Improve Access to Healthy Food and Create a Better Sense of Place with a Well Managed Farmers Market

By Heather Manzo, Extension Educator, Allegheny County. If the proper assets are in place a farmers market can create activity in building local economies and leveraging assets for mainstream redevelopment projects, enhancing relationships between business, increasing access to fresh food, and making social services more visible to community members.

Farmers markets have historically played a role in weaving together the social and economic fabric of communities. Farmers markets today still play the role of creating a sense of place and community.


Penn State Extension partnered with Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Local Government Academy to deliver this program to help Community / Economic Development organizations, municipal leaders and staff, and farmers market managers decide how a well managed market can benefit any community.

The archived webinar can be found by following this link.

First Impressions Count – Marketing Display Techniques from the World’s Best Markets

"Pile it high and watch it fly" is a popular marketing tactic that is alive and well in some of the best international markets. This month, members of the Penn State Extension Marketing team traveled to Barcelona to participate with market professionals from 6 continents and learn from some of the most profitable markets in the world. A recent trip through many of our host city’s most famous farmers markets yields interesting merchandising techniques to start your 2015 summer market season off with a bang and hopefully a few more bucks in your pocket!


Successful marketers in Spain’s bustling market places are pairing age old techniques with bright new merchandising tricks to make their produce pop!

Here are a few tips:

1. Careful stacking is paramount! First, form a solid base. You can’t pile it high if it rolls on the floor! Start with a stair step type foundation made of boxes, plastic reusable containers that stack to transport from the farm, or simply small boxes that you packed your product in to bring to market. Next, pad your stack to create a non-slip surface. This can be done with tissue paper or organic material such as leaves. Then stack your product in a pyramid formation, depending on its shape and resilience to stacking.









2. Display vertically. Think of the vertical space on your table and make good use of it! Typically customers can reach across a table at a distance of up to 4 feet if a display is tilted at an upward sloping angle compared to only a reach of 2 feet if they are forced to reach straight across the table in order to reach your item for their shopping basket. This can be achieved by providing steep sloping stair steps behind baskets and boxes angling them so products are served directly up to the customer’s ideal height and reach.



3. Think outside the box when making display rack choices. A unique display container or shelf can stand out if you limit your number of racks or other display items. Be sure not to crowd your stand with many small shelves or racks as this tends to give an over-decorated or busy look and distracts the customer from your product.





4. Height matters in the height of the season! When produce is plentiful and you must expand outside of your primary table be sure to raise items to an ideal level for your customer. An easy way to do this is to stack crates or boxes that you used to bring your product to market. Topping them with an eye-catching basket, cloth or other material makes items placed here stand out. This technique is also useful for special items you would like to highlight for the day in addition to when you have an overflow of tomatoes or large items such as winter squash.


Whatever your product or variety throughout the year, plentiful displays, friendly smiles, consistent easy-to-read signs and a thoughtful display will get your product noticed this market season.





by Carla Snyder, Ag Entrepreneurship & Marketing Educator, Penn State Extension

2014 Farmers' Market Food Trends

by Carla Snyder, Extension Educator, Adams Co.

The top food trend of eating healthy is holding strong for 2014, except it's cleaned up a bit.  The 2014 food trend buzzword of the moment is clean eating, meaning the same as the monotonously repeated healthy eating trend of previous years.  It translates to eating fresh nutritious food that is good for your body.  Most of us know this can only be a good addition to any lifestyle.

What's great about clean eating is that it's not only healthy, but it's helpful.  When paired with a farmers' market of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program there can be a community aspect to eating clean.  This means a greater number of health conscious eaters at market stands this summer.

FOTS Market. Ali Frohman - photographer

According to Eating Well magazine, clean eating also means more vegetables, less sodium, limiting processed foods and choosing whole grains.  Where are customers looking to shop to accomplish all of these healthy clean eating tips in one place?  The farmers' market.  Keep it in mind this season as you're selling your fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats.  Why are your customers standing on the other side of the table from you?  It's because they're looking for a clean healthy product for their family, and they're choosing your farm to provide it.  They're trusting in you and can't wait to see what's in store for this season.

