Managing farmer and consumer expectations: A study of a North Carolina farmers market

Human Organization, Summer 2002 by Andreatta, Susan, Wickliffe, William II

The majority of consumers interviewed did not engage in "one-stop" shopping by purchasing from a single farmer. Approximately 89 percent bought from three to five vendors, and 38 percent bought from more than five vendors. The opportunity to visit with a number of farmers appeared to be part of the market's attraction.

Why Consumers Come Regularly to the PTFM

A subset of the consumer sample (n = 259; 56%) were regular visitors to the PTFM, coming at least twice a month throughout the summer. We report here the reasons these regular visitors gave for visiting the market.

Consumers were asked to rank the items they purchase most (fruit, vegetables, flowers, bedding plants, or other). The combined first and second choices listed by regular visitors were vegetables (91%), fruit (76%), bedding plants (20%), flowers (17%), and other items such as goat cheese, ostrich meat, herbs, honey, and bread (8%). It is clear from their responses that most consumers visited the PTFM to buy fresh vegetables and fruit. (This survey was conducted during the height of the vegetable and fruit season, and different results might have been obtained at other times of year.)

In separate questions consumers were asked why they come to the PTFM. In the first question, consumers were shown a list and asked to rank four possible reasons for coming to the farmers market: to buy local food, to buy fresh food, to buy inexpensive food, and to meet a farmer. They were also given the option of stating additional reasons that were not on the list. Among the regular visitors, 88 percent said they came for fresh products, while 64 percent came for local products, 16 percent for inexpensive food, and 8 percent to meet a farmer. (Consumers could identify more than one reason for coming, so percentages do not sum to 100%.) Other responses (for a family outing or to become more familiar with food) were much less frequent (under 5%).

In a related question consumers were asked to rank some advantages of coming to the PTFM from a list (quality, freshness, support local economy, variety, or other). The regular visitors listed freshness (76%) as the main advantage, followed by quality (which included taste and appearance; 60%), supporting a local farm economy (26%), variety (20%), and a fun place for an outing (15%).

Consumers were asked if they came to the market for atmosphere, products, or some combination of the two. Among the regular visitors, 62 percent said they came equally for products and the atmosphere, while 36 percent came solely for the products, and 2 percent solely for the atmosphere. Moreover, 90 percent said that visiting the market was the reason for making their trip, and 63 percent said they planned to do more shopping elsewhere when they finished their visit at the farmers market. Hence, fresh, quality local farm products and a positive atmosphere seemed to bring consumers out on a regular basis. These consumers were also contributing to the local economy by purchasing from local businesses as well as from local farmers.