source the seeds and buy the necessary grow equipment. Interestingly, most of the Kaffir Lime tress I've seen for sale online are grafted, which have pros and cons, whereas mine are all started from seed. And the seeds are notoriously difficult to germinate and start (but I've developed my proprietary secret process )