Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to try to sell to everyone, select certain groups that offer you the
greatest potential return for the least effort. This process is called “tar-
geting a market population.” You must answer the following questions:
▪ Is there a market for my product?
▪ Who makes up the market?
▪ What part of that market, if any, can I successfully target?
Also evaluate your own skills and personality. If you like growing fruit
but do not particularly enjoy interacting with customers, selling
through a packing house or cooperative will probably be more enjoy-
able for you than selling the products yourself through a U-pick orch-
ard or on-farm fruit stand.
The best sources of information on marketing orchard products are success-
ful fruit growers who are established in that business. Select a time of year
when the farmers are not overwhelmed with work and make appointments
to talk with them. I have generally found that farmers are willing to talk to
people who are considering setting up their own farms. Established farm-
ers work hard for years to establish reputations for providing high-quality
products, and they want to be sure their good reputations are maintained.
One farmer putting out lousy produce in an area hurts the reputation of
everyone else who sells the same thing. A word of caution, however: Do not
try to take advantage of prospective competitors — doing so can blight your
reputation from the start. If you are planning to move out of the area and
are just getting background information on prospective enterprises, be sure
to let the growers you talk to know that. If you are planning to market in
the same area, you should tell them that as well. Packing house and food
