Farm Market Owners Can ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Fanning Staff HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) Owners of farm markets could lose lots of ground to their competition —onc-stop supermarkets—in the coming yean unless they learn how to capture and keep their loyal customen. Nearly 70 ownen of hum mark ets throughout Pennsylvania and surrounding stales attended a spe cial marketing short course which examined customer service and special events at retail farm mark ets. The course was held Thursday morning at die annual Pennsylva nia Vegetable Conference and Trade Show at the Henhey Con vention Center. The key is to recognize how important your loyal customers are to the farm market business, according to Robert Matarazzo, president of RJM Marketing, Bel videre, NJ., as well as owner of a 392-acre fruit and vegetable farm and winery. The past president of the Veget able Growers Association of NJ. said that “the customers you take cate of are going to generate new customers for you,” he said. “Focus your time and energy and customers that really take care of you.” Rather than spending money on trying to attract new customers, Matarazzo believes it is fin more important to spend $1,2000r so on developing a mailing list of your repeat customers. Matarazzo told the farm marke ters at the short course two follow two rules: spend 60 percent of your marketing budget to lake care of your existing customers and the other 40 percent on new custom ers. The rifle of marketing 80 percent of your sales are going to come from about 20 percent erf your customer base. Matarazzo, who holds special events throughout the season at his farm market, gave a series of tips for the marketers to help than develop a customer base. They include greeting the customers warmly, asking them questions PA DHIA Invites ALL Lancaster County Dairymen to attend “How to use DHIA Records” workshop on: February 15,1996 Mlltibpm* Ltpcaaier Fattn St Homecenter In the Easement Featuring; Lancaster County Extension Agent, Glenn Shirk “ Bring your PA DHIA records and a fellow dairyman - Everyone is welcome!” that cannot be answered with a yes or no. and offering information about the business to educate die customer. Many of the customers to his market drive for4o-70 miles simp ly for the special events held dur ing various times of the year. This is the7Sth year the Matarazzo fam ily has been in the vegetable business. Bidding special drawings and other contests can help marketers develop a mailing list. From this, a “preferred customer list” that make up a select percentage can be the listen which future sales can be made. It is important to let customers know of the “proprietary relation ship you have with the customer,” and to make the customer believe it is “their business,” he said. Matarazzo detailed a variety of ways to develop fliers for mailing to the customer list He publishes a special newspaper. The Matarazzo Times. In a separate discussion. Malar azzo spoke about ways to write and develop news releases, which promote credibility for your farm market He emphasized the impor tance of developing a “relation ship with your press people” and providing information about spe cial events. It is important to write the release in such a way that makes it “a community event” Marketers must takes steps now to ensure customer loyalty because of the encroachment of one-stop supermarkets on die highly com petitive fresh vegetable and fruit roadside markets. “We used to say, pile it high and watch them buy,” said James Lin coln, extension agent and horticul tural specialist at Michigan State. “How it takes a lot more than that to continue to be successful in fium marketing.” Lincoln said the big supermark ets are using some of the success ful techniques of roadsidd* and farm markets to promote products luring people away from the traditional fium market As a result, farm market open- Questions cull PA DHIA at 1-800-344-8378 Learn Ways To Capture, Keep Customers Nearly 70 owners of farm markets throughout Pennsylvania and surrounding states attended a special marketing short course which examined customer service and special events at retail farm markets. A panel looked at ways to handle and mer chandise produce. From left, Fred Davis, multicounty financial management agent, moderator; Jim Lincoln, extension agent, Michigan State; and Robert Matarszzo, president of RJM Marketing. ton have to adjust and try to com pete by providing a lot more varie ty of products. Marketers must try to promote more convenience and color at the market and hold more special events. According to Lincoln, the “entertainment fanning” aspect continues to get more crucial in order for many to survive. Also at the short course. Dr. Ramu Govindasamy, marketing specialist for Rutgers University in New Jersey, provided details of a What Will Be Tomorrow’s Tomato Plant? ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) This is a glimpse of what “tomor row’s tomato plant* * will look like. It will have a shortened fruit maturation (SFM) cycle, meaning less time to market It will exhibit compact growth, so it won’t need to be caged or staked. It will have a high population of fruit set, grown survey of New Jersey direct mark eting operations conducted in 1992. Of 1,000 questionnaires mailed out to marketers in New Jersey. 450 were returned, according to Govindasamy. The data were com piled and analyzed to determine exactly what marketers were doing. Most of the growers (32.6 per cent) grew less than six acres of crops. Some of them (5.5 percent) grew more than 100 acres of crops. About half the marketers (47.7 on a shorter row, with large fruit size. And the fruit will taste great The seeds for the “tomato of tomorrow” are being woriced on today at North Carolina State Uni versity, according to Dr. Randy Gardener of the Mountain Research Station in Fletcher, N.C. Gardener spoke to about 100 tomato producers and agri industry representatives during a our PA l7t '"Mo n 4 ;, 4 "/tf, “i’t-Vl/ WESTFAUA SVSTIMAL Uncmir Firming, Saturday, Ftmwy 3,19M-AII percent) grew nearly all the pro ducts sold at the stand. Most (about 50.6 percent) don’t sell related products, such as T-shirts, mugs, etc. On advertising, 36 pecent spend nothing while about S.2S percent spend $lO,OOO or more per year, and also have the highest sales. Of the advertising, most (61.2 percent) go by word of mouth. The rest include newspapers (58 per cent) and signs (55.9 percent). In only 2.7 percent of the cases is TV used to advertise. portion of the annual Pennsylvania Vegetable Conference and Trade Show on Wednesday afternoon. Gardener is helping to spear head research on the “tomorrow” tomato variety that will combine a lot of different characteristics, including insect and disease resis tance, to be available commercial ly within five yean. He revealed some of the research under way at North Car olina at the vegetable conference. Gardener said that the environ ment in North Carolina for tomato production is similar to those faced by growers in Pennsylvania. 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