2004 - Volume #28, Issue #6, Page #09
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Wheatgrass Business Takes Off
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Keune grows and sells wheatgrass juice, seed, flats of grass, juicers and other supplies. He also offers consulting services to prospective growers. Since selling his first six bottles this past March, his business has been growing 10 to 20 percent each week.
"I quit my full time job in June, and we are getting close to replacing my previous income," says Keune. "Currently, we water our production by hand, but we are looking at a sprout growing machine that could grow up to 800 lbs. per week."
He's going to need the increased production. After the Green Bay Packers began buying his juice for the team, players' wives began ordering it for themselves. Business growth has all been by word of mouth, he says.
"Every customer that has tried my wheatgrass juice has stayed with me," says Keune.
Keune is excited about the product and the business. He sells juice in 8-oz. bottles for $13 each, 10 by 20-in. flats of ready to cut wheatgrass for $9, and precut flats for $10. At the recommended consumption of 1 oz. per day, a bottle lasts about a week, while a precut flat will produce about 12 ounces of juice. He says growing wheat grass is something that anyone can do, whether for themselves or commercially.
"I have people wanting me to ship wheatgrass juice, but that's not a good idea," says Keune. "It's expensive to ship because you have to have ice, and it's cheaper to just grow your own. It only costs about 10 cents per oz., and a good hand powered juicer costs only about $100."
Keune encourages people who are interested to visit his website for simple growing instructions. Materials to get started are inexpensive and can be ordered from Keune on his website or from other vendors.
"There's no reason any person working out of their home, can't turn it into a profitable business," he says. "Get the materials, and start growing it. From that, you will learn and identify the questions you need answered."
Perhaps a sign of the growing interest in wheatgrass is that a quick search of the internet identifies 65,000 websites that mention, discuss or sell information and products related to wheatgrass. It is an interest that Keune feels has lots of growth potential in North America.
"In Australia, there are juice bars on every street corner, and companies there have developed very sophisticated growth chambers for wheatgrass," he says.
Keune is already consulting with wheatgrass growers in ten states and four countries. Part of what he is teaching for a price is his ability to market his juice with a 14-day refrigerated shelf life.
"There are lots of people growing wheatgrass lots of different ways and selling the grass or dehydrating it," he says. "As far as I know, we are the only ones bottling it fresh."
He credits the shelf life and quality of his wheatgrass to the use of a liquid supplement called Ocean Grown. The supplement is concentrated seawater. He adds one gal. to 99 gal. of water. He now offers the concentrate to his customers in pint, gallon and 50 gal. containers and promotes it as an important part of his wheatgrass production strategy.
"I started watering sprouts with it and could see the vibrancy, texture, color and taste improve," he says. "Now it is part of our proprietary technology."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kevin Keune, Make Scents, Shiocton, Wis. 54170 (ph 920 986-3319; website: www.growgreens.com).
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