Keep customers engaged this season with clean snacks.  "In the past 24 hours, 92% of the adult population had a snack" (Hartman Group, April 2014).  Combine these two trends to be a hit with the market crowd this season!

Keep your core grocery shopping customers on their toes by wowing their taste buds with a little amuse bouche while they shop.  It may be just the thing that sets your market stand apart and keeps customers coming back for more.

It doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming to accomplish clean snacking.  Think small packaging changes and your could open yourself up to a new market, meaning new sales and happy customers for 2014.  A small change such as packaging berries in small cups rather than quart boxes or pureeing watermelon for on-the-spot refreshment can easily attract more moms, kids and thirsty customers to your stand.  Of course, it can't be all fun and games - be sure to check with your local health department for regulations regarding sampling and serving foods ready to eat.

If you're really looking for a way to impress customers, take the clean trend a step further and be on the cutting edge of new product development.  The latest to hit the streets is maple water, the sweet and shy cousin of coconut water, this new product promises to hydrate, be made from local agricultural ingredients and is a shoe-in as the 2014 farmers' market food trend hit.

Keep up to date on food trends and more as they come out by following the Penn State Extension Ag Entrepreneurship Team on Facebook.  And as I raise a glass of maple water "cheers" to a clean and prosperous 2014 market season!

Emerging Food Trends--Peruvian Items Are On The Rise

If you're involved in the ethnic foods industry (whether that's growing, selling, education, or just plain consuming), I suggest joining the Ethnic Greens and Herbs Workshop Facebook group.  This group was formed to disseminate helpful research information and news regarding the ethnic produce industry to growers, wholesalers, retailers, Extension personnel, researchers, and association representatives.  


Fellow blogger Kathy Kelley recently posted a link to the article "From Aji peppers, amaranth and pichuberries to purple corn and quinoa, Peruvian cuisine is hot, says Packaged Facts".  In the article, results from the 'What's Hot in 2014' survey of American Culinary Federation chefs shows that 57% of respondents "voted Peruvian cuisine the top trend in the ethnic cuisines and flavors category".  The article also reports that "the UN declared 2013 the 'International Year of Quinoa' (a Peruvian staple) and the Culinary Institute of America has declared 2014 to be the year of Peruvian cuisine".

So what kind of foods are popular with Peruvians?

• Purple corn- most commonly used to make chicha morada (a drink) and mazamorra (a pudding). 

  

  Purple corn being sold at a farm market. Photo taken by Kathy Kelley on a 2013 trip to South America.

• Aji peppers- a species of chili pepper.  Aji Amarillo, Aji Panca, Aji Rocoto, Aji Mirasol, and Aji Limo are the most commonly used varieties of Aji peppers in Peruvian cooking.

  

  Aji panca pepper.  Photo from TheHotPepper.com.

• Amaranth- a grain with a high nutrition value; the seeds are consumed whole toasted or milled into flour. 

  

  Amaranth harvest.  Photo from NationalGeographic.com.

• Pichuberry- a polyphenol-rich fruit.

  

  Pichuberry. Photo from LAMag.com.

• Pisco- a grape brandy produced in Peru and Chile.

  

  Two different brands of Pisco.  Photo from wikipedia.com.

Why is this trend important to you, the food producer?  Hispanic and Latino populations in the United States are seeing dramatic increases.  According to the 2010 Census, 16% of the US population were of Hispanic or Latino origin.  (The US Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino" as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.)  The Census also shows that between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43%, which was four times the growth in the total population.  

With this tremendous growth, Hispanic and Latino customers are not to be ignored.  Are you looking to expand your product line and/or market to a new target audience?  This might be your answer, but as always, do your research to find out if you should start selling any new product or marketing to a new audience.  

"In Market" - Getting Ready for the Farmers' Market Season

by Brian Moyer, Program Assistant, Lehigh Co.

