Quincy Farmers Market. Final Grant Report

Transcription

1 Quincy Farmers Market Final Grant Report Project Summary The Quincy Farmers Market, in its 28 th Season, was very successful in The 2010 season saw the most vendors in our history, as well as an increase in attendance and overall awareness. We were able to build on the marketing and awareness we developed last year to achieve new success for our Farmers Market. Our goal was to both educate our area vendors on the importance of specialty crops, as well as increase the knowledge of the community at large. We are a very proactive organization and want our Farmers Market to reflect that. We have a great tradition with the Quincy Farmers Market and wanted to further expose our community to the benefits of getting their food locally, as well as better prepare our farmers to succeed. Page 35 of 487

2 Project Approach This year, we began with two Specialty Crop workshops early in the year, prior to the start of the 2010 Market Season. Our partner in this was the University of Illinois Extension- Adams/Brown unit. Their expertise and staff made the workshops a big success and helped to make our season better. Those workshops were a Small Acreage workshop held on February 13 th and a Fruit & Vegetable Workshop held on February 16 th. The Small Acreage workshop included workshops on grapes, fruit trees, forestry products, blueberries, poultry and eggs, vegetables, home preservation and marketing your products. The Fruit & Vegetable Workshop included presentations by Extension professionals on growing and marketing fruit and vegetables products. Every participant was provided a copy of the U of I Fruit and Vegetable Guides. These workshops were very productive and provided valuable information to our vendors which enabled them to have a better season both this year and in the future. In addition to the workshops, we were able to further expose the community to both the Quincy Farmers Market and the specialty crops that are offered there. In addition to the workshops, we were able to develop new and creative marketing opportunities for the Quincy Farmers Market. From television, radio and billboard ads to direct mail, car decals and farmers market bags, the advertising and marketing for the Quincy Farmers Market was as good as it has ever been in Page 36 of 487

3 Throughout the 2010 Quincy Farmers Market Season, we were able to have a variety of targeted advertising efforts due to the grant. The first such effort was the sponsorship of the Green Week for WGEM, a local radio station. This was very effective because it was early in the season and was a perfect tie-in with the green movement. This sponsorship came with additional radio advertising that was used to promote the specialty crops available during the time of its airing. We also had the opportunity to do a live interview where we highlighted several specialty crops. The other main promotion of the market in the early part of the season was with posters. These have become very popular with the downtown merchants who surround the park where the market is held. They are a great mechanism to promote the Quincy Farmers Market all throughout the season and do a very good job of getting our message to our consumer. As we came into the peak of our season, when we would have the most vendors and amount of crops, we really ramped up our advertising. This is when we began to run our newspaper advertisements, in addition to placing our billboards, web ads on popular local websites and television ads. Additionally, we mailed one thousand direct marketing pieces to Quincy residents. We targeted those who are frequent downtown shoppers and those who have participated in past Quincy Farmers Market events. These direct marketing pieces also came with a Quincy Farmers Market magnet. These mailings were incredibly well received and many shoppers told us that the magnets served as a great weekly reminder about doing their grocery shopping at the market. Page 37 of 487

4 At this time, we also introduced Quincy Farmers Market tote bags to both promote the green movement as well as continually advertise the Quincy Farmers Market. These tote bags were only available at vendors who sold specialty crops. They were a great addition to the market and served as a great way to promote the market year-round, in addition to giving some additional customers and support to those vendors who sold specialty crops. We were also fortunate to be able to provide car decals to not only the vendors who make the Quincy Farmers Market possible, but also the shoppers to the market. These car decals serve both as a reminder and traveling advertisement for the market itself and will continue to boost attendance for years to come. At roughly the same time, we held our annual Locally Grown Food Fest, a celebration of the local farmers and the impact that they, and more importantly their food, have on our community. This year s event was the best attended in the six year history of the event. On Saturday, August 6, 2010 over 1000 people filled the park during the Locally Grown Food Fest and were able to participate in educational games for children, sample local fare, shop the Quincy Farmers Market and watch our amateur chef s competition where each of the participants must purchase the main ingredients of their dish and sides from the market that morning. The main partner in all of our advertising endeavors was Jenny Terstriep, owner of JT Creative Solutions. Jenny s marketing expertise and generosity of time helped to give the Quincy Farmers Market the most extensive and creative advertising we have had in the history of the market. Page 38 of 487

