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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] consumer perceptions, was free range

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  • From: Lucy Goodman <goodows AT infinet.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] consumer perceptions, was free range
  • Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 20:13:25 -0400

Debbie, you should consider driving a couple hours south to the Oxford Farmers market where eggs go for $3.50 a dozen and corn gets 50¢ an ear if organic (which is important)

When I started selling what I grow we in EC Indiana (on the IN/OH boarder) everything was cheap. Tomatoes for 50¢ a pound, eggs a dollar, green beans $1.00 a pound etc.. We figured we could not make a living charging so little (well under what Kroger's and IGA were charging for similar) so we started raising our prices and found we started selling more. Granted here were complainers (very loud ones too). By the time we left that market, 6 years later we had influenced all the other vendors price wise and everything was much higher, much more in line with the grocery stores. And everyone was making a better living and customers did not quit buying for that reason. The average shopper was blue collar with a HS education.

Now I sell in a college town (where I grew up and got a degree) with very very strong support for local and organic food and an affluent customer base.

I also have a farm store in a rural county north of the college own in WC Ohio where I find it is more difficult to sell the heirlooms and pastured poultry at premium prices but even in this rural area there is growing awareness that the commercial food system has a lot of problems. And more and more locals are willing to pay more for high quality local food.

I find that gentle education works wonders over the long run with marketing what your grow. Explain to customers that you are doing this as a business and you have costs that need to be covered and ha you are not getting rich by charging what you charge. Almost everyone understands this and suddenly they do not feel ripped off by apparent high prices (which, in my case, are very competitive with the local wal-Mart and Kroger's).

Lucy Goodman
Boulder Belt Eco-Farm
Eaton, OH






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