SHE SELLS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE. WHERE DO YOU SELL YOURS?
Every new farmer is faced with the question: Where will I sell my products? There are many different sales models to consider – here, we offer wisdom from veteran farmers across B.C. on how to determine what kind of marketing approach might work best for you.
Farmer, Know Thyself: matching your marketing strategy to your lifestyle
Knowing who you are as a person, what you can handle and where your values sit is imperative to choosing your marketing channel. Our number one tip: getting hands-on farm experience and seeing how other farmers manage their operations will help you determine what systems do and don’t work for you. There’s nothing like experience to help you make an informed decision.
To draw a roadmap of what you might learn along the way as you embark upon your farming journey, I will share my own experiences with our organic vegetable farm, Hope Farm Organics, which lies a little northeast of Prince George, B.C. in the territory of the Lheidli T’enneh.
For some, farmers’ markets and CSAs are where it’s at. The socializing, the intensity and the creativity of those relationship-intensive marketing avenues are all compelling and can be very fulfilling. We found direct-to-consumer sales joyful as well, but then life changed for us. We became older, valued our time more and added kids to our lives with no childcare. The thought of losing our weekends together wandering the woods and lakes as a family in exchange for the busy rush of a farmers’ market was a no-brainer for us. Life and time together are precious and we wanted ours to be simpler, a bit slower, and full of time well spent together. In our case, wholesale was the way to go to ensure the lifestyle we wanted for ourselves and our children.
Selling wholesale was a financial decision too: when my family and I calculated the cost of marketing our products at a farmers’ market and doing a CSA, we found that the 30% to 60% higher retail price we could charge on top of current wholesale prices often only covered the expenses of operating each marketing outlet for the year. So, the net gain was the same between wholesaling and direct-to-consumer sales, but one – direct-to-consumer – required a lot more time and labour. Looking at all of these factors holistically, we made the decision to drop markets and CSA. We still do occasional case lot deliveries to folks in town or on-farm pick up, which was a simple direct-to-consumer option in lieu of running a complicated sales machine. Relying on the whims of market weather and the complexity of running diverse product lines for a farmers’ market were just not worth it for our farm.
Through these experiences, we learned that the nature of marketing and sales is the same whether you are a market gardener or a wholesale farmer. Efficiency is the key to success – and to having space for a joyful and dignified livelihood. To give a clearer picture of our decision-making context: with our kids being at the “busy” toddler age and no childcare (like most fairly rural farmers), the fewer cogs in our production and sales machine, the better. To quote a fellow agrologist and ALC member, “you are in the trenches at that age on the farm.” I often think of the scene in the movie Forrest Gump, where Forrest and Bubba are leaning up against one another to keep from sleeping in the mud: “You lean up against me and I’ll lean up against you, so we don’t have to sleep with our heads in the mud”. If you are a farmer, you know just how literal – and muddy – raising kids on the farm can get.
Although wholesaling was not our initial plan, we have discovered that its benefits come with very few of the costs (whether literal or ethical) we initially anticipated. Interestingly enough, once our product goes to wholesale and then into a grocery store, it’s still at an affordable price for the consumer – and, critically, I get the same wage and have fewer decisions to make. Our wholesaler always pays on time (I hear some don’t) and one rainy Saturday doesn’t cause us massive sales loss because no one came to the market that day. All in all, wholesaling has allowed us to protect our finances and our family while doing what we love: farming.
If you do decide to go wholesale like we did, I will leave you with two tips to make your wholesaling operation as successful as possible:
Firstly, it’s imperative that you look at the industry numbers for crop production, inputs and labour to determine if you can compete. It’s one thing to be the only good tomato grower in your rural part of the world but it’s far different when you are competing with the best growers in the province, country or continent. You are not going to get the super-high price of a farmers market like you used to. Volume starts to come into play here. Instead of selling two cases of tomatoes each week it becomes two pallets. That being said, B.C. imports nearly 70% of its produce so there is lots of room in the market to get in and squeeze out imports.
Next, do your research on what the right crops are for successful wholesaling in your specific farming context. We often say that it’s better to choose your marketing channels before you choose your crops, but at the very least you must balance them both. If you dig hard enough, you will find research papers and production analyses on the particular crops you are interested in growing. If you can make your numbers fit the crop and your own personal situation, perhaps having discussions with wholesale distributors is the right thing for you. Your local regional agrologist with the Ministry of Agriculture can help direct you to the industry numbers you may want to review.
Who to reach out to about marketing, and how
What are the resources you need and the compromises you are willing to make when it comes to making your livelihood viable? My advice, choose your distribution channels wisely. Choosing wholesalers or grocery stores that have the same values as your own is a good starting point. A distributor or grocery store that values its farmers is obviously a better fit than selling into an anonymous sea of corporate abstraction. Ensuring a match in visions is an important component to a distributor or grocery store relationship.