5 We were also very proud to call our local media partners throughout our 2010 Quincy Farmers Market Season. They were instrumental in getting our message out to the community, as well as helping to craft that message. They were also very generous in their donation of PSAs, additional web and print ads and their time. The Quincy Farmers Market is fortunate to have a vast abundance of specialty crop providers. In fact, more than 90% of the total vendors that attend the market are specialty crop producers. We strongly believe that this is a big reason that our market continues to grow and why people continue to register as vendors. Additionally, this helps to ensure that virtually all marketing and advertising efforts of the Quincy Farmers Market are geared towards and help promote the specialty crops that are available at the market. Specialty crops are always the most sought-after items and those that draw the majority of our customers. Therefore, our marketing and advertising efforts are centered on those crops. Whether it is a billboard, newsletter or other outlet, the advertising we do surely benefits the specialty crop vendors at the Quincy Farmers Market. We are privileged to have a large number of dedicated vendors and are proud to help support them through additional advertising of the Quincy Farmers Market, such as the Specialty Crop Block Grant. Page 39 of 487

6 Goals and Outcomes Achieved 1. Provide educational opportunities for area growers. This was done through the partnership with the University of Illinois Extension Adams/Brown unit. The expected attendance from the workshop was 25 individuals. However, due to the efforts of the Extension Office and HQBD, we were able to have 75 participants participate in the two workshops. It is unclear how many growers actually developed a business and/or marketing plan, but it was very evident that the marketing presence for the individual farms at the market was better than it has ever been. Additionally, the attractiveness of the stands was something that was dramatically improved by far more than 5 farmers this year. The farmers at the market displayed overall better signage and had cleaner, more organized booths at the Farmers Market. 2. Develop and implement a strategic marketing plan for the Quincy Farmers Market including: a. Print media Newspaper Ads, Posters, Direct-mail postcards & newsletter including local food guide. b. Radio/TV Advertise through PSAs and paid commercials on all local media outlets including cable channels Food Network & HGTV. c. Billboards during the Market season, d. Social Media Utilize blasts, Twitter, Facebook and other outlets to provide timely information on market days including seasonal product availability. Page 40 of 487

7 Our purpose in developing a strategic marketing plan for the Quincy Farmers Market was to increase consumer attendance at the 2010 Quincy Farmers Market thus increasing sales of specialty crops. We expected that consumer attendance will increase from the 2009 season by 20% and that vendors would report an increase in sales from the 2009 season by 15%. In addition to the proposed items, we were able to add new marketing efforts in the form of direct mail, posters, car decals, and tote bags. These efforts have continued to promote the market even after the end of the season. The tote bags have become very popular for trips to the grocery store and continue to showcase the Quincy Farmers Market. The same holds true for the car decals and magnets from the direct mail piece. We are confident that this will continue to serve as a great benefit to the Quincy Farmers Market for years to come. Consumer attendance rose an estimated twenty-five percent at the Saturday markets this year, surpassing the expected twenty percent. However, the Tuesday markets actual saw a decline in both the number of vendors and consumers. This can be attributed to a new market in town being established on Tuesday afternoons that pulled vendors from our market. The decline in vendors helped contribute to the decline in consumer attendance in Having stated that, the Tuesday markets actually make up just a small percentage, roughly 15%, of all the Quincy Farmers Market attendance, so the actual attendance in 2010 was up over Page 41 of 487

8 Vendors continued to report high earnings in 2010, confirming that we did in fact get very close to a 15% increase in vendor sales. (Note; vendors have been very reluctant to share their sales information, so hard data is difficult to collect.) Page 42 of 487

