From the blog archive; originally published on January 23, 2010
A grower in Taiwan contacted me to share a business model he uses. It was interesting, so I am sharing it.
Coordinate with local companies who have compostable trash, develop a group of friends to make vermicompost from the trash, sell vermicompost at the Farmer's Market.
Because businesses pay a lot in trash removal, this can be reduced if you find other people to take their trash and make worm compost to sell. You get the business to pay you to have members of your group members to take away the compostable trash ($1/kg). You sell your worms to your group and coordinate having them pickup the food waste. Then you pay the growers weekly to provide you with a fixed (2-5 kilograms) amount of vermicompost per month ($2/kg) and to pickup the trash (compost food removal at $0.25/kg).
You can sell the vermicompost for about $5/kg at a farmer's market in the city or online. Remember you also make money on the first sale of your worms to your growers and coordinating payment with the businesses.
Your growers will benefit because they only pay an initial start up fee and coordinate picking up food and delivering vermicompost to you. They get a monthly check from you for picking up waste and processing vermicompost.
If you can do this in a city (so you wouldn't spend a lot of money on gas), the whole group could make some decent money. Plus, if you coordinate food waste pickup at restaurants, you'll probably become a friend of the owner (because you save them money) and get some meals for free, too!
It takes some time to set this up, but it works!
Thanks Chen for sharing this. I would add that you could also make vermicompost tea and sell to local landscapers.
Cheers,
Mark
A grower in Taiwan contacted me to share a business model he uses. It was interesting, so I am sharing it.
Coordinate with local companies who have compostable trash, develop a group of friends to make vermicompost from the trash, sell vermicompost at the Farmer's Market.
Because businesses pay a lot in trash removal, this can be reduced if you find other people to take their trash and make worm compost to sell. You get the business to pay you to have members of your group members to take away the compostable trash ($1/kg). You sell your worms to your group and coordinate having them pickup the food waste. Then you pay the growers weekly to provide you with a fixed (2-5 kilograms) amount of vermicompost per month ($2/kg) and to pickup the trash (compost food removal at $0.25/kg).
You can sell the vermicompost for about $5/kg at a farmer's market in the city or online. Remember you also make money on the first sale of your worms to your growers and coordinating payment with the businesses.
Your growers will benefit because they only pay an initial start up fee and coordinate picking up food and delivering vermicompost to you. They get a monthly check from you for picking up waste and processing vermicompost.
If you can do this in a city (so you wouldn't spend a lot of money on gas), the whole group could make some decent money. Plus, if you coordinate food waste pickup at restaurants, you'll probably become a friend of the owner (because you save them money) and get some meals for free, too!
It takes some time to set this up, but it works!
Thanks Chen for sharing this. I would add that you could also make vermicompost tea and sell to local landscapers.
Cheers,
Mark
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