118: Danya Teitelbaum of Queen’s Greens on Selling a Selective Crop Mix on the Wholesale Market

Danya Tietelbaum is the co-founder and co-owner of Queen’s Greens, 35 acres of fields and greenhouses in the heart of the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. Queen’s Greens’ specialty is what they call “boutique wholesale”, supplying restaurants, retailers, local universities, and regional distributors, with certified organic greens, herbs, and a small selection of other vegetables. Danya digs into why they’ve limited their crop mix and marketing outlets, and the implications that’s had for their business. We take a deep dive into the Queen’s Greens model for putting out a reliable crop of salad mix week after week, including weed control on solid-seeded beds and how they manage massive quantities of row cover to control flea beetles. As a wholesale-only operation, Queen’s Greens fills over a hundred orders each week during the growing season. Danya explains the systems they use to track and fulfill those orders, and the administrative structure they’ve developed to get everything delivered, even though Queen’s Greens doesn’t own a delivery truck. We also discuss their conversion of a tobacco barn into a GAPs-audited packing shed, as well as their winter spinach production. Just as a point of reference, since it’s spring and we do get into some timing-related topics, this episode was recorded on April 19. Perennial support for the Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously provided by Vermont Compost Company and BCS America. Pictures, show links, and more at farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/teitelbaum.