RIDGEFIELD -
Ginseng is the king of herbs, some say. So meet the king of kings.
Don and Joy Hoogesteger's 7-year-old root weighs 2.35 pounds a whopper compared to the few ounces a normal root weighs at harvest time. Normally it takes 10 to 20 years to grow a
one-pound root, so theirs is apparently the world record holder for its age.
For centuries, Asian cultures have relied on ginseng to bring good health. Because it's their full-time business, the Hoogestegers also rely on it to bring prosperity.
They have four acres of ginseng on their farm near Ridgefield, and also the Ginseng Room, which is apparently Clark County's only retail store devoted entirely to ... well, you guessed it.
The whopper of a root is a centerpiece in the store, which sells ginseng in all forms, including powdered and packed into capsules.
As a business, ginseng is a strange crop. It takes the seeds two winters and a summer to be ready to germinate. Once it's ready, though, nothing can stop it from sprouting, so seed
can't be saved from year to year.
Then the crop has to be grown under shade even in this gray climate. And it takes four years for the plants to reach maturity and be ready for harvest.
The price can be right, however. An acre of ginseng grown locally can produce 3,500 pounds of ginseng root, worth $75,000 an acre wholesale. Retail, the dried roots sell for anywhere from $40 to $75 per pound.
At the Ginseng Room, the Hoogestegers sell ginseng a dozen different ways, from trimmed, matched and packed in gift boxes to field-run whole roots.
Unlike most farmers, who sell their crops wholesale to processors, the Hoogestegers sell everything they produce through their store, which is housed in what normally would be
a garage.
They've tried a variety of marketing strategies. "We've spent a lot of time and a lot of money on marketing," said Joy Hoogesteger. Some of it has worked and some hasn't.
The winners include ads in publicationss targeteed at Asian Americans, such as Asia Today, which is printed in Chinese.
They also have printed some brochures with text both in English and Chinese characters.
Their Web site (www.ginsengpacificrim.com) has produced some business, too.
They get a lot of word-of-mouth traffic through the store, and take phone and fax orders despite the frequent language barrier with Asian-American customers. Lots of Caucasians buy
ginseng , too, though they generally prefer the capsules to the roots.
They've run their own newsletter for six years, which provides both publicity and revenue. Subscriptions cost $15 per year for six issues. The newsletter is targeted at people who are
interested in growing their own ginseng .
Because it's such a minor crop, there's almost no university research or news, says Don Hoogesteger, so thus the need for the newsletter.
"With ginseng , we take our chances," he says. Based on their success so far, the chances look kingly.
BUSINESS PROFILE
* WHAT: Pacific Rim Ginseng
* OWNERS: Don and Joy Hoogesteger
* ADDRESS: 1504 N.E. 234th St., Ridgefield
* HOURS: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, "except when we're gone, but
that's not very often"
* PRODUCTS: Ginseng in dried and capsule form
* SOLD: Via retail store, mail, phone and fax, e-mail
* PHONE: 887-3128
* WEB SITE: www.ginsengpacificrim.com
- BY : CRAIG BROWN, Columbian staff writer
- SOURCE : The Columbian1998.06.08
|
Newsdesk