NISKU, Alta. – Successful farmers’ markets don’t just happen, says American marketing specialist Monika Roth.
They take the right combination of vendors, products, location, ambiance and community.
But Roth said farmers are the most important factor.
“If you don’t start it with farmers in mind, it takes longer to get the market going,” Roth told a group of vendors and farmers’ market managers during an Alberta Agriculture-sponsored conference.
Markets that specialize in selling farm produce are the most successful, said Roth, who is an adviser to a successful market in Ithaca, New York.
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She recommends at least 60 percent of the booths at a market be dedicated to agriculture or agriculture-enhanced products.
“We take all the farmers we can to maintain that 60 percent,” she said.
“You want to preserve the farm image.”
The other 40 percent are a combination of food and crafts.
In many large cities, farmers’ markets are the last direct connection between food producers and consumers who usually buy groceries at a retail store.
“Direct marketers are the ambassadors for all of agriculture.”
Consumers must understand the difference between vegetables at the grocery store and vegetables in the farmers’ market.
“You need to do a better job of communicating value.”
Leona Stapes, a vegetable and strawberry grower, said incredible taste convinces shoppers to buy strawberries from her farmers’ market booth for $3.50 a pound, and not 99 cents in the local grocery store.
“It needs to be reinforced that it’s a local product,” said Staples, part of a central Alberta vegetable co-operative. She said her co-op cou¹ldn’t have grown as quickly without farmers’ markets.
Barb Davenport, who sells her confection products at the popular southern Alberta Millarville Farmers’ Market, said the market allowed her to build her business. She now supplies her candy to several wholesalers.
“It gave me the ability to see there was a desire and demand for my product.”
Appearance can make a big difference to a farmers’ market booth, said Roth, who showed slides of booths that had both good and poor displays.
“Pile it high and it will fly,” she said.
Colorful carrots, peppers, radishes and onions should be stacked tall to show off the rich produce.
“Customers don’t want to go close to a booth to take the last product. It feels like nothing’s there.”
They also don’t want to think they have no selection left to choose from, even at the end of the day.
“You want it full from the first customer to the last,” Roth said.
“The display is to draw in the customers, but the display also speaks to your quality.”
