From a practical point of view, setting up an outdoor farmers’ market doesn’t make much sense.
After all, we’re talking about transferring a highly perishable group of products away from the protection of cover, water and refrigeration to the outdoors in the warm, open air. Here the shelf life of produce is cut dramatically. So, why do chains even do it?
For the drama, of course.
Farmers’ markets send a message to your customers. Most chains will coordinate these on a busy weekend to get the biggest bank for the buck. The message? "We’ve got fresh produce!” Even if the event isn’t a true farmers’ market where the grower is the vendor, all produce comes from farms, large or small. Here are a few points to remember in setting one up:
- Three weeks out: Preparation is key. Time your action plan for prep, order, labor, set-up and tear-down. Consider your scheduled sales period time, anticipated volume and available outdoor merchandising space. Figure in offering a discount and complete transactions outside. Decide which items you’ll feature—you may have to convert per-pound items to each, for example. Arrange for supplies, rental items or props, such as cash registers, bales of hay or farm implements, as well as any other desired features like music or entertainment to complete your plans. Assign who will do what as you move closer to the event.
- One week before: Write your schedule. Order props, supplies and pre-order merchandise. Set pricing as soon as you have costs in hand. Prepare signing now to save valuable time during set-up.
- Two days before: Separate market merchandise in the cooler, have all props and supplies ready to go.
- The morning of: Arrive early. Set up tents, rental items and props. Stock displays and sign items. Build a good stock level, but remember the more on display, the higher the potential for shrink and the more to put away at the end of the day. Dummying displays (see last month’s column) and top-icing are good ways to achieve a good balance.
- During the sale: Perhaps dress in coveralls or straw hats, work displays and talk it up with your customers; share samples and offer selection tips. This is the time to connect and make some friends while having a bit of fun, too. Remember to keep debris cleared and trash dumped, too.
- After the sale: Be prepared to move quickly. Keep merchandise in original packing boxes, stock back either to indoor shelf displays or into the safety of the cooler for later use. Discard any poor quality produce you find in the tear-down process.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ISTOCKPHOTO IMAGES
With planning and coordination your storefront version of a farmers market can reignite interest in your produce department.
Review:
- Have a set lay-out and plan in place. Keep a separate folder you can refer to as you plan the event.
- Shrink control—anything you can do ahead of time, such as limiting your display depth, dummying displays, using tent covers and ice—will help to minimize losses.
- Outside factors—convert per pound pricing to each pricing and offer a discount to stimulate interest.
- Coordinate with other events—offer hot dogs, balloons and music. Typically these are whole-store events. Even though produce is the main attraction, solicit help from other departments to coordinate their products and labor.
- Order accordingly. If your gross margin is 35%, your ordered invoice totals should ideally be 35% less than the anticipated retail.
- Schedule. Especially, in a farmers’ market event you don’t want to be caught short-handed.
- Recap notes. Record sales, purchases, photos, any notes of what went right or wrong. Keep this filed for future reference.
Farmers’ markets are marketing events: The effort rarely pays much at the register, compared to what you normally sell indoors, but the positive effects go much further. Farmers’ markets stimulate a renewed interest in produce. It’s a time to connect with your customers, have a little fun and work outside for a change.
Just like on a real farm.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 30 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions. E-mail armandlobato@comcast.net.
