10 Farm Market Mistakes
July 10, 2013 
Managing the responsibilities of your farm market or farmers’ market can be an overwhelming task. As you’re crossing day-to-day tasks off your to-do list and maintaining relationships with customers, you’re often left with little time to be able to sit still long enough to see the bigger picture. In this article we’ll make things a little easier for you by providing a list of 10 common mistakes growers make at their farm or farmers’ markets. Insight is provided by Julie Fox, program director, Direct Food & Ag Marketing, at the Ohio State University South Centers.
1. “Don’t do ‘business as usual.’ Step back and take a fresh look at your business from your customers’ point of view and reconsider ways that you can stand out, add value, or improve the customer experience,” Fox suggests. Furthermore, ask yourself what changes could be made to help meet business goals and improve quality of life. For example, Fox asks “What is one thing you want to keep doing, one thing you want to stop doing, and one thing you want to do differently?”
2. Don’t clutter your packaging. Because you have to legally meet specific labeling requirements in addition to including your normal marketing messages, it may be tempting to squeeze a lot of information onto your packaging. Fox warns against this.
“It’s about finding that balance of making sure you’re taking care of what you’re required to include, as well as taking advantage of the messages you want to include. Great packaging and labeling can help a product stand out in a crowded marketplace and add value from the customer’s point of view,” she advises.
3. Don’t price your items based solely on what makes sense to you as a grower; price them in a way that makes sense to the customer. For example, Fox mentions it may be difficult for customers to gauge what the price is per pound versus the price per unit. In short, she says “Make it easier for the customers to make purchasing decisions and give you their money.”
4. Don’t allow your products to “go bad” as a result of improper storage or temperature regulation. Fox advises that growers should communicate to consumers via signage, a label, insert, etc., the proper handling instructions to maintain the best product quality. Help consumers make the most of the products you worked so hard to create.
5. Don’t act like a mass marketer. Instead, employ interactive direct marketing, which Fox says is about moving people from awareness to trial, to customer, and ultimately to true loyalty. “With direct marketing there are tremendous opportunities to create two-way relationships, and with social media marketing there are opportunities to take those relationships even further,” she states.
6. Don’t hesitate to use your certifications as a marketing tool. Fox suggests that growers present their quality agricultural practices in a positive light. Documenting business practices not only helps producers meet various regulations and pass audits, it can be a positive marketing message that lets buyers know you’ve got your business in order and that you’re trustworthy.
7. Don’t over merchandise your products. You may want to get creative and fancy with displays, but if it looks too perfectly arranged, customers may be afraid to touch it. “You don’t want to have so much product on display that people think that the produce couldn’t possibly be fresh; you want to show abundance and color, but you want people to think ‘Oh, I’ve got to get this while it’s fresh!’” she adds.
8. Don’t project an inconsistent and disjointed brand image. Keeping the color scheme, logo, etc., consistent across different mediums will go a long way in the consumer’s eyes. For example, “Some people develop a new logo and their old one is still in lots of different places,” Fox states. For consumers, this consistency is something that’s reflective of your business and brand’s quality.
9. Don’t be afraid to bundle different items to create culinary options for the consumer. Fox explains that this may help them feel more confident and capable of creating a dish with your offerings, especially if you’re introducing a unique product to the market they may not know how to use.
10. Don’t get overwhelmed by technology when marketing your products. The most important thing when it comes to online information, Fox advises, is to make sure that you keep the basics updated: name, address, phone number, and business hours; and make sure this
information is easily searchable.
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