July 09, 2003
Farmer's markets
The market was good today. It is funny, because some growers swear by farmer's markets (more info here, and way, way more info here) and make them their entire marketing strategy, doing up to five markets a week. Other growers think they are a waste of time.
The upside is that the grower usually can get bust out retail for her or his goods -- no wholesale middleman. And the farmer's market crowd is usually self-selected to include people who value fresh, local, organic produce -- so besides showing up, the farmer doesn't have to do much marketing.
The downside is that the weather can be unpredictable. You can have a day where you harvest for a regular market and a thunderstorm sends you home with a truck load of useless produce. It is also a lot of work to pack up, travel to the market, set up at market, break down after market, travel home, and unpack back at the farm. And it is almost impossible to accurately estimate how much you have to harvest for each market -- you either sell out early, or have excess to bring home that it turns out you didn't need to harvest. In contrast, to fill a wholesale order, you know you only have to pick 20 heads of lettuce, etc.
But in the end, I think the scale tips on whether the farmer likes dealing with people. I think I like it. I have some regular customers already, some friends regularly buy from us (thanks Zoe and Tracy!), and most people say wicked nice stuff about our produce. It is fun when someone comes back each week and says, "Good, you still have those salad turnips -- those were good" -- or anything like that. Of course, I had one person complain about my prices today, but other growers say that if no one ever complains about your prices, they are too low. (And it is not like I am getting rich this year at the prices I am asking).
It is all part of the learning curve, and we are learning a lot this year.
Posted by peter at July 9, 2003 09:19 PMnice links and you've totally inspired me to go to the sunday morning farmer's market up the street in silverlake. can't wait to eat your guys veggies!!!! xoxoxo
Posted by: jessica at July 9, 2003 10:04 PMhmm...what did you tell the person complaining about your prices? I'd be hard pressed to respond politely! Maybe something like "hmm".
Maya
Posted by: Maya at July 10, 2003 09:06 AMI said (politely), "Well, that may be, but I am selling out at almost every market I go to . . ." Basically, I implied that everyone else was Ok with these prices so I won't be lowering them anytime soon.
Maryellen pointed out that I should have said, "Well, I work 15 hours a day to produce a quality product, and if I can't get a price that supports my family, our farm will go under, our soon to be born child will starve to death, and it will be all your fault." Or something like that -- maybe not so melodramatic.
Posted by: peter at July 10, 2003 09:39 AMTalk to MSG about pricing.
We were having very high renewal rates on our Wall Street pubs, so Mike and another guy on the Advisory Board argued that we weren't raising prices fast enough. Eventually they persuade me and Ed O'Farrell to try 25 to 40% increases. And it worked! The readers still renewed at high rates. Any subscriptions we lost were more than offset by the price increases.
But your market is different. You're not dealing with the crazy Wall Street types!
Posted by: mike, pgg's dad at July 11, 2003 05:34 AMI think your response was pretty good Peter, better than mine, and sorry Maryellen, but better than Maryellen's too! I have been noticing that you post at late night and extremely early morning hours and I'm wondering if you sleep?
Maya