In my great-grandfather's diary of his farming activities, you will find entries for most Saturdays that say "in market."  One can imagine what it took in the late 1800's to get ready to be "in market."  It might be a bit easier to get to market today, but anyone who sells at a four-hour once-a-week farmers' market can tell you, the preparation takes much longer.  Winter is usually the time for planning the growing season.  But, as we all know, growing it means we also need to sell it - so winter is also a good time for planning our market season.

According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), farmers' markets have grown by 3.6% from 2012 numbers of 7,864 to 8,144 in 2013.  Pennsylvania has seen a 30% growth in the number of farmers' markets across the state since 2010.  The opportunity this presents is that farmers basically have their pick of markets they want to participate in.  That also means that the customer also has their pick of what markets they wish to patronize.  Market patrons will want to buy from vendors who's products appear to be clean, high quality, clearly priced, and with attractive displays.  You can greatly increase your market day bottom line by taking some time to evaluate how you plan to sell your products at the farmers' market.

Here are some things customers (and market managers) will expect to see from you:

• Signage: Clean, colorful, and consistent signage is a must.  Customers do not want to have to ask you the price of your produce.  Customers are already making an effort to step outside of their shopping routine to come to the market and purchase something.  Don't make them work any harder than they have to.  Signs should have:
• Clear hand writing
• Price
• Name of the item
• What's special or different about it.  Is it an heirloom variety? Special flavor? Hot, mild, or sweet?
• A white board or chalk board is a nice and simple way to let folks know what is in season this week or what is on special

• Canopy: Have a good quality canopy and always use it, even on good weather days.  A clean canopy looks professional.  It is your "store."  It also helps keep your products clean and cool which will go a long way in maintaining the quality people expect to find at a farmers' market.
• Displays: Rule number one; no products on the ground! No one really wishes to purchase food that sat on the ground, even if it is in lugs or boxes. Set them on something.  The general rule is, displays should be between knee high and shoulder high.  Give some though to how you will draw customers into your booth space.  Once they are there, how do you want them to move through your booth?  Say you have a ten foot by twenty foot space and you are selling produce. Maybe you will want to locate your register at one end so they will have to pass by every item you have to offer.  You may want to place staple items like sweet corn, tomatoes, and potatoes at one end with more "impulse" purchase items closer to the checkout area.  One last item, make sure to keep your displays looking full as items sell throughout the market day.  If an item no longer fits in a bushel basket, make sure you have some smaller containers with you so you can transfer the remaining items to the smaller container to maintain that "full" appearance.
• Tell Your Story: One of the attractions at a farmers' market is you, the farmer.  More and more consumers want to know where their food is coming from and the people who grow it.  Some things to consider using to help you tell your story are:
• Framed poster board with photos of your farm
• A logo that is on all your signage and farm sign
• Brochures that tell your farm story
• Copies of any good articles that were written about your farm

Last, but not least, make sure you have all your permits that you many need to sell at market.  Depending on what items you are selling, you might be required to have a permit from the local, county, or state health department (Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture).  To find out what, if any, requirements you will need to follow, go to www.eatsafepa.com.  There you will find downloadable documents and requirements for selling at farmers' markets.

It is well worth taking time now to have all these items in place so you will be ready for your market when the season begins rather than trying to get all your market items and permits together one week before the market opens.  Waiting until the last minute may delay your ability to go to market if you have to wait for your permit.  Needless to say, you will also miss a lost of sales!

"Prepared for market" was usually the Friday entry in my great-grandfather's diary.  If you take the time and do your preparation, your "in market" experience can be even more rewarding.

Thinking of Starting a Farmers' Market in Your Town? (Part 2)

by Carla Snyder, Extension Educator, Adams County

Thinking of starting a farmers' market in your town?  Check out the first installment of our Building Your Market blog here.  The first steps cover the basics including what and how to research the feasibility of your farmers' market and the one thing no one likes to think about, insurance.  These first two steps will have you well on your way to determining if a farmers' market is right for your town.

Farmers on the Square, Carlisle, PA
Photo credit: Ali Frohman

Once you have your research in place, put it to work in the next three steps to help develop your location, advertise your market, and keep yourself up to date on rules and regulations to follow.  (Steps 1 and 2 can be found in Part 1 of this post from last week).