Besides these ethical considerations, there are different financial benefits and tradeoffs to selling to different types of wholesalers. Often selling into a corporate grocery chain is also going to require a very large economy of scale within your production, and come with a plethora of regulatory hoops to jump through. However, if your capital and experience are sufficient, this avenue may be a good fit. And that’s fine too. Food produced locally, no matter where it’s purchased or sold, adds to food security everywhere.
These are some of my thoughts from my own experiences, and I hope you’ll find them helpful as you work out your own farm’s socio-economic ecosystem. To give you a broader picture of what kinds of choices might be coming your way, I share below a number of stories from farmers in the Young Agrarians network who have had to make these very same choices – and come out thriving.
Case study: Wild Flight Farm
I chatted with Hermann Bruns of Wild Flight Farm in Mara, B.C. to get his thoughts on selling into wholesale market streams versus the local farmers’ market/CSA stream. Wild Flight Farm was established in 1993 and is a 20 acre organic farm serving multiple farmers’ markets and wholesale distribution, and has offered CSA programs in the past.
Herman said that these days, they sell evenly into a couple farmers’ markets and a couple wholesale distribution outlets. Wholesale for Hermann is a combination of selling to a wholesale distributor as home delivery service. With distribution into the Kelowna organic home delivery company, Urban Harvest, Hermann works co-operatively with other farmers to fill his truck to deliver to them. For the wholesale distributor, Discovery Organics that takes larger orders, Hermann often sells products like root crops that are not so perishable and travel well in the winter months.
Hermann, like myself, enjoys the ease of packing a pallet and sending it on its way to a wholesale outlet. Fewer moving parts and less admin time are always good things. What Hermann doesn’t like in wholesale is that there are fewer customers – maybe all of a sudden that one customer can get something for a bit cheaper and they go for it and leave you standing there (good relationships are key here). Your prices will need to compete against other farmers and imported farm products, and you often need more capital to invest in labour-saving infrastructure to be competitive.
Hermann tries to avoid restaurants, which I hear more and more farmers do as they develop their businesses. “They always want retail quantities and wholesale prices and that doesn’t work,” Hermann said. “Back in the day they wanted fresh sheets but then don’t get back to you in time or get back late after a harvest has already happened and you have to run back out to the field and begin harvesting again for a small quantity.” As well, with the high turnover rates with chefs, it can be hard to develop a relationship and consistent production amount for them. For taking payment, Hermann would expect restaurants to settle up within a week or two of delivery in order to stay on as a customer. Hermann encourages restaurants to come to the farmers’ market or buy from Wild Flight’s online stores as it’s easier for him to deal with and there is no haggling in prices.
When it came to selling at farmers’ markets, Hermann outlined some of the key pros and cons, which I share here:
Farmers’ Market Pros:
- Diversified market
- Cash flow timelines: “There are lots of customers, and when you hand a customer a bunch of beets, they hand you the money. There is no waiting for that cheque”
- Does not require as much start-up capital
- Social-emotional benefits: “Customers are great at motivating the farmer. When customers come and tell you how happy they are with your products, it’s sure nice”
- Longevity of relationships: Hermann said that whole family generations will shop with you after time goes by: parents, children and then grandchildren.
Farmers’ Market Cons:
- Logistics: “set up and take down in some parking lot”
- Economy of scale: “It’s hard to mechanize the crops because you have to grow diversity for the farmers’ market and not a huge volume, so the scale doesn’t work out to get the labour saving tools and machines. It’s all hand tools”
- In-person marketing: “Marketing your veggies is a whole skill set you need on top of growing. Rainy days are hard especially when products are perishable. I totally hated how a rainy market would cause a scarce market. Despite all your work, you’re left with wasted veggies because some folks didn’t want to brave a bit of rain. You also need a market truck and all the displays.”
- Inconsistency of profits: Hermann hinted at perhaps having a bit of jealousy of his dairy farmer brother with the simplicity of it all and a steady check.
The farmers’ market wasn’t always an easier choice for Hermann, but when the Salmon Arm market started to run year-round, this changed for them. With his CSA and market stand he would buy from other farmers and keep the market going – that way there is a steady supply of products for customers and they could also order online. (Note that the Salmon Arm market is not a member of the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, which don’t allow for purchasing and marketing of other farm’s products). By having a year-round market where folks could get all the things they needed in one place, this allowed the normally dead winter market to thrive.
