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Episode Summary
In a world where more and more businesses are offering convenient delivery of organic produce, how can a traditional farmer’s market compete, especially in post-Covid times? The Vancouver, Washington Farmer’s