3.  Marketing - How will you promote the market?  What is the merchandising mix plan that will draw in your customers?

• Once you have a good idea of who your customers are from Step 1 and their shopping habits and values from your research, an important step is determining the best way to reach them.  Consider the use of streamlined social media through dashboards or focusing on one or two of the most popular types of social media heavily.  Affordable solutions include advertising the market through local news articles, partnering with a sponsor for banners or partnering with other area local businesses to promote through their established presence in your area.
• A marketing mix plan, or what and how much you plan to sell at your market, can be a great draw for customers or a potential setback to the sustainability of your market.  Most shoppers do not want to visit a market that only sells vegetables, so consider vendors of other goods.  Be strategic about what goods you will allow to be sold at your market to maintain your market's identity.  Will you be producer only, with vendors only selling goods they themselves produced or grew?  Will you allow resale vendors from area produce auctions to bulk up your market's offerings?  Will you include prepared food items?  Confusion from vendors about what they are and are not allowed to sell at market can be tackled ahead of time by determining set levels of which products your market will sell.

4.  Ease of Use - What is the ideal location and layout for the market?  How will customers travel to the market and how will they get goods home?  Is there parking or public transportation close enough to your location to be convenient?

• Location selection is of utmost importance for a market.  Be sure to locate your market in a spot that is convenient for your customers.  Again, use data research to determine how many of your customers prefer to travel.  Is your region plentiful with public transportation options or is it a predominantly pedestrian town?  Consider how your shoppers will transport their goods to their vehicle or public transport stop.  Be as strategic as a grocery store when considering customer convenience.  Remember, the grocery store may be the shopping experience your customers are accustomed to when purchasing food.  Make sure your market is just as convenient to shop at as your customer's local grocery store.
• Secondly, consider the layout of your market.  Aisles should be wide enough to accommodate your heaviest flow of customers, vendors should be instructed to keep their boxes and coolers within their tented area and customers should be able to flow from stand to stand with ease.  For security purposes it is at times a courtesy to place vendors back to back or against a building to minimize their vulnerability to customers entering stands from the back and therefore securing their cash box area in a more efficient manner.

Farmers on the Square, Carlisle, PA
Photo credit: Ali Frohman

5.  Rules and Regulations - Be sure you and your vendors are following all state and local regulations regarding your market and their vendor stands.  Be clear about operational guidelines so vendors are all on the same page from the start.

• There are established regulations from the PA Department of Agriculture for the operation of farmers' market vendor stands.  As a market, it is pertinent to be aware of these regulations to serve as a resource for your vendors and to be sure your market provides safe food to the community.  Please refer to ACT 106 requirements and contact the PDA Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services with any additional questions.  These regulations primarily refer to vendors as farmers' markets themselves are no longer considered license holders under the ACT 106 requirements.
• In addition to PDA regulations, be sure to check with your local borough or municipality to be sure that signs, market location and tent placement and other regulations are being followed.  Some locations may refer you to your county health department depending on your location.
• Before opening day, establish a set of guidelines that all vendors will follow to keep the market safe and fair for all vendors.  Establishing these guidelines early will save you headaches as your market continues to grow.

The Farmers' Market Coalition resource library is a great place to start your research.  Please contact the Penn State Extension Ag Entrepreneurship Team for additional assistance.

Thinking of Starting a Farmers' Market in Your Town? (Part 1)

by Carla Snyder, Extension Educator, Adams County

Are you enthusiastic about local foods but having a hard time finding them in your community?  Perhaps you've considered starting a farmers' market to spur economic development in your downtown, create a social gathering space, or support local growers.  Whether you are a potential farmers' market vendor, active community volunteer, or local government office, a farmers' market may sound like the solution you've been craving.  They offer a vibrant atmosphere that supports local agriculture, fun free entertainment for children and adults alike, and bustling foot traffic wherever they are located.

