Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Farm shops are retail enterprises located on the farm. Over the years they
have evolved into major retail operations for farmers and are now fully de-
veloped shopping experiences for consumers.
The most up-to-date research on this sector of the industry is the
Experience Renewal Solutions Inc. report 'On-Farm Marketing in Ontario -
2009' for the Ontario Marketing Association (OFFMA).
2
This reveals that in
Ontario, 36% of farm retailers reported sales of CAN$100,000 to $300,000 and
17% are achieving sales over CAN$1 million a year, a figure we concur with as
we have seen similar results around the world with our clients. Of the farmers
involved in the study, 60% stated that this is over 50% of their income. Over
one-third of growers with a retail business served over
25,000
customers a
season and 72% experienced their customer count increasing each year.
This survey allows benchmarking of the industry and allows compari-
sons with farm shops in other countries.
In the above report, 94% of farm retailers believe 'word of mouth' to
be the most valuable marketing tool, which suggests a marketing oppor-
tunity, especially using social media marketing. Some 76% of consumers
will travel less than
30
min to get to a farm retail operation, which high-
lights how important is the location to the market. It also reports that 68%
of consumers spend on average $16 to over $100, whilst 32% spend less
than the $16. Compared to many retail activities, this is a high average
spend per customer and should result in a healthy gross profit. For ex-
ample, in Australia, average couples without children spend around
AUS$200 a week on food and drink.
The real value of farm shops or farmers' markets can be identified with:
•
97% customers saying farm shops exceed customer expectations;
•
95% will recommend the farm shop to a friend;
•
99% believe farm shops are value for money.
Not many business categories in the world get these high accolades.
Many pundits would argue that the tipping point in food tourism started
with the development of professional farm shops, as they are called in the
UK, or farm markets, the American term.
A farm shop is a professionally operated retail unit on the farm that sells
home-grown and local produce. They can vary in size from small sheds to
purpose designed and built out-of-town farm shopping experiences. We use
the word 'professionally' on purpose as these are retail operations generating
large sales per square foot or metre and designed by professional farm retail
consultants.
The farm shop really took off in the UK in the early 1970s and has evolved
over the years to be a major part of the British culinary food scene. Farm
shops play a critical role in the viability of many farms around the first world
and are now vital to the rural economy.
The route to success with a farm shop is as important as any other enter-
prise. Consumers look on a true farm shop as an opportunity to have direct
contact with the farmer, purchase authentic fresh local produce, obtain more
