Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Portland, Oregon is one of the greenest cities in the world and has
a recycling policy. Local farmers' markets should be following the guide-
lines of cities like Portland and become 'green' retailers. Consumers attend
a farmers' market because they feel they should be green and support local
communities and the environment. Market managers and stallholders owe it
to them to be just as sensitive to the environment and to offer an alternative
to the plastic bag. There are a number of alternatives on the market. Some re-
tailers prefer hemp bags while others are using biodegradable bags that are
made from tapioca or corn starch.
17.
Network the market
The average British person at
4
pm has no idea what they will have as a
meal that evening. This is an opportunity to sell them their evening meal.
That may mean that a group of stall owners could get together and sell them
the complete meal. Network marketing is an opportunity to sell the con-
sumer a solution. Why not have the meal of the week where a group in the
market promotes a specific meal based on produce available in the market.
These products could be identified with a recipe that all the stall owners
hand out, plus a special flag label on the specific produce to identify it. The
opportunities to network within the market are exciting, but most markets
tend to trade as a group of individuals and as a result they and the customer
miss out on the opportunities.
Developing a network market, possible with a market loyalty card,
would lock the customer into the market and create a unique marketing op-
portunity for the stall owners. To develop such a scheme all the stallholders
concerned have to have confidence in each other and feel that all will benefit
from such a campaign. It would need some planning, but the consumer
would benefit and so would the market.
18.
Promote TV and local chefs
Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein, Heston Blumenthal . . . the list goes on. Not only
do these chefs have a national reputation, they now have a global reputa-
tion as the stars of food. Their topics are sold around the world and their
TV programmes are syndicated around the food channels of the world.
They have a huge following. If you are a farmer selling anything that
has been promoted recently on TV by celebrity chefs then you must tell
the customer. All you need to say on a sign is 'As seen on TV' and you
will have jogged the consumer's mind and sales will increase. This does
mean that your team have to be watching the cooking programmes, and
there are a lot of them out there. Share the watching of the programmes
out between the team and have everyone report back on what should
be promoted as a result of what has been mentioned on their selected
programme.
Do not underestimate the power of the media. The media can be a
powerful advocate for what you are doing and you need to be in tune with
what consumers are watching.