A farmers' marker vendor at Farmers on The Square

However, it is important to remember, farmers' markets are a unique and complex business structure and for anyone looking to open a market there are many considerations.  Markets are created for a variety of reasons, therefore it is pertinent to investigate why you are looking to open the market to determine its best format.  There are seasonal outdoor markets, indoor markets, market districts, and public markets just to name a few.  Each comes with their own specific set of requirements to establish the market, attract customers and maintain a sustainable business structure.

Top considerations before you begin a market:

1. Market Research - Who is your customer?  Is there enough demand to support your market?
• Contact your local borough or municipality where your market is to be located.  If they have a Main Street office, they may be able to use their resources to provide you Claritas demographic data through the PA Downtown Center.  A simple way to use this data is to determine a reasonable driving radius for customers to reach your market and pull data within that given radius.  You can then easily see psychographics of your potential customers to show you shopping habits and customer values. For example, if the majority of the customers within driving radius of your market place emphasis on low cost goods, you'll know you will have to concentrate on educating shoppers as to the true value of local foods, even when some may come at a higher cost than at a larger retailer.  This data is particularly important because it may be able to be combined with additional information to form a clearer view of your potential market customer, and in some cases, may lead you to conclude that the chosen location is not the right spot for you new market.
• In combination with the use of demographic data it is also pertinent to assess the area in person.  Spend some time at the location of your future market and take note of the amount of foot or vehicle traffic, look for safe and lit walkways, parking lots and public transport stops near your desired location.  All of these details can combine to give you a clearer sense of potential shoppers and the sustainability of your market.
2. Insurance and Liability - Making sure you and everyone connected to the market is covered.
• Depending on the location, you may be able to include liability insurance to cover the market under an existing policy associated with its location or market ownership.
• Be sure to not only insure yourself as a market but that your vendors have adequate insurance as well.  This will protect you in the chain of liability should an accident or other unforeseen situation occur.  Talk with an insurance agent to determine minimum levels of insurance for vendors to carry.  Be sure to have the market named on vendor policies and request a copy of their insurance when they register to become your vendor.  Keeping everyone safe mitigates your risk and helps to ensure a pleasant market environment for everyone involved.

Wondering how to promote your market?  Where the best location lies or how to keep it all safe and legal?  Tune in for a follow-up post for the next three steps to get your farmers' market up and running!

The state of Farmers' Markets in Pennsylvania

Guest post by John Berry, Penn State Extension Educator, Lehigh Co.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a deep, rich history with direct-to-consumer farm markets.  As early as the 1700's, local producers were vending their farm products directly to consumers.  Descriptions of preparing raw products and value-added wares, loading the wagon, and spending the day at market is found in many daily journals.  More recently, Pennsylvania was ranked number three nationally for dollar value of direct sales to consumers in 2007 by the U.S. Census of Agriculture (USDA NASS, 2009).

2007 Direct-to-Consumer Food Marketing Sales (USDA NASS, 2009)

As the number of farmers' markets continue to grow nationally (over 7,100 by mid- 2011) and become more popular with consumers (USDA AMS, 2011), more focused needs assessments are needed.  What education or technical assistance could help these markets be more successful?  Generalizing from the ever-popular on-farm marketing materials did not necessarily identify needs unique to these enterprises.  While many of the educational needs on farmers' market managers and vendors are similar to other target audiences of Extension - exploring for unique attributes seemed appropriate.

A survey of farmers' market managers in Pennsylvania was implemented in February and March of 2012.  The survey included approximately 25 questions intended to study information and technical assistance needs on the part of the markets, as well as characteristics of the markets that may define success.  Some basic information about the markets was also collected.  The survey covered the 2011 season for all markets.  In addition, a portion of the survey of Pennsylvania farmers' markets examined how Pennsylvania's Act 106, and food safety issues in general, affected the markets during the 2011 season.

The resulting report provides summary results from this effort.  The typical market manager responding to this survey has 12 vendors attracting an average of nearly 600 shoppers per market day.  This is in the face of their nearest competing market being less than 5 miles distant.  This survey also indicates that 19% of these markets are considered as start-ups with 38% are considered growing and 37% are considered mature.  While the results are useful to those of us in Extension, they also may be of interest to farmers' market managers, other types of market managers, government agencies, and others who work with this audience.