How to set up a stall at a farmers’ market
Organic farmers markets are all the rage.
People all willing to drive for up to an hour simply to get some farm-fresh produce that they know will taste better than what they find prepackaged at the grocery store.
So, if you’re a farmer, why aren’t you selling you delicious produce at a farmers market?
You’ve heavily invested in your farm, with agricultural finance and years of cultivating the land to ensure the best produce possible. Why wouldn’t you market yourself at a, well, market? Although you’ll find many small farms setting up stalls at these events, if your produce is organic, there’s no reason you can’t join in on the trend.
Get there early to get a good place
As a farmer, you’re probably used to waking up at the crack of dawn to get your day started. But you have to get up even earlier than that to set up a stall at a farmers market. Some of these events have a set plan of where you can put your stall, but others operate on a first-come-first-served basis and that means you have to wake up even earlier than the other farmers offering their wares. The placement of your stall matters. If you’re far away from the entrance, people may have already bought their produce for the week before they even spot your place.
Offer tasters
It may seem strange to offer a taster of a carrot or cucumber, but add some homemade hummus and people will be lining up to taste what you have to offer. Set the tasters out like a platter at a rather healthy dinner party and allow people to grab and dip. To avoid any germs being spread around, make sure to pierce the pieces of fresh fruit or veg with toothpicks. There’s nothing like free food to get people to your stall. And once they taste how delicious and fresh your organic produce is, they’ll be lining up to purchase your offerings.
Put effort into aesthetics
You want your stall to appeal to enough people to make a profit as well as fund your trip to the farmers’ market. Which is why a plain wooden bench isn’t going to do it. First of all, you need signage so that people are aware of who you are. Then you need a “menu” of sorts that lists your produce, the amounts and the prices. People don’t want to have to ask you what’s available and how much it’s all going to cost them. If you have a bakkie, then use that to your advantage and park it behind your stall if you can and store your produce there. Of course, you’ll want to check with the event organisers if that’s okay. The visual impact of a bakkie will remind people that this produce comes straight from the farm and is as fresh as possible.
Advertise your presence
Don’t just pitch up on the day and expect people to flock to your stall. What you really want is to have people actually come to the event to purchase goods from you. Once you’ve decided that farmers’ markets are the future of your business ventures, you need to advertise yourself and your farm. The easiest way to do this is to have a social media presence. This way you can post to Facebook and Instagram about which market you’ll be attending next. You could use Twitter, but it might not be as effective. With Instagram, you can use the power of pictures to show where the produce is coming from, take pictures at the events and even get your loyal customers to take selfies with their purchases. And with Facebook, you can create a page to let your consumers know exactly where you’ll be and when so they know how to get their favourite fruit and veg.
Don’t be shy to walk around
As a farmer, you may not be used to networking. Many people associate the term “networking” with business people in suits. However, simply walking around a market and introducing yourself to potential customers can be a great way of networking. You can even carry around a tray of samples for people to try out. Of course, don’t poach customers from other people’s stalls, that’s just bad etiquette. You don’t want to make a bad name for yourself at events like these because you may find you’re not allowed to come back.
Get rid of all plastic
Plastic and organic simply don’t go together. You don’t want to be seen as someone who doesn’t care about the earth. People won’t view your produce as the most healthy option if you’re handing it out in plastic bags. Stick to brown paper bags to avoid using plastic. Even better, offer people the opportunity to purchase stylish bags which they can re-use over and over again.