Keep ‘Em Coming Back

Keep 'Em Coming Back

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Third-generation Weaver’s Orchard in eastern Pennsylvania was started in the 1930s by Ed Weaver’s grandparents. Back then, Grandma and Grandpa Weaver marketed through farmers’ markets and a truck route. Over the years, the Weavers have built a farm market to complement the orchard, which includes retail and pick-your-own (PYO). Today, Weaver’s Orchard no longer participates in farmers’ markets, instead focusing all of its energies on its own market.

Weaver’s Orchard includes apples, peaches, cherries, pears, strawberries, apricots, blueberries, and blackberries, among other fruits. On the vegetable side, tomatoes, sweet corn, and pumpkins are grown. Almost all fruits grown at the orchard are available for customers to pick themselves.

Selling The Experience

At Weaver’s Orchard, it’s not just about turning a profit. It’s also about giving customers a glimpse of the farm life. “We’re very much interested in allowing people to come here and experience life on the farm,” says Weaver. “We’re not only selling the product, we’re also selling the experience.”

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Good employees help keep the orchard successful and keep customers coming back for more. “We try to retain the customers we have and get them to return. A satisfied customer is the one who’s going to tell other people about it,” Weaver says.
The orchard farm market carries many products such as fudge, ice cream, jam, and various snacks, and also has a bakery in which items are baked fresh daily. But don’t confuse this market with a convenience store or supermarket. Weaver says his market and orchard is more about building relationships and being available to customers. Customers have an experience when they come to the orchard — something they won’t get at the grocery store. “(Customers) want to be able to ask questions about how the product is being grown. They’re not going to get those answers very easily in the supermarket,” Weaver says. “They want to interact with our employees and they want to learn more about what they’re buying.”

Weaver also uses advertising to lure people to the orchard. Newspaper, radio, and local television have all been utilized to reach potential customers. About four years ago, they also started to use billboards to advertise. Weaver pointed out that while the same forms of advertising are not necessarily used every year, they may be helpful a few times a year. The orchard’s Web site is also being used increasingly as a primary method of advertising. “We like to focus a fair amount of our advertising in June because we have a lot of crops coming in at that time,” he adds.

“Feel The Farmer In You”

That’s the motto of the school tours offered by Weaver’s Orchard, which focus on education and give kids a hands-on view of life on the farm. The tours are geared toward elementary school children, and are mostly taken by kindergarten through second-grade students for about six weeks at the end of September through October. The basic tour package consists of a walking tour with a guide, and a hay ride, time in the play area, and pumpkin painting can be added. “A lot of the guides have some teaching experience or are good at relating to children. We also see it as an opportunity to advertise,” Weaver says. “If the children come and enjoy the experience, we get a lot of children wanting to bring their parents (back).”

The orchard recently held its third “Taste of Weaver’s Orchard” festival, a family-friendly event used to introduce the products sold at the market that are not grown there. Vendors come and provide personnel for samples, and usually cover the cost of the samples as well.

It’s Not Rocket Science

A few new ideas keep Weaver’s successful, and they are always trying to improve. Lighting in the store has been increased, which Weaver says makes the produce stand out.

A PYO club was also started last year. The more PYO crops are picked, the cheaper they are. However, Weaver noticed that customers who would come every few days to pick something, such as strawberries, ended up having to pay the highest price each time they picked. Through the PYO club, the total pounds picked accumulates, allowing club members to take advantage of the reduced price.

Dwayne Musser, market manager, says offering different varieties can also appeal to customers. Weaver’s sells premium tomatoes, and signs indicate those are the best-tasting tomatoes. “We also offer a cheaper line of tomatoes,” Musser says. “Having several options, there is one way to provide for various customers, depending on what they’re looking for.” Corn is sold husked or partially husked, for those who want to be able to see the quality of the corn and not have to spend time husking when they get home.

Cross-merchandising is also a good money maker. Shortcakes are sold in the bakery, as well as side by side by strawberries and raspberries at the front counter. “It’s not rocket science,” Musser says. “Customers are looking for ease in shopping.” The market also offers samples, which helps product sell. “Some people joke when they come here they can get lunch,” Musser says.

Musser thinks big box stores may be a good way of getting other marketing ideas, especially in regards to products being marked down. “If it’s working for some of these big box stores … maybe we need to find ways to make some of the same concepts work for us in the farm market,” he says. “We are a niche market and consumers like the personal relationships and all, but everybody wants to save.”

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