The Business of Selling Beans

LCSun News:

Grapevines carpet the landscape. There seems to be no one without at least a few rows of cabernet or syrah. But in Steve Sando’s back yard, all that is growing are beans: Black Zebras, Red Limas and Parralenos, a chocolate-colored bean that Sando, the founder of bean company Rancho Gordo, discovered on a trip to Puebla, Mexico. In all, Sando has 15 heirloom varieties on trial. If he’s lucky, one will grow well enough and taste good enough to be sold commercially.

Sando admits he can be a little obsessive. His first love was jazz; one room of his ranch-style home is lined, floor to ceiling, with thousands of CDs. Next it was online marketing. Now his passion is heirloom beans with romantic names such as Good Mother Stallard, Mayacoba and Yellow Indian Woman. Sando began selling heirlooms in 2001, and they soon became favorites at such top restaurants as CityZen in Washington and the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.

Beans, even heirloom varieties, are no easy sell. In America, according to food historian Ken Albala, beans have long been stigmatized as a cheap protein for people too poor to afford meat. Canned ones tend to be mushy, while dried varieties take hours to cook, something that doesn’t jibe with the American apotheosis of the 30-minute meal.

In the past five years, Sando has collected seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, which preserves rare seeds, and traveled Mexico in search of new beans to bring to market. The business has developed something of a cult following. In 2007, Rancho Gordo had 150 acres under cultivation and sold 150,000 pounds of beans, up from 300 in 2001. This year, Sando predicts he’ll sell 250,000 pounds.

image via wishiwerebaking

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