Product

The Maryland Department of Agriculture in partnership with the University of Maryland Extension (UME) Agriculture and Food Systems (AgFS) and the Maryland State Department of Education will conduct an USDA Farm to School Producer Training for Maryland producers interested in selling local food to Maryland’s school districts and eligible providers. Learn how to sign up and participate in this new training for agricultural producers.

This webpage is part of the Maryland Niche Meats & Poultry Producers Directory.

This page is part of the Maryland Niche Meats & Poultry Online Directory.

This webpage is part of the Maryland Niche Meats & Poultry Producers Directory.

This webpage is part of the Maryland Niche Meats & Poultry Producers Directory.

This webpage is part of the Maryland Niche Meats & Poultry Producers Directory.

Labeling and packaging

The world will "beat a path to your door"... only if they know who you are, what you've got, and where to reach you. That's a large part of the "deliverables" in your marketing plan. But don't confuse a plan with the actual marketing activities. You need both to succeed.

Trying to guess at your marketing strategy and effectiveness is a guaranteed way to fail. People and market dynamics are just too complicated. Everything you do in your business will be a test. When you try something that produces good results, you’ll keep it. When you do something that doesn’t produce, you need to stop doing it. Sounds simple, but a surprising number of businesses keep repeating a marketing strategy because it's easier, or they don’t have another, or they’ve convinced themselves it’s a good approach with willful disinformation.

You’ve done your market research. You’ve learned about the history and life-cycle of products like yours and the trends and key drivers that determine where your products or services “fit in the industry” Now it’s time to distill your research findings into a concentrated effort to generate a product that reflects your business goals and objectives while providing solutions (price, packaging, convenience) for the customer.