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http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2015196,00.html

A warm glow: entrepreneurs start up 'farmers markets without the draughts'
A suburban shop makes local fresh produce easier to reach, buy and
transport

Angela Balakrishnan
Saturday February 17, 2007
The Guardian

Situated on a bustling high street in south-west London, Farmers' City
Market appears to be just another shop. The only clues to what may lie
within are the two white statues of cows. A glimpse inside and it soon
becomes clear that this is not your average store.

But nor is it your average farmers' market. This is a venture that aims to
provide all the quality and reliably sourced food of other farmers' markets
but without the draughty surroundings and temporary stalls. More
ambitiously, the three founders, Jana Satchi, Stephen Wilkinson and George
Beach, say they want to redefine food shopping.

"Jana and I were at Borough Market in London one day and it was freezing,"
says Wilkinson, a former food and wine buyer for Marks and Spencer. "It was
at that point we thought: wouldn't it be great to do something like this
but indoors?"

Their idea became reality just before Christmas when they opened their
first store in Hampton Hill, Middlesex, in partnership with Beach, who is a
fruit grower from Warwickshire.

It is a move that reflects a trend in British food shopping towards fine
foods and more interactive retailing. There are now some 550 farmers'
markets across the country, the numbers having mushroomed since the first
one opened in Bath in 1997. It is estimated that around 20 million people
spend £2bn a year at the markets. A YouGov survey for the National
Farmers Retail and Markets Association (Farma) showed that 30% of the
population would like to shop at a farmers' market or farmers' shop but
only 11% do.

"There is still interest in setting up new farmers' markets - we see a
strong wish from consumers to buy directly from producers," said Rita Exner
of Farma. "There is a strong indication that as more of these outlets
become available, more people will do this."

Supermarkets have responded too. Tesco's strong performance over Christmas
was powered by a 39% increase in sales of organic produce. It reported that
sales of organic turkeys doubled on the previous year. Sainsbury's has also
seen a similar explosion in sales across the organic range. Asda has
trebled its range of organic products.

Farmers' City Market's footfall reflects this growing phenomenon. The
figures have been four times what the directors expected and already there
are plans to open another five stores across the south-east by the end of
the year.

Connecting

"Working in the textile industry, I saw there was this transparency in the
retailing chain that I was dealing with," says Satchi. "I wanted to apply
the same model to food. At the moment food retailing in Britain is all
about buying products and selling them on at an added margin. It's so
impersonal. We want to take retailing back to basics, a forum where people
sell goods to each other - people who know what they are selling to people
who want to buy."

However, you won't often find farmers behind stalls at FCM. The store is
set out more like a conventional shop without individual counters or tills,
although the produce is clearly labelled so shoppers can see where it was
grown and by whom. The founders see themselves as connecting consumers to
producers who often find it difficult to make time to sell their goods at
markets and grow produce at the same time.

"Farmers' City Market is not a brand, it's a concept," Satchi says. "We
don't want to overshadow our suppliers - it's important they retain their
individuality. When they can, they pop into the store - it's great for them
to meet and interact with the customers buying their produce. But most
importantly they are at their farms doing what they do best."

There were four main elements of the traditional farmers' market that the
trio thought they had to change. "Customers were wary of health and safety
at some markets," says Wilkinson. "They didn't like having to pay cash and
queue at each stall they visited. There were uncertainties over when the
markets were open. And often people couldn't buy as much as they wanted
because they had no way of carrying it all."

So at their Hampton store they are open seven days a week, have parking
right outside the shop, recycled shopping bags, credit card payment and
trolleys - with a smaller size just for children.

However, they are keen to stress their differences from supermarkets. "It's
not what we sell, it's what we don't sell," says Beach. Nothing is packaged
or manufactured. There is no bleach, toilet roll or microwave meals. But
there is fresh food and lots of it. Ripe tomatoes in all shapes and
sizes,cheeses stacked high, earthy vegetables still with their roots and
leaves, slabs of meats. The colour and smells mingle to invite the
customers to touch and taste.

There is also a large kitchen and restaurant, where Andrew Sargent makes
meals from the produce. Demonstrations are given and warm trays of cakes
and breads are brought out.

"People thought we were mad to put a kitchen in the middle of the shop,"
says Wilkinson. "But it's all part of our ethos. We want you to enjoy your
experience, be surprised."

Inundated

"We're not about buy one get one free," says Satchi. Their beef and milk,
he says, is the same price as in many supermarkets, the difference being
that at Farmers' City Market the customer can find out exactly who supplied
it and where it came from. Furthermore, since emphasis is placed on
sourcing goods locally and in season, it means the costs of getting produce
to the store are lower.

The feedback is encouraging. A message board in the shop is inundated with
messages from enthusiastic customers inquiring about new foods and
requesting a store nearer to them.

Kylie Odd is a frequent shopper. "I would go out of my way to come here,"
she says. "I like good-quality food and you get what you pay for." Whereas
many dread visiting supermarkets with children in tow, Mrs Odd is happy to
bring her four-year-old son Louis. "He loves having his own little trolley.
It's just a much nicer experience."

FCM have not launched an advertising campaign and prefer to "let the food
do the talking". As another customer leaves with several bags full, it
appears that the food is doing just that.

In numbers:

· Approximate number of farmers' markets in the United Kingdom: 550

· Year the first farmers' market opened, in Bath: 1997

· Number of stalls at the largest farmers' market in Britain, in
Winchester: 100

· Proportion of British people who would like to shop at farmers'
markets: 30%

· Proportion of British people who do actually shop at farmers' markets:
11%