Tough position to be in, trying to get the market to grow will definitly give you more competition. As you may know this is my first year doing this and we were open 2 weekends ago. I had a couple of people look at the price of berries and scoff but I also had people back the following weekend from 20 miles away (one even made me an apron to wear in my stand). I spent almost 20yrs in Sales & Marketing. That being said I think there will be people who will buy on price only, they are not my customer. I am going after people who appreciate the work & effort & variety I offer. This year is my building repoire year, then I will have my base built. I am trying to make myself stand out from the others.

What about branching into the more 'exotic' tomatoes. Ones you can't find in the stores.

I don't know what this other guy/s sell, but it could get you a niche no one else has. Or...could you sell the plants themselves from your own rooted suckers etc. If people come by to buy the plants, they may just stay and get everything in one place.

Our Farmer's Market does not allow outside vendors. I live in a farming community with many vegetable growers. All but 10% of our crop must be grown on our farm or home garden. At this market all vendors know each other and what they grow. As far as the 10% goes, we may sell onions and garlic from outside the community. You need both to make salsa. Tomatoes are a big sell here come August and beyond.
We sell local honey, maple syrup and bake goods from nearby. Shrubs and small trees are also available.
This market is very well organized and vendors keep an eye on each other.

Jay

I was going to say something similar. If many of your varieties are different from those of your competition, particularly heirlooms, you're still in the game. Do you have a table where you can offer tastes of your varieties with a big sign announcing something like "Taste the Goodness!"? I always thought that would be a great selling point. Small paper cups and toothpicks would make great servers. It's also a great way to make use of the less-than-cosmetically-perfect fruits that are still good eating.

That's a large and labor-intensive operation you have going there. Admirable.

Yes that is something that does set me apart. In my one hoop building, I have do have a majority of red tomatoes. However, I do have Cherokee Purple, Pineapple, an Orange Variety and Several yellows. I do have a corner that way. I also sell Cherry tomatoes. No one sells these. I always sell out.

I am planning a tomato tasting for August (National Farmers Market Month). I just might have to try that sooner.

The new vendors are just starting out this year too. They have a friend who grows and sells wholesale only. They are working with them to gain knowledge and are learning as they go. I am not upset with them. I wish I could get bigger, maybe I am a little jealous!

I guess I need to work harder on getting more people at the market and everything will even back out. Thanks for the ideas and thoughts. It is always nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

Jay

Like Shirley's ours requires locally grown produce only - no Texas strawberries or California tomato vendors or even trucked in south Arkansas tomatoes. They only damage the quality and reputation of the market and folks figure they might as well just go to the grocery store.

Dave

Our market is sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce. They have a table set up and watch over all aspects of the Saturday market operation. Rules must be followed strictly. No sales before 7:30 am or after 1:00 pm. Your area must be swept clean and all trash taken with you when you leave. Our Market has a designated area of our village public parking lot.
We try to keep our prices comparable to other vendors. You will eventually have a clientele who will return to you week after week. Our stand has been there since the market started over 20 years ago.

I don't know about Farmer's Markets, but my husband and I have a restaurant, and a couple of positive things popped into my mind that might relate to you. First, sometimes all the "extra" competition can actually attract even more customers to the place itself (in our case, our local Olde Towne, in yours, the market). So, maybe instead of losing sales over the season, everybody will get more? And the second thing was really just a generalization, but farmers markets can be a social experience like dining out. People love meeting the owner or chef; probably the same with meeting the grower! I bet a smile, a handshake, and a little friendly chat can go a long way toward securing that clientele! So, best of luck, sending you my good thoughts!

Sunni

I hand out recipes that call for the produce we sell. I printed out Katiec's roasted tomato garlic soup. She gets all the credit. If they are buying our tomatoes, I'll offer the recipe. My own recipe for Roasted Red pepper soup is another favorite and cauliflower soup too.
I get called on to answer canning questions as I have been canning for over 50 years. I do follow the USDA recommendations. Customers do appreciate it.

I agree on local produce only. That is the rule for 1.75 of my markets. .75 because we allow the resale of fruit like peaches, cherries, plums, etc. We have one vendor who is good friends with orchards in Colorado. The stuff he sells is great!

The last market I sell at allows reselling. As long as it is marked with place of origination.

Sunni- I hope it will help our market grow. I just hope they don't flood our little market.

Example: The planted 1-2 acres of Okra. Most will be for wholesale, but some will come to our market. I can not compete with the volume they are going to have!

I will be adding more recipes and ways to prepare food.

Thanks

I agree with Sunni. From the customer's perspective a large market with lots of choices is most attractive. It won't happen overnight, but a large market with lots of vendors will create more traffic, which benefits everyone. More traffic means more word of mouth, which is your best publicity. A certain percentage of new customers will become regulars.

