DIRECT MARKETING OPTIONS
· Why market?
In
1900 the farmer’s share of
a farm produced item was around 50%. Now
it’s about 15%. There
is an opportunity to recapture some of that lost market share. One
way to do that is to go direct to the customer. This fact sheet is
designed to illustrate some of the different aspects and methods of
marketing directly to customers.
· What is direct marketing
Direct marketing is selling directly
to customers - individuals, families, restaurants, tour groups, big
companies and others. Direct marketing is not just about selling. It requires a clear understanding of what customers want,
making it easy for them to purchase, and selling at a profit. It includes planning, pricing, promotion,
and distribution of products and services that customers, both present
and potential, want or need.
What are the qualities of a successful
marketer?
• Not
afraid to take risks
•Takes
pride in the product and is not shy about saying
so
•Willing
to plan, research and experiment
•Flexible
•Independent
•Creative
•Thrifty. From
the book, Market What You Grow, by Ralph J. Hills, Jr.
Different
types of marketing
This
can be done with Vegetables, Berries or Small Fruits. For
example, one farm in Green Bluff north of Spokane has U-pick Strawberries,
Cherries, Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots and Apples. This type of marketing
accounts for 60% of the farm income.
Possible
advantages of direct marketing include:
· having
a guaranteed market for all your crops,
· eliminating
middlemen,
· enjoying
daily income,
· having
a variety of marketing angles.
The best form of advertising for u-pick
is word-of-mouth, and the second-best is road signs. Remember, return customers are the key to success. Eighty
percent of your business comes from 20% of your customers, and it takes
five times as many resources to get a new customer as it does to keep
an old one.
Resource Booker T Whatley’s Handbook
On How to Make $100,000 Farming
25 Acres ISBN 0-913107-09-3
Agri-Entertainment
Some farms that offer PYO or have
farm stands go on to consider entertainment farming. Agri-entertainment
takes many forms: festivals, hay rides, petting zoos, seasonal events,
and contests . On-farm classes, demonstrations, and workshops are often
considered a form of agri-entertainment. Cooking classes, whether offered
to chefs or the general public, are usually quite successful. One local
grower offers workshops showing how to prepare fresh or dried cut flowers. The
Green Bluff Growers put on a variety of agri-entertainment events.
They can be contacted through the Walters Fruit Ranch at (509) 238-4709 or on the Web at www.greenbluffgrowers.com
CSA (Community Supported
Agriculture)
CSA is selling shares of your crop prior to actual production. This system spreads the risk among the
CSA members and reduces the need for marketing during the season.
When people join a CSA, they pay the farm at the beginning
of the season - directly, up front, all at once - for the fruits and
vegetables they will receive through the growing season. A
membership fee pays in advance for a regular, weekly supply of produce
through the season and even for a storage quantity for the winter,
if desired. A share payment actually capitalizes
a CSA farm and aids it during the lean months to pay for seed, fertilizer,
or to get the old tractor fired up one more time.
Following is the basic description of Tolstoy Farms,
a CSA located in Davenport, WA. [Phone (509)725-0610, E-mail bright@famrc.org,
or Websitehttp://www.ior.com/~bright/csa98.htm] They operate a 40 member
CSA at the farmers market in Spokane. Each CSA membership, or "share" as they are known,
is based on meeting the fresh vegetable
requirements of one or two adults. Basic
membership ($300.00 per season, or roughly
$18.00 per week) entitles the shareholder to receive a good sized box
filled with freshly harvested produce once a week for at least seventeen
weeks beginning in June.
Resource Farms
of Tomorrow-Revisited Community
supported Farms, farm supported communities. ISBN
0-938250-13-2 Copy write 1992 Chelsea Green Publishing Co.
Value Added
By processing their own raw, agricultural products into
higher-value customer-ready products, farmers have the opportunity
to retain income. In addition to offering a higher return than a raw
product, value-added products can open new markets, create recognition
for a farm, and expand the market season.
