Recently, a frequent question I seem to be getting asked is, “how do I find a market for my farm products?” So, in this post, I hope to give you the best answer I know how, whether you’re wanting to sell directly from your farm, via a local farmers market, CSA, online, or whatever else you might have in mind.
EVALUATE THE SIZE OF YOUR MARKET
Be realistic. If you live in a very rural area, like me, you probably will be limited in what you can do. I live in a county of about 40k people. This is the most populous county within a 100-mile radius.
So, the customer base is small, but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope. It just means you might have to work a little bit harder than everyone else. You may have to think a little bit harder in terms of planning and creativity.
Part of your market evaluation is going to be taking the temperature of the culture. It’s not a universal truth, but chances are that the people in a rural market are going to have very traditional tastes. That means that words like all natural, organic, grassfed, etc… will make people think you’re weird and overpriced.
While there is likely a niche for those products, even in a small market, your appeal is likely to be limited, especially if there’s a lot of competition.
On the other hand, in a large population center those words would likely be an indication of a premium product. So, if you plan to sell those kinds of products in a limited market, you’re going to have to be dedicated and educated.
Meaning that your market for your products is likely to grow very slowly and you’ll have to do a lot of education. Of course, the benefits are that once you build a up a market, your customers are likely to be very loyal because of the relationship you’ve built with them.
ASSESS YOUR LOCAL MARKET AND LOOK FOR POTENTIAL HOLES YOU CAN FILL
You can get an idea about what is lacking in your local market by going to the farmers’ market and looking around at what the vendors are selling. Ask them questions about how much they sell. Chances are, they’ll be willing to tell you what does well and what doesn’t.
Talk to the market manager about what they have too much of and what is lacking. Even if you don’t want to join the farmers’ market, that will still give you an idea about what people are buying and where there might be gaps for you to fill.
Now, just because the market might be saturated with a certain product, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to sell it. It means that you probably won’t be able to build your customer base around that product.
Once you’ve established yourself and began to build up a stable of loyal customers, you will be able to roll out other things for them to buy.
In my experience, the best way to build that initial customer base is to establish yourself as being the go-to producer for a specific product. And I don’t mean to just fill the void, but to develop a high-quality product that you are able to educate your customers about.
For instance, if everyone in your market is selling beef and pork or chicken is in short supply, your goal should be to become known as THE pork or chicken farmer. Learn about all of the different cuts, the best way to cook it, and so on.
Again, you’ll likely be able to add beef or whatever other products later on, and people will be eager to try what you offer them.
USE FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO TEST PRODUCTS FIRST
I can’t stress this point enough; family and friends are going to be the most likely customers to give you an honest review of your products. Give them samples to try and ask them to tell you what they honestly think.
If you jump right out into the marketplace and start selling products that are lacking in some form or fashion, it’s going to be very difficult to overcome that initial experience.
If your family and friends give you actionable suggestions, listen to them because they will be the best advertising you’ll ever have, once you get it right.
They will tell their family and friends about what you’re doing, and you might just see your business grow in ways you never expected.
In fact, when I made my first venture in to direct to consumer farming, a little over 10 years ago, I began with pastured chicken. I gave away most of the first batch of chickens that I raised and within a year I was meeting a group of buyers 120 miles away in Branson, MO all because of word-of-mouth advertising.
USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
A Facebook page, Instagram account, and so on can help you more than you might realize. By posting about things that you’re doing, things that are going on around your farm, you can give potential customers a peak behind the curtain, so to speak.
As I mentioned earlier, the most loyal customers are those that you are able to build a relationship with. People like to feel connected, like they are a vital part of what you’re doing, and social media allows you to make those connections.
