In this challenging economy one local man has found that money actually does grow on trees. Patrick Kompf of Burlington has found a way to turn the acorns that fall each Autumn into a thriving business that ships over 35,000 lbs or 17 ½ tons of acorns each year to people across the USA and Canada. Figuring in that each pound is roughly 60 acorns that means over 2 million acorns have been shipped. Kompf owns and operates Acorno Acorns (www.acorno.com) a Burlington based business selling Vermont ’s famous Northern Red Oak Acorns. In business since 2008, Acorno Acorns ships a few varieties of Acorns to businesses, hunters, pet owners, gardeners, and wedding organizers.
“I got into the acorn business accidentally one day walking along the bike path during fall and looking at all the acorns on the ground. I heard of people selling tumbleweeds on the Internet and I wondered if someone would buy acorns.” According to Kompf “I searched on-line and found 2 websites selling acorns. That was the beginning of Acorno Acorns.”
Soon Kompf was getting calls and orders from as far as way as California and Florida looking to buy organic Vermont Red Oak Acorns. National retailers ordered for displays, hunters and individuals called looking for feed for deer and squirrels and wedding organizers called looking for seed packets as gifts for wedding guests. Acorn seeds represent growing together, a perfect reminder for wedding guests of the special day.
Having found this huge untapped market, Kompf now spends each fall outside collecting acorns through-out Northern Vermont . He also serves as an acorn removal service. Many people have a love-hate relationship with acorns. During the fall, it is often ‘raining acorns’ with acorns hitting cars, homes, cracking windshields, windows and causing a little bit of inconvenience.
Kompf is a regular at the New North End Post Office in Burlington where he ships over 90% of his acorn orders. Postal Workers Tom and Kathy have nicknamed Kompf, “Mr. Nut”. According to Kompf “They are the nicest postal service workers I have ever met. I often come in and help other customers choose between flat rate boxes and regular boxes. I am here a lot. I ship a lot of acorns.”
Acorno Acorns is not a seasonal business, Kompf ships acorns 365 days a year and as spring arrives gardeners, wedding organizers and hunters are already stocking up for the season. Kompf gets $7 per pound but offers discounts of $1-$5 per pound for bulk orders. His largest order so far was an order going to a Kansas deer hunter for 1,000 lbs, which netted him a profit of $1,000. Kompf says he spends his time collecting acorns from some very nice property owners in Burlington and through-out Northern Vermont .
As many businesses struggle, Kompf’s biggest challenge is not finding customers or acorns it is protecting his acorns from his competitors- the squirrels. How does he compete with the squirrels? “Well, I have 10 garbage cans outside of my house in Burlington and the squirrels are constantly nibbling on the lids of the garbage cans. The squirrels work mainly at night when people are sleeping. I have stepped out early in the morning to see squirrels digging 2-3 inch holes in the lids. I basically have to spend a lot of money on garbage can lids.” Kompf says “it’s the expense I have to pay to compete with the squirrels.”
As the weather becomes warmer Acorno Acorns is getting lots of requests from gardeners looking to plant Oak trees, wedding organizers, crafters, retail stores and hunters. Kompf is always on the look-out to grow his acorn business; his latest niche is selling acorns to pet squirrel owners, who would have thought?