Marketing Plans

A new global survey of consumer sentiment about the people who put food on our tables indicates that there is a lack of understanding of how providing safe, affordable food arrives, according to a new study from Cargill Inc. A majority of the respondents in the Food4Thought survey — 55% — believe farmers should care most about providing safe, healthy, abundant and affordable food. Farmers are under pressure to feed the world and protect the Earth’s resources through sustainable practices in addition to cost-effectively providing for their own families, the survey reported.”

The USDA’s first survey of Local Food Marketing Practices, conducted in 2015, found 167,009 U.S. farms sold $8.7 billion in edible food directly to consumers, retailers, institutions, and local distributors. Consumers accounted for 35 percent of these direct food sales, and retailers, 27 percent. Direct farm sales include both fresh foods and processed or value added products such as bottled milk, cheese, meat, jam, cider, wine, etc.

Services and jobs in the service sectors are booming in the United States. According to United States Department of Labor statistics, the long-term shift from goods-producing to service providing employment is expected to continue with projected growth in education, health, professional and business services exceeding 30% annually through 2012.

Loyalty programs have proven themselves to be one of the best most effective marketing tools retail markets and service providers can implement for increasing revenue and repeat customers. As many as 84% of consumers say they are more apt to stick with a brand that offers a loyalty program and 66% of customers say the ability to earn rewards changes their spending behavior.

Just before Christmas, the USDA released the results of its first Local Food Marketing Practices Survey. The survey asked about the marketing of food directly from farm producers directly to consumers, retailers, institutions, and a variety of local food intermediaries such as distributors and wholesalers that market and sell locally branded products.

Despite months of sales disruptions across every retail category, people are now eager to “get out and do or buy something.” Agritourism activities and events remain popular this year, abet different in activities and protocols. Cashless and online ordering are now the expected forms of purchasing. Holiday shopping for anything from Halloween costumes to Thanksgiving turkeys, and even Christmas gifts, has already begun.

The new buzz word in marketing is “pivoting. A pivot in business usually occurs when a company makes a fundamental change to their business after determining (usually through market research) that their product isn't meeting the needs of their intended market. The Covid-19 pandemic protocols have made producers and market outlets alike to pivot to more on-line ordering and pre-packaged products.

Packaging is more than just a way to get your product from A to B — it’s also an incredibly valuable customer touchpoint. In today’s age of “Social Media” moments and You Tube videos, your product packaging is an additional way to get extra marketing mileage for your “brand”. A product's packaging communicates many things, from what the product can do for your customers to your company's values. It is important to take some time deciding exactly what you want to accomplish by packaging your item, because for most food products, almost a quarter of the cost per unit that is realized comes from the price paid for packaging.

I get lots questions about how to market food and farm products but, the question that always seems to linger unsaid is “How do I get started?” Whether it’s launching an enterprise, getting the training needed to become a successful food entrepreneur, putting together a multi-component marketing plan, or just deciding what to produce, we all seem to struggle with a “starting point”. When tackling a venture of any kind, “we just don’t know, what we don’t know.”

Farmers’ markets (FMs) could be considered the original flag bearer of the local foods movement. They represent one avenue in addressing customer demand for “locally grown” and provide a means for farmers to capture 100% of the customer dollar. FMs may also increase customer loyalty and create noneconomic benefits and ties between farmers, consumers, and communities.