Omaha Farmer's Market Vendor Spotlight
What started as a high school project led to a family business for Neal Ely. According to Ely, he started planting produce in 1999 as a project for Future Farmers of America Agricultural through his school in Sutton, Nebr.
As his fresh produce business grew, Ely and his parents, Michael and Tami, decided to develop Tami’s pickled asparagus recipe into a product to sell. After all, it was his mother’s pickled asparagus recipe that inspired his whole project. Ely said growing up, he would pick asparagus out of the road ditches with his mom and she would then pickle them for the family.
The Ely family worked with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s Food Processing Center to develop the product and began selling Ely Farms Pickled Asparagus Spears in 2001.
Four years later, the family was approached by a friend who wanted them to develop their grandmother’s recipe for pickled bell peppers. After learning more about the history of the product and tasting it, the Elys decided to add a second product – Ely Farms Pickled Bell Peppers.
All in the family Ely Farms is truly a family business. Neal and his younger brother, Reid, manage the business. Their dad is responsible for overseeing the growth of the produce and their mother oversees the production of the pickled products.
There’s no doubt that this business has brought our family closer, Ely said. He explained that he follows the advice he once heard a successful business operator say: “My brother and I decided we could be more successful working together than not working together.”
“This has been my philosophy,” Ely said. “We find a way to get along and to do more together than by ourselves. It hasn’t always been easy, and sometimes we disagree, but we use these disagreements to strengthen our working relationship.”
In a mere a decade Ely Farms has grown drastically in the last ten years. According to Ely, fresh asparagus production has increased to about five acres and the bell pepper product to about half an acre. The pickled products are marketed throughout Nebraska, with Omaha and Lincoln being the biggest markets.
It has been a lot of work to get the business up and running, but Ely has enjoyed the challenge. “It is very rewarding to see a business grow from a simple idea,” he said. “I have met so many people and developed so many friendships with people through my business dealings and this has been more rewarding than anything.”
Part of the company’s success is the ever-constant search for new avenues to sell its products. “I compare marketing great specialty food products like our products to a small band that plays great music,” Ely said. “They have to get out and do the footwork and play at the different venues to build a market for their music. Our business is no different. We have to do the footwork, demos, sampling, fairs, and shows to ensure a continued market for our products.”
Since the pickled products are specialty products, Ely said they sell a lot during the holidays. “We target customers who are shopping for high-end food products as our products are very high quality and are of a limited supply,” he said. Whole Foods, Wohlners, Frank Stoysich Meats, and Mangelsen’s are a few of the stores that currently carry Ely Farms products.
Although Ely Farms’ products are not registered organic products at this time, Ely said that he and his family are very health-conscious. “We use methods that are as close to all natural as we can when growing our farm fresh produce,” he said. “We are still considering getting registered as an organic farm.”
Check ‘em out Ely said that their fresh produce is available to anyone who contacts them. However, a majority of the fresh produce is sold within in Sutton and a good portion is sold at the Farmer’s Market held in Omaha’s Old Market.
Last summer was Ely Farms’ first year of participating in the Farmer’s Market. “There is no question about it,” Ely said. “We will continue to be a vendor at the market for years to come.” The company sells its asparagus in April and May and its bell peppers and eggplant in August and September, but its pickled products are available each weekend at the market.
Ely’s personal favorite is the Pickled Bell Peppers. “They are so versatile,” he said. “You can put them on a sandwich or salad, on a shish kabob on the grill with some bacon wrapped around them, add them to an Italian dish or a relish tray. The red, yellow, and green colors make them a very attractive package and they are jam-packed full of flavor.”
A pickled yellow bean is currently being developed. Ely said he hopes to have it developed by the end of the summer and available for purchase in the summer of 2011.
For more information on Ely Farms, visit www.elyfarms.com, become a facebook fan of Ely Farms, or follow Ely Farms on twitter.
Learn more at: www.elyfarms.com
Story by: Omaha Senior Lifestyles