Hermann said, “there is no right or wrong way to sell. There are different stages in your life and you do what works for you then”. After 30 years of growing a successful farm in the Shuswap, Hermann is ready to transition the business to the next generation of farmers. You can view his farm opportunity here: youngagrarians.org/business-for-sale-salmon-arm-bc-wild-flight-farm/
Case study: Klippers Organics
On a recent trip through Southern B.C., I got to stop in at Klippers Organics. It was wonderful to see their establishment. While I mainly just came for a bite to eat at their cafe with the Young Agrarians crew, what I saw was a very organized system of distributing their products, educating the public and lots of production with waste reduction. Their cafe and retail store were packed with their products. Perusing the aisles of their store and seeing all the wonderful produce and processed farm products brought a great joy to my heart. They were doing what I deeply believe needs to be done in more locations across B.C. – decentralizing the food system and providing an option for those who seek local.
After my visit, I got in touch with Kevin Klippenstein, one of the co-founders of Klippers, to learn more about their marketing strategy. Kevin, his wife Annamarie and their family have a long history of farming and innovation in B.C. They started their five acre operation in Cawston in 2001. Now, their operation grows on 60 acres of ground crops and orchard crops.
When it came to marketing, Kevin and Annamarie knew early on that, in their region, they needed to sell all their products directly to make it work for them financially. Kevin loves the markets, and Klippers Organics is well-represented at markets throughout the region, with as many as seven markets per week. While they have done CSA in the past, it isn’t their favourite marketing channel as it required extra packaging and portioning out product. A big reason Kevin likes farmers markets is that he picks and places the product into cases and it’s not a lot of bagging and handling before it goes to the customer.
The markets also offer a space for direct education to market consumers about the food system and the organic movement. As an early adopter in the organic movement, Kevin has always been big on education. Educating the public on what organic production was and getting customers to taste the difference was a top priority. For this reason, Kevin also built Row 14, a farm to table restaurant to educate the consumer where food comes from, how it is grown and how to make it into a great meal to really showcase the products to customers and to chefs.
These direct-to-consumer relationships are the foundation of Klippers Organics’ sales model. For Kevin, wholesale distribution just wasn’t in the cards. Aside from his commitment to in-person marketing and education, Kevin has witnessed the risks of wholesale distribution throughout his years of farming, including the losses incurred when distributors go under financially while owing to farmers. That said, through his work on the Turkey Marketing Board, Kevin said he certainly sees how supply management can be a good thing for farmers as you are guaranteed your pay when you produce. The food industry is a challenging one, whether you are a farmer, chef or grocery store. It’s a perishable, fluctuating market dependent on the weather, which is becoming less dependable worldwide. For Kevin, having cash in hand when you hand someone a bunch of carrots is where it’s at.
After our conversation, I shared my own experience with direct marketing and wholesaling to Kevin, explaining about how we chose to do more wholesale and less retail for more life balance with our two young kids. Kevin admits, there is currently no balance in what he does. He said his kids grew up at the farmers’ markets. I can’t imagine what wrangling my two boys would be like while doing a farmers’ market – hats off to Kevin and those that can do it!
Beyond farming, Kevin and Annamarie are on the board of Outstanding Young Farmers (OYF), which they themselves have won in the past. From being recognized as an Outstanding Farmer in BC and in Canada, they received great advertising with a broad reach. This recognition also put them into contact with more political figures. Kevin is a volunteer firefighter, past Chair of the Organic Farming Institute of BC, on the Official Community Plan (OCP) committee of the Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen, was a board member of Vancouver Farmers Markets for over 10 years, and has sat as the Chair of the B.C. Turkey Marketing Board and is currently the chair of the BC Chicken Marketing Board. On top of all of these commitments, Kevin is also very interested in creating a land trust in the future to help get more young farmers on the land.
You can follow, Kevin, Annamarie, and the whole Klippers Organics team through their website: https://www.klippersorganics.com/, or stop by in person to check out their retail store next time you are in Cawston.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOUR FARM?
I hope the stories I have shared here have helped you as you make the decisions on which marketing channels are best for you and your lifestyle needs. In the end there is no perfect way to market your products or the perfect sales channel. There will always be challenges. The upside is you can choose which challenges you want to deal with.
To kick start your planning, check out these programs and resources from YA:
- How to Start Farming: An Introductory Course for the Farm Curious – This online course will give you the space to explore farming fundamentals, connect with the farming community, and learn about ways to get more involved in farming.
- Business Bootcamp – The Business Bootcamp is an eleven-week program, packed full of content and activities that will guide you through writing your farm business plan.
- Business Mentorship Network – This program takes applications every fall in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to pair new farm business operators and seasoned farm business operators together to cultivate foundational business and production skills. Mentors work with you to analyze your operations and lay the groundwork for your farm’s business growth.
- Business Tools – YA’s Business Tools page collects resources to help you plan and grow your farm business.
If you’re in B.C. and you’ve got land or are looking for land to start or grow your farm business, read more about the B.C. Land Matching Program and get in touch!
As the Land Matcher for Central and Northern B.C., I can’t resist a plug for the many land opportunities we have in my region, just waiting for dedicated and talented farmers to plant roots.