Super excited! Farmer's market here I come :)

[HotPepperQueen]

I am currently in the process of becoming "Minnesota Grown" certified! The purpose of this certification is that it gives me the ability to sell at my local farmers market for this upcoming spring/summer/fall. I am very excited for this! I will be able to sell eggs, chicken, and produce. I have always wanted to do this and I hope it is successful. I am really hoping I can make enough money to pay off one of my student loans from college. Have any of you participated in a farmer's market?

 

[digitS']

Livin' the dream, are you, HPQ?

Minnesota must have certified markets just as California does, is that right?

The markets where I've sold have various requirements and belonging to state associations with additional requirements is how they get their insurance. Eggs and meat could be problematic. I have little doubt that for those products, local health districts have a role to play as well as the market associations.

You have scouted out your markets and got an idea how you might find your special niche? Talked to administrators and feel confident you can rent a space? What do we call this? I have little business sense . . . market research?

Steve

 

[HotPepperQueen]

Like I said, I am beginning the process. The markets are certified but as far as meat/egg regulations, that is up to the city I live in. Our farmers market only has about 8 vendors so it isn't huge. There are 12 additional spots available for the upcoming season. And as far as market research, I would be the only person in my town to sell eggs and chicken. Other people have sold beef and pork among lots of sweet corn and basic vegetables. I plan on selling herbs as well, and I would be the only one doing it compared to previous years. It costs about $20 to be certified as "Minnesota Grown" and it would cost $150 to become a member of the farmer's market association in my town. I've done a lot of research on this, and still have a lot yet to do, but it's all part of the process.

Livin' the dream, are you, HPQ?

Minnesota must have certified markets just as California does, is that right?

The markets where I've sold have various requirements and belonging to state associations with additional requirements is how they get their insurance. Eggs and meat could be problematic. I have little doubt that for those products, local health districts have a role to play as well as the market associations.

You have scouted out your markets and got an idea how you might find your special niche? Talked to administrators and feel confident you can rent a space? What do we call this? I have little business sense . . . market research?

Steve

 

[digitS']

HPQ, it is a fairly tough row to hoe but it can be very fun. I also have a feeling from looking at those pictures of your garden that you just might be in the group who find that it can be profitable .

Since I started in this quite some time ago, my information is kind of dated. (I'm getting kinda dated, too .) A book that I found that had a lot of good ideas about marketing is The New Farmers Market by Vance Corum, Marcie Rosenzweig and Eric Gibson. I've met Vance and he is really something of an expert on this kind of enterprise.

Here is a casual little outline to putting together a business plan. I worked with a human-services agency guy who helped me put a plan together before I found this or, I think I would have gone with it as a template: Smart Marketing, Cornell University.

You may know about this website: http://www.growingformarket.com and, really, I found some very helpful information thru these people:

USDA Direct Marketing

I am sure that your state association has handbooks that are of real help since MN has some extremely successful markets.

Your willingness to plan will be very important to you. It doesn't mean that you are inflexible - rather, that you can make creative decisions and take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. You will be taking some risks, just try to do that with your eyes open. And, taking pride in what you are doing and what you have to offer is probably the very best thing you can do. Then, it is just a matter of "piling it high and kissing it goodbye" .

Steve

 

[lesa]

How exciting! I wish you much success! I think herbs are a great idea. You can sell them potted, fresh, and dried! Let us know how you are doing on this endeavor. I think farmer's markets are really popular right now- so you will do well. Hardly a day goes by that I don't read something about buying local, etc.

 

[Jared77]

Couple things I can add from being a shopper at the farmers market.......

1) Be personable. Don't hesitate to show pictures of your coop, your garden, etc people like to see where things are coming from. It helps them feel connected. A simple display with a few pictures and some background info on you and your set up goes a long way.

2) Offer a deal. If you sell eggs, offer a slight discount if people return with empty undamaged egg cartons in exchange for a full one. This cuts the cost of to having to keep ordering new egg cartons keeping your prices lower which is always a plus for the consumer and makes you more competitive. Same with empty canning jars with the rings if you sell processed goods. If they return the empty jar and ring clean, offer them a slight discount on the next jar they buy. Again trying to cut costs.

