Off-Farm Marketing and Retailing - Food Tourism: A Practical Marketing Guide - page 108

Providores are literally providers, although the term is used extensively for
the providers of fresh produce. Many growers will select the retailers that
they want to distribute their produce and as a result these shops can become
tourist attractions for the foodie tourist as these retailers become recognized
as 'gourmet' retailers.
These tourist attractions are generally not owned by growers or farmers,
but by independent retailer operators who purchase food through the
normal distribution channels. They often label the produce to tell the con-
sumer the exact location of where the produce came from and some promote
the growers as well as the location.
These stores are normally exceptionally well designed by retail de-
sign consultants to encourage the consumer to explore and spend time dis-
covering new produce. As a result the impulse sales are often far higher than
in most traditional food outlets.
A number of topics have been written on gourmet retail outlets and two
we recommend are:

• Fabulous Food Shops by Jane Peyton 21 ; and

• Gourmet and Specialty Shops by Martin M. Pegler. 22

Speciality food stores that should be visited as a tourist include the fol-
lowing, which comprise our top ten:

• Andronico's Market, Danville, California;

• Borough Market, London;

• Falorni, Greve, Italy. . . plus many more in Italy;

• Food Emporium, New York;

• Fortnum and Mason Food Hall, London;

• Harrods Food Hall, London;

• Kowalski's, Woodbury, Minnesota;

• Nature's Northwest, Portland, Oregon;

• Whole Foods Stores in USA;

• Zagara's, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

References

1 Farmers Market Federation of New York (2005) 10 Principles of a Successful Market.
Available at: http: /extension.psu.edu/search?SearchableText=10+principles+of+a+successful+
market&x=0&y=0 (accessed 22 February 2014).
2 Coster, M. and Kennon, N. (2005) 'New Generation' Farmer's Markets in Rural Communities .
RIRDC Publication No 05/ 109, USA.
3 Peters, T. and Waterman, H.R. (1982) In Search of Excellence . Profile Business, USA.
4 Wolf, M. McGarry, Spittler, A. and Ahern, J. (March 2005) A Profile of Farmers' Market
Consumers and the Perceived Advantages of Produce Sold at Farmers' Markets. Journal of Food
Distribution Research 36(1).
5 Sustainable Food Center in Texas. Central Texas Foodshed Assessment. Available at:
www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/about/Central%20Texas%20Foodshed%20Assessment_
English.pdf ( accessed 22 February 2014).