Files
Abstract
Farm retail marketing or farmer-to-consumer
direct marketing is an important outlet for many New
York vegetable products. Marketing direct to consumers
takes special skills and abilities on the part of marketers,
and also requires a favorable location with respect
to land resources and local markets. Since many
farmers and direct market managers lack the resources
and experience to compete with supermarkets, it is
important for direct marketing operators to differentiate
themselves from the mass marketers. The goal of
this study was to analyze the effectiveness of direct
marketing activities and marketing strategies used by
New York vegetable farms. A survey designed to collect
information on farm retail marketing practices
from New York vegetable farms was conducted during
the winter of 2000-20001. Results were analyzed
based on business profiles of New York vegetable
farms with direct marketing activities, marketing channels
used, retail seasonality, product mix, importance
of different direct marketing activities, effectiveness
of different marketing and business management tools,
and future plans for various marketing activities.
The surveyed vegetable farms had average
total farm sales of $274,311 and average retail sales of
$123,612. Direct marketing to consumers was an important
source of farm income for a majority of the
surveyed New York vegetable farms with retail marketing
activities. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents
received more than half of their farm gross income from
direct sales to consumers. However, vegetable farms
with direct marketing activities generally did not rely
on retail alone. Farms with higher gross sales utilized
more marketing channels and depended more heavily
on wholesale. May through October is the most important
sales season for farmer-to-consumer direct
marketing activities. The surveyed farms retailed more
than just the items they produced. Purchased items for
resale were an important avenue to expand product
line and increase the volume of products available for
retail. Three most commonly used direct marketing
methods were roadside markets, farmers’ markets and
pick-your-own. Among all the direct marketing components,
fresh farm products – including fresh vegetables,
fruits, and meat products - were rated as most
important to the operation by most surveyed farms
(83 percent). Ice cream stand had the second highest
rating but was only rated by 3 percent of the surveyed
farms. Ornamental plants and holiday crops were rated
number three by 43 percent and 54 percent of farms,
respectively. The most commonly used promotion tools
were “word-of-mouth” and “newspapers”, and “labor
related challenges” and “competition in the markets”
were the two major concerns among survey respondents.