“Another sale so soon?” I hear you ask.

Sadly yes.

“Another sale so soon?” I hear you ask. Sadly yes.

This is how I started my latest newsletter… I had just finished a round of sale due to over production. This week’s sale is due to a cancelled event.

A cancelled event is a nightmare for some fresh foods artisans.

For some small businesses, Pop Up markets, sustainable and artisan markets are the source of 1/3 of their income. That’s why we do them so often.

Imagine an artisan pie maker who is set to do a pop up market indoors or outdoors and the event is cancelled just 48 hours before the day of the event. What can they do with the stock the have been labouring on for the past week?

Understand this, a small business is always running to maintain their cash flow at a certain level; Whatever is invested in a pop up event must be recuperated, or the stock will be registered as a loss… Even so, the food produced has to go somewhere.

When planning an event, an artisan plans at least a month in advance. They have to source, ingredients, packaging, plan production and packing time, book transportations and staff. So a lot rides on each sale.

Miss Nang nuts, seeds, crackers & dips display

How does this applies to Miss Nang Treats I hear you ask.

Miss Nang Treats operates in a fresh food type of mind set.

Almost All Miss Nang Treats are made to order. Even the roast nuts and seeds are made and served/posted as fresh as possible to allow the snacker to have the best experience while eating something exceptional.

One example. The Safprika.

We know cashews and nuts in general take a year or two to dry properly for commercial use as you see them on shelves.

Cashews in bath…

Miss Nang Spicy cashews in compostable bage

For the Safprika above, I rehydrate the cashews in a bath of saffron and paprika, then slowly dry them for 3 hours with freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt. You may have guessed it,  placing the nuts in liquid fragilises them and reduce their life-time. The cashew Safprika best before is 3 months max, but in order for you to fully enjoy the intensity of the flavouring, I have to get them in your hands as soon as possible.

If you want to keep  your nuts for longer, you can, but it won’t be the same experience on the palate, due to the all natural, zero preservatives & plastic free elements of the process.

Every event has its own menu

Did you know? Every event has its own menu?

This time around, the focus of the event was on chutneys and crackers. The menu included the Green Chutney (celery & leek), Tomato chutney (garlic & thyme) Beetroot chutney (water chestnuts & fennel). These are made fresh for every event without preservatives or chemicals to maintain that homemade feel.

Since the event is cancelled, I had to think on my feet and create a sales event that would allow me to at least recoup my production costs.

Sometimes, the sales work, often doesn’t, but one must try.

So as artisans, we create a ‘sale’ to shift stock and spend the next 2 days on social media trying to sell what we cannot afford to waste.

I hope this gives you some insight in our challenges.

If you are an artisan, please let me know what you think.

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Have a fantastic money making week end.

Hortense, AKA the Nuts Lady.