9 Beneficiaries There were many groups that benefited from these projects. First and foremost are the farmers and vendors that attend the Quincy Farmers Market. The success of this program helped to ensure better seasons both financially and for visibility with their farms. The Historic Quincy Business District benefited from having a great market that drew thousands of people to the downtown area and increased our exposure. Additionally, the merchants surrounding the park where the market is held all reported increases in sales on Saturdays when the market was held. No business benefited more than Thyme Square Café however. New to Quincy, Thyme Square café is located directly across from the Quincy Farmers Market and is Quincy s only Farm to Table restaurant. Their exposure was unmatched and they were able to purchase products right out their front door. This both increased their visibility and also increased the awareness of what you can do with food from the market. Page 43 of 487

10 Lessons Learned The biggest challenge we face in Quincy is getting the vendors to disclose their information. The most important lesson that we learned is that we must create a more detailed handbook for vendors that will make it a requirement to disclose that information. Their biggest concern is that we will raise our fees, but the collection of data is essential to our success as a market. The other lesson that we learned through the Locally Grown Food Fest, which is our event during National Farmers Market wee, that the more family-friendly activities that you can have going on during your market, the more successful you will be. We learned this a little last year when the Park District added a splash-pad in the center of the park. This kept families around longer and shopping longer. Lastly, we learned that by utilizing new tools such as social media, , and alternative marketing opportunities, we were able to draw a much more diverse crowd. Our penetration of younger farmers market shoppers was outstanding. Having those young families will help sustain our market for years to come. We were able to reach them through these new tools and communicate very effectively with them. Contact Travis M. Brown Executive Director, Historic Quincy Business District 128 N. 5 th Street Quincy, IL Fax: tbrown@downtownquincy.com Page 44 of 487

11 IL Final Report B-0921 December 2012 y c n i u Q FARMERS MARKET in the district! WASHINGTON PARK Page 45 of 487

12 IL Final Report B-0921 December TH ANNUAL SAT. AUGUST 7 TH. (8am - 1pm) FoodFest Schedule of Events Event / Time (in AM) %DV Farmers Market Begins 7am 20% FoodFest Begins 9am 22% All day kid s activities including: y c n i u Q FARMERS MARKET MADE WITH THESE FINE SPONSORS: Inflatable Obstacle Course 9am -1pm Craft Tent 9am -1pm Music 9am -1pm Bee Keeping Exhibit 9am -1pm Vegetable Bingo 10am 18% County Market Shopping Cart Chaos 10am 20% Apple Speed Throw 11am 20% Amateur Chef Contest 11am 20% Providing 100% of your daily value of family fun requirements! 4 D FOOD LOVR INGREDIENTS: FUN, ADULTS, CHILDREN, FOOD, GAMES, MUSIC, CHEFS, COMPETITIVE SPIRITS, AND OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS. PLEASE RECYCLE Page 46 of 487

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16 IL Final Report B-0921 Historic Quincy Business District December 2012PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE 128 North 5th Street PAID Quincy, IL Gardner, KS Permit No. 37 in the district! MAY 15-OCTOBER 30 WASHINGTON PARK TA E WHAT FRE H O F E ARM Tuesdays & Saturdays 7:00 am-1:00 pm for more information visit Page 50 of 487

17 IL Final Report B-0921 December 2012 y c n i u Q FARMERS MARKET in the district! MAY 15-OCTOBER 30 WASHINGTON PARK Tuesdays & Saturdays 7:00 am-1:00 pm FRESH OFF THE FARM! Page 51 of 487

18 76745 IL Final Report B-0921 December 2012 BG108 Eco-Friendly Non Woven Tote Bag (Medium) Art 50% to Size 7/12/10 DONT USE Pantone Orange 021 Would you have a orange that is like a Burnt orange, Tennessee orange, Athletic Orange?? just a deaper, less bright orange. NOTE: We are not responsible for misinterpretations of this proof. If you have any questions on how the imprint will appear on the piece please DO NOT APPROVE and call Kelly at x " x 8" Yellow Front Page 52 of 487