Resource: ATTRA
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas
Value Added, by Janet Bachmann ATTRA Technical Specialist
Marketing to restaurants
One overlooked avenue of marketing is selling to restaurants. This
is one area where quality can impact price in a measurable way. This
type of marketing depends on educating the customer regarding the value of
buying a locally grown product. The
benefits a restaurant can receive through buying local product include: direct
communication with the grower, choices related to size and varieties grown,
the freshest product, longer shelf life, recirculating money back into the
local economy, and positive public relations.
One local grower organized a marketing cooperative that
markets a salad mix to local tourist season restaurants. It
sells for twice the price that produce distributors get for the same
mix.
Farmers markets
For
locations, requirements, and contacts about Farmer’s
Markets, please call your local Cooperative
Extension office.
General keys to success, gleaned by Keith Richards and Debra
Wechsler from numerous
interviews with successful farmer processors, are listed below.
1.Choose something you love to do. It is hard work under
the best of circumstances. If you are doing it just for the money,
it's unlikely the energy, creativity, and satisfaction necessary for
success will be present.
2.Create a high quality product. Quality is the single
most important element that will differentiate your product from mass-produced
alternatives. More and more customers want fresher, better tasting,
healthier products than those available from large retailers.
3.Start small and grow naturally. Invest your ingenuity
first, labor second, and money third. If you start small, the effort
you put in and the income you generate are more likely to be matched.
Let the market demand dictate your growth.
4.Make decisions based on good records. Base business
decisions on what is, not on what you hope or guess the situation to
be. Even if everything else is right, poor financial management and
decision-making can still kill your business.
5.Follow demand-driven production. Produce what your
customers want. Get to know your customers. Keep adjusting your products
according to their tastes and purchases.
6.Establish a loyal customer base, preferably local.
In addition to high quality and meeting customer demand, focus on your
niche. Personal contact, exceeding expectations, providing a steady
supply of product, and community involvement will help secure a strong
base of repeat customers.
7.Provide more than just food or a product. People are
hungry for a connection to the rhythms of the earth and for a sense
of community. Provide your customers with an experience of the satisfactions
and spiritual rewards of your farm life. Provide them with some fun,
peace, and relaxation.
8.Get the whole family or all partners involved. Value-added
processing takes additional energy and skills. When several family
members are involved, each person can contribute his or her unique
talents and specialize for efficiency.
9.Keep informed. It is important to keep informed about
your customers, your competition, the laws concerning your business,
and other producers like yourself.
10.Plan for the future. To be successful, you have to
know where you are headed. Each path requires different courses of
action. Set goals for your business and a plan of action to achieve
them.
Compiled
by Don Dysart
(509) 477-2048.
Reference
Richards,
Keith and Deborah S. Wechsler.
1996. Making It On the Farm: Increasing Sustainability Through Value-Added
Processing and Marketing. Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working
Group.
Marketing and Farming Resources
The New Farmers Market at Division and
2nd
Kootenai County Farmers
Market
Dalene Traverse (208) 772-9127
The Spokane Market
Place
Ron
Hayes (509)456-0100
email
smp@spokanemarketplace.org
Web
site: spokanemarketplace.org
Pacific Northwest
Farm Direct Marketing Association
Washington State
Farmers Market Association
Growing for Market,
Small Farm News
North American Farmers'
Direct Marketing Association
Bringing Home the
Harvest
Extension
Office
WSU/Spokane County
Extension
Master
Gardener Plant Clinic
9
9 am To 1 pm Friday
Farm
Center, Enterprises
Business
Assistance
The Kitchen Center
Spokane WA 99204 Judy Gifford, Manager
Health Permits, Kitchen Certification
Spokane Area Business Information Center
Business License
and Trade Names
Organic
Certification
Washington State
Department of Agriculture
Secondary content using h2 tag. Column 2
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Heading using the h3tag
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.