3) Be unique. For example with egg sales add a few different breeds to give you a variety of layers. Welsummers, and Marans to get darker colored eggs, Ameraucana lay blue, and Easter Eggers would give you green egg laying hens to mix in with your brown and white layers. So when you put together a dozen eggs, give people a few different colored eggs mixed in. It will make you unique and help people remember you. There is one lady who does this at our local farmers market and the kids of the parents who buy her eggs are always bouncing in anticipation to see all the different colored eggs. I've even seen grown adults open the carton to see what they got! Its fun and unique. Other people notice and she's always the first one sold out. Even if your the only one at the moment it will help establish you if someone else starts selling eggs there too. There is a guy who brings a few warty pumpkins to the market and people buy them to carve because they are different. Yellow fleshed watermelons in addition to the traditional red fleshed ones are a big hit here. And Im in a fairly rural part of Michigan. People like different things. You don't have to flood the place with them but even having a few of something different will help set you apart.

4) Offer up a recipe on something your selling. Tomato soup recipe, baked squash, chicken noodle soup, even baby food if they have a little one. Put them on a piece of paper and get 2 or 3 recipe cards off 1 sheet of paper and when someone buys that product give them a copy with your name and info on it so they remember you. Or when they buy chicken offer up how to make stock, again anything to give them just a little bit extra. Again that get back to that something personal that will help them remember you. "Oh that's the gal who gave us that really good tomato soup recipe, we should go back to her I really liked what she had available". Or another idea is to outline how to dye brown eggs for easter eggs. It can be done Journey11 posted on her blog she's a member here at TEG and they came out spectacular. Dye some before the holiday and show the pictures up on your display board so people can see them.

Again anything to help people remember you and build a strong client base.

Those are a few ideas that I've seen done by the really successful folks at the Farmers Market. I hope this helps and best of luck to you!!!!!

 

[HotPepperQueen]

Thank you everyone for your help! I have a bunch of ideas swirling through my head right now. I have easter eggers, marans, and welsummers on the way so I will have a good mix to add to my gold stars, rhode island reds,blue andalusions, columbian wyandottes, and buff orpingtons. I am contemplating ordering colored egg cartons to keep it unique and help people remember me. I am also looking into getting business cards made once I have a name. I gotta get certified first- then I can start with all the fun parts! Thank you for all of your support and helpful ideas!

 

[Southern Gardener]

Good for you HPQ! I inquired about a booth at our farmers market, but I want to get a few more crops under my belt before I give it a try. I'd really love to sell potted herbs and I might try that from home first.

I've been reading a book called Pay Dirt - How to Make $10,000 a Year From Your Backyard Garden - some good tips in there.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Cory's Garden]

Good luck with your certifications and venture into the world of community markets. I haven't joined our local farmer's market because the annual membership fees coupled with the short hours they are open make it close to impossible to make any money. I say almost impossible because there are people making money. They are the folks who who have a lot of repeat customers, and they often give away samples and recipe cards on market days.

A friend suggested I do a market basket program in which repeat customers can call before market day and give their order. Repeat customers are given a list of the items you usually have available. You can be more specific if you are organized and know what you'll be harvesting. These "basket" customers call some time during the week before the farmer's market and place their order. You provide the best looking produce possible in these baskets because you want these folks to spread the word that you are the one to buy from. It helps you because you've pre-sold X number of baskets of food even before you get to your spot. There are a lot of people who want fresh produce, but they don't have all afternoon to shop. My daughter, a banker, is a good example. She will pay a premium for better food, but she isn't interested in hunting through vegetable bins to find the best looking carrots and peppers.

Keep us updated on your progress. :tools

 

[curly_kate]

This is a great topic! I've been trying to decide if I'm ready to get into farmer's market selling this year. It's hard for me to know how much I would need to have to be able to sell for a morning. I'm also toying with the idea of selling with a CSA, but again, not sure if I'm ready.... It's good to hear input from other folks!