[CH] 2nd Annual Red Savina/Francisca Group Purchase destined for N. Calif.

Art Pierce (pierces@cruzio.com)
Mon, 13 Sep 1999 11:36:32 -0700 

SF Bay and other California chileheads,

We need people to commit to buying Red Savina chiles.
http://neptune.netimages.com/~chile/red_habanero.html
http://www.shepherdseeds.com/item.asp?538

Red Savinas are a  PVP ("patented") chile
- you can't sell the seeds.
Details at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/science/pvp.htm

When available in the market,
red savinas sell for as little as $8.99/lb.
and for as much as $26/lb.

So, again for the second year in a row,
here's what's starting right now.

Frank and Mary have again agreed to a minimum order of 250 lbs.
- that's 25 boxes. Their usual minimum order is 1000 lbs.

The boxes are approx. 12"x12"x15"deep. The red savinas keep
for up to 2 weeks at ambient temperature, two to three months in
a refrigerator, and up to a year in a freezer (but lose their crunchy
texture once they're frozen).

They've also agree to let us mix in (10-lb. boxes) of Franciscas, their
new PVP variety, which are supposed to be ~225=>240K Scoville Units,
(regular habs ~200K, red savinas ~300K)
have thicker flesh and keep for up to 6 weeks at ambient temperature.
Details at: http://www.shepherdseeds.com/item.asp?620

Frank & Mary start picking today, Monday, Sept. 13, 1999.

Pick up in in Southern California at Oxnard.
Mary says, once we've gotten our 250+ lbs. order ready,
they'll pick the peppers and cool them down at the
Driscoll Farmers' Coop, 3939 East Hueneme Road,
Oxnard, CA 93033; (805)-488-0333, one day before we pick them up.
I'll arrange for Southern California buyers (if any) to meet us there
since we pay GNS Spices with one certified check.

If our group order for Northern California is much larger than 500 lbs.,

my truck's limit, Mark Yvanovich said he'd pick up another 500 lbs.
[Alternatively, my son just started work at Driscoll's
home office here in Watsonville and is trying to arrange
for "free"  - one 10-lb. box of savinas to the driver - transportation
up here via one of Driscoll's regular trucks. Driscoll is
reportedly very leery of red savinas since one of their
forklift speedo-drivers backed over and dragged a box
of savinas and they temporarily had to evacuate.]

Pick up in Northern California in Santa Cruz at Grey Bears.
Grey Bears is a non-profit that supplies weekly brown
bags of food to the elderly and elderly shut-ins for $20/year.
The savinas/franciscas will be stored in the Grey Bears' big cooler
near the only drive-in movie theater in Santa Cruz.
[See below for directions.]

~~~

Finance.

GNS Spices charges $20/10-lb. box ($2.00/lb).

In 1998, finally, with some arm-wringing,
received $623.50 total ($2.23/lb.)
Spent $560 for the 280 lbs. of savinas.
Drove 930 miles - only 621 of which was to and
from Oxnard; the other 309 was delivery around the Bay area -
and spent $45.76 on gas.
Loaded, unloaded, cooled, loaded, unloaded, etc.,
48.5 hours from the time the pick-up started.
That's $605.76, so had $17.74 (to donate to the Grey Bears).

Entirely apart from who knows what amount of time it took
getting it together on the net/email,
based on that first-time experience,
and believing there is
never any real glory to martyrdom,
some changes are in effect this year, 1999:

1) The orders are in 10-lb. box increments.
[People who want smaller amounts can get together
on their own through bach, chile-heads,
personal to-and-fro email, etc.,
and ONLY AFTER you've tried all that without success,
then I'll coordinate orders smaller than a 10-lb. box.]

2) Pre-paid orders only.
[Supply your own initiative.]

3) $30 for a 10-lb. box.
[At $3.00/lb, I could have donated Grey Bears
$234.24 last year, which is about $4.83/hr.
for 48.5 hours pickup/distribution time.]

~~~

Anybody in Northern California that's interested, please email a reply,
and tell how many 10-lb boxes you (or you together with others)
are interested in getting, so we can all make this take place.

Debi & Jack Curry
have already ordered 7 boxes (70#) for their
"hottest hamburgers in the world" at
The Prince of Wales Pub
106 E 25th Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94403-2351
Thanks, Jack.

Need 18+ more boxes to make this happen.

Penultimately, please get together
and pick up your boxes at
Grey Bears' cooler
2710 Chanticleer Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95065-1812
http://www.mapblast.com/mapblast/blast.hm?CMD=GEO&xx=1&AD2=2710+Chanticleer&AD3=Santa+Cruz%2C+CA+95065&IC=%3A%3A8&IC%3A=

1.831.479.1055 [Talk to Lynda Francis]
Additionally, is anyone - Scott?, Dave?, Jon? - planning a hotluck soon?

Finally, this email is being posted publicly
to both the ChileHeads Newsletter
and the BayAreaChileHeads,
and, as requested last year by Suzanne,
bcc:'d privately to each of
the 27 persons who participated in
the 1998 red savina group purchase.

The main reason for this group purchase
in the first place is so fresh savinas/franciscas
are not an overly-expensive rip-off
of us buyers.

Thanks in advance for your individual and collective participation.

Art Pierce <pierces@cruzio.com>
714 Almond Drive
Watsonville, CA 95076-3608
1-(831)-724-7204