K4-How to make selling your product at farmer's market a viable livelihood for farmers.

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Moderated and facilitated by Hank-John Reinink

Being at market can be a challenge. How to make it more attractive for consumers? What kind of balance should it be?

The group included perspectives from market vendors, producers, Downtown business association, food justice organizations

Can have a great clientele, and have a very successful market and still not make a living.

What are the problems with farmers markets as venue?

Some vendors undersell and drive prices down. Can you make people charge more, i.e. a reasonable price across all vendors. Quality should demand better prices, esp value added i.e. organic and local and fr

How does consumer psychology around pricing work?? Prices can be a psychological signal around quality etc. Vendors need the confidence and the understanding of how people perceive it. No "distress" pricing/discounting.

What works for vendors? Low table fees, short hours(i.e., concentrated hours of businesse.g. 7am -12pm/ two days per week). How to balance production/travel/sales time? Do longer times generate more sales or not? Different products sell at diff times of day? i.e. crafts, etc.

How to balance non-food (crafts, flea markets, etc) with producers. Should markets be totally producers? Fresh and value added (i.e. jams, pickles, etc) Do producers themselves have to be there? Some markets stipulate this. What is the value of the "connection" people want or think they have with the producer and/or their family?

Effective "branding" of producers as local. How to make that effective? Visible, catchy.

Role of market jury in ensuring good products, presentation, public health.

Suggestions was made about workshops on marketing, presentation, providing your customers with information, recipes, etc. "friends of the market", music, events, etc. Making market a destination.

Leverage your real-estate for selling to chefs, etc. Get vendors together and contact chefs about what will be available and take pre-orders.

Mentoring of new vendors to facilitate regeneration of market. Increasing sales for new vendors encourages them to comtinue as vendors at a particular market. More vendors->more variety->attracts more customers->increases sales for all vendors.

www.farmersmarketsontario.com