As part of AgXposure, I visited a People's Open Market for the first time and finally understood the logic of a one hour market. Farmers typically go from one one-hour market to the next, starting at 6:30 am with the last one starting at 10. With it being an established market (30, 40 years?), customers come to buy. These markets are strategically placed in low income areas and have a price cap of 30% of what the produce would cost in the store. So less of the cruise around weekend market vibe but truly the prices I used to imagine for farmers market when I thought cutting out the middle man/grocery store should bring down price.
I noticed it's much less about presentation and marketing here than I'm used to seeing. No fancy signs or colorful banners, just fresh veggies and the products selling themselves, man, this is where I should've been!!! In a way, I gave up the mushrooms because I couldn't compete with the beautiful set up the New Girl had: sheer white bags with individually tied price tags written in freakin 1920's caligraphy... totally gorgeous, and I knew my brown paper bag style would never do them justice again. So no fancy marketing here, but it's still a community where the farmers have the opportunity to meet and interact with customers and the customers get familiar with who grows their food
- Vendors don't pay for booth at People's Open Market
- All the markets take place on City property
- Farmer will typically do 3 or 4 markets at different places on the same day
- Some farmers buy from distributors or import. (I think that reflects that the priority here is access to affordable vegetables over the "support local" vibe of other markets)
- Rapunes are local and organic, customers here might not know what an amazing deal they are getting here!!!!
- Farmers are obligated to pay insurance to the city for each markets
- Price cap at 35% below market
- Comparing farmer's market to grocery stores, Wholefoods buys at a good price with no questions, but may not support it with efficient marketing
- "We like to sell to people eating at home" versus selling to high end restaurants
- Taxes to consider for business: Self employment tax 10%, schedule f,Income tax, excise tax
- 10 acres live on their farm. 100 acre per year average percent lease property tax Ag portion low
- "Have a vision.. 1 year plan, 5 year plan"
- "Good to have a partner"
- Marketing is key
- "You need five streams of income... CSA, restaurant accounts, farmers market, farm stand, Armstrong distributors..."
- "Look out of the box... See what you can grow from your soil... Be known as something, find your niche"
- "Love what you're doing. If you're a farmer you're doing a service to the earth"
- Keep records!
- "Whole Foods... if you are growing something they don't have they'll pay you anything for it"
- Market needs: Flowers, plant starts, peppers, fresh herbs, fruit trees, figs, mulberry, cacao, more orchards, mushrooms, shiitake, oyster, blueberries acai, rice, tea, farm raised sea food
- Need diversification, 5 to 6 products
- "Farming is the new sexy"
- Priority in choice between choosing local versus import for him is the capability to maintain freshness. Sometimes being shipped across the ocean in ice chests brings a better product than what the local farmer gives hours after harvest. In consideration to price, he acknowledges that mainland cost of production scale makes it cheaper than local
- 1st and 2nd grading of produce. 2nd go to restaurant or second grade where it's processed.
- No local farmer is "too small"... Backyard farms, house farms micro greens and sprouts. No cut off point just need to have a business license, liability insurance, organic certification (for organic pricing), and consistency a preference.
- Looking for: bell pepper except green, organic tomato organic beef steak Roma heirloom, apples artichoke asparagus cauliflower onions parsley peas pepper potatoe spinich winter squash wish list has estimated tonnage.
- "I've Never grown anything, never will never want to". Interesting perspective to have. I know Dave the produce buyer at Down to Earth in Kailua is a farmer himself
- Local Harvest distributor deals with small backyard farming for chefs, Steve Philips adaptations on the big island. Here, there is no small size local distributor!!! Just need a refrigerate truck that can pick up from small farmers. Insurance then falls under distributors and they develop their own requirements for farmers they purchase from
- "Wholesales aren't all bad. Selling direct is best money but distributor can have better and wider reach.
- Herb starts all come from mainland. Local seeds are more adapted to soil here and climate.
- 100% mark up on local. 50% profit.
I hope somebody acknowledges the strong positioning and hand gestures of my speaker portraits here, inspired by the silly profile shots of CEO's interviewed in the NYTimes business section every week.