Amid mountains of produce, coolers stocked with cuts of meat, barrels of pickles, and the scent of freshly baked croissants, students from Meredith Epstein’s Agricultural Marking class (INAG103) trekked across campus to the University of Maryland Farmers Market. Held each Wednesday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. in front of Cole Field House, this farmers market provided a ready-made case study for Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA) students.
Armed with 11 weeks of course lectures, discussions and readings, the students were asked to identify “Do’s and Don’ts” to successfully market farm products. Hoping to market their own products someday, the students compiled the lists below for their own use and to share with others.
5 DO’s :
1. Arrange your stand for smooth traffic flow. It helps to have tables arranged to allow enough room for browsing by a number of customers at the same time, guiding them on a path that exposes them to all of your products. The payment station should not disrupt flow. Having tables completely under the tent helps shelter customers in bad weather, too.
2. Clearly label your products. Not everyone knows what a tomatillo or a kiwi berry is! It is easier on the customer to also know the product price right away. Students noted that two-sided, standing signage would allow for customers to understand what is for sale no matter their vantage point.
3. Make your farm’s signage prominent. Good signage is crucial at a farmers market. This way customers can pick you out of the crowd, clearly remember who you are, and hopefully return week after week. An eye-catching sign helps too, and can be as simple as a hand-lettered banner. IAA student Colby Dean noted that one farm could have been using its nicely painted truck banner as a backdrop for its market stand.
4. Break up similar colors with contrasting colors. For example, having red peppers flanked by mixed greens on one side and yellow squash on the other helps to differentiate each product. Having green broccoli in the middle of green lettuce and green string beans is not as interesting since everything tends to blend together, and nothing stands out.
5. Create an inviting space to host customers. As a vendor you want to welcome customers and encourage them to browse and talk. Having samples of your products that customers can taste and material for customers to read (brochures, etc.) is good for business.
3 DON’Ts:
1. Be short staffed. If customers have to wait to ask you a question or pay for their purchase because you are busy restocking, they may go somewhere else.
2. Let your inventory appear depleted. If there are few items on your table, people will not be enticed to take a look. Customers are attracted by abundance, so as a vendor you always want your bins and tables to be filled with items for sale. As the saying goes, “pile it high and watch it fly!” Student Jack Boniface was pleased to report that none of the vendors had this problem.
3. Bring a colorful tent. White tents bounce a soft, attractive light on the products you are selling. This is especially helpful on rainy or overcast days. Multi-colored pop-up tents can darken your space and make the vegetables, fruits and other products you are trying to sell look a little less appealing.
The class exercise was based on this article from Modern Farmer magazine, as well as Epstein’s personal experience selling at farmers markets. Following the activity, students sampled over ten varieties of apples from McLeaf’s Orchard and made some purchases. “Best apple cider you’ll ever have in your life!” said Agricultural Business Management major Andy Bauer.