It sounds as if you want growth in customer base without growth in number of vendors. IMHO, you can't have both.

Jim

It might help if you wear something as a "trademark" such as always wear the same hat or shirt so that it is easy for customers to recognize you. Giving really good service with a big smile will keep them coming back. Good service can win over price.
Donna

Anney, I totally agree about tasting! I had been totally turned off of peaches and nectarines and other fruits because of the rock hard tasteless junk I was getting in the grocery store! Then I went to one of the farmers markets that had fresh RIPE organic fruit out for tasting! I couldn't get enough! I make a fruit salad every day for my DH and my lunch!
I do buy from a non local vendor this time of year only because our local fruit isn't ready yet. These guys come up from the central valley with fresh stuff before it's ready here.
Shirleywny5 Love the idea of offering recipes! Even offering some index cards and pencils to jot a recipe down is helpful!

Never sold at a Farmers Market, but brought at plenty, and found that the easiest ploy a trader could do, was to offer samples, and recipy cards, that incorporate the produce they sold, as unfortunatly it is human nature, you see the beautiful and/or strange produce, then the price, and then think, I would love to try it, but they are expensive compared to the supermarket, I might not like it! what do I do with it? and people feel foolish buying 1 tomato, 1 oz of cheese!
I once tried to bypast a stand with cheeses on it as they looked amazing, but three time the price of plasticy supermarket stuff, but wasn't sure it would be 3 times better? and couldn't bring myself to ask for 1 oz of cheese to buy and anyway which one?, anyway one of my children who was about a year old started screaming, "cheese" and the storeholder Tom, said "Mum do you and your children want to try my cheese?" he had about 10 different types and only fed my children 3 of them as the others where unpasturized. WOW! way better than 3 times! and from that moment I was hooked, I learnt that yes, it was expensive!, but I used a lot less of the cheese as it actually tasted of something! so worked out comparible with the rubbish I had been using, and the same rule applies to meat, on veggies I have tried a bite size of say tomato's cut up and brought them, because they where sublime, but I had never eaten a tomato that wasn't red! so wouldn't have done otherwise.
Another crowd pleaser and has made me buy stuff, is the vendor, making soups, or casaroles and giving taster cups using their produce and a recipy card or baked potatoes of different varieties, say an 1/8 of each.
Top tip, make a batch for each hour of the market, once it's gone its gone, and tell people come back at x o'clock if they want to try, when each batch has run out, 1 because it keeps people in the market longer to try it (well I stay?) 2) in order to secure your free stuff, I and many others I noticed, start hanging round a good 5 minutes before x o'clock and end up chatting to the store holder, and buying stuff, cos I feel stupid! and 3 you don't want to fed a whole bunch of strummy stuff in the first hour, to people, who are gone in an hour and a half! you want a steady supply, to get people to come and buy.
One place the lady gave up selling her produce, and went over wholy to soups, for people to drink whilst walking round the market, as she could charge more! I think? that its called "added value" or something?
Another market open 5 days a week has a resturant attached which used meat, fish, veg, fruit ect, from the vendors, and creates menu's based on the seasonal produce available, and because they create it there, you can ask what is in the food and who sells it, I often felt they should create a list on a board, but I suppose that would have been difficult as the menu changed almost daily depending on what was available.
I was really lucky in Kent I had 4 farm shops and another one which was their own meat only, within 2 miles of my house.
The one I linked and wrote about above was 9 mls but away but I worked in the city, it is a market of several different farms, bakery, cider/wine producers represented, and veg/ fruit farms changed depending on their season, Oh! I miss them all, anybody know of anything like this in CT?.
Hope this helps, I am not a marketing person, I am just relaying the stuff that has worked on me. and I got to the point, I only visited a supermarket once a month for dry goods, cleaning and hygine stuff!

Here is a link that might be useful: here the place, sorry Uk but may help!

What we are hearing here is that, for a successful market, it must be appealing in all sorts of ways to the buyer. That applies to each individual vendor and the market as a whole. There is no way to coerce people into showing up at your market or coerce them into buying. Not me anyway.

If a vendor is able to offer superior okra at a cheap price, that's fine. But, if your competitor has superior okra, will he find it necessary to offer it at a cheap price? Especially if you, his competition, have decided it is hopeless and didn't bring any okra? Also, if a customer has decided to buy your tomatoes, might they just decide to get their okra from you while they're at it, instead of buying from the other guy?

Have fun and the customers will too. And, if they are having fun, they will buy.

Jim

I agree Jimster, took a few reading but got it, I will away pay a higher price, once I know it is worth it, as tasty food need so much less to satisfy the old taste buds, than shop brought stuff, but I needed to be convinced I suppose, and the other thing he said was don't give up, us veggie lovers, even some of those of us who garden need people like you, to suppliment our harvest.