On a personal level, I love the farmers market. The smells, all the produce, and seeing the community out and about. They're a magical place. But from a business point of view, for the most part people are at the farmers market for one of two things: 1) an experience or 2) groceries. An experience usually comes in the shape of a fresh prepared meal or drink from a vendor that can be eaten or sipped while chatting with friends. Our pre-packaged pastries fell into neither of those categories.
The second year of my business, I started doing farmers markets. By the third year, we were in two markets and regularly double booking for craft fairs on the same days as farmers markets. After a year and a half, I was wiped out. Dropping the farmers markets and scaling back on events was one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business.
I’d hired 3 people part time to help run the markets and events. Even when I had the help, prepping for all the events every week was exhausting. And the return on investment was not good. Not to mention, since I was the only one in the kitchen at the time, I had little to no time to develop any new recipes or products. Additionally, it also left me little time to pursue new clients, develop new revenue streams, find new partnerships, etc.
In my experience from the farmers market, it’s the most worthwhile for folks selling groceries (produce, bread, nut butters, etc) and things that folks regularly eat or for businesses selling hot foods. For the most part, people that go to the market are either there to buy their weekly groceries / needs or they’re there to spend time with friends and have an experience (i.e. a meal outside). Selling items outside of that, in my experience, is not as worthwhile.
Since ending our time at the farmers market as a vendor, I've had the time to develop at least 6 new flavors of mooncakes, 4 completely new products, and plan a cross-country, two week pop up in NYC. I loved my time at the farmers market for all it taught me. And if I hadn't done it, I would have always wondered if it was a good fit for me. So for those of you thinking of joining the market, don't let this deter you! For some folks, it ends up being a really great place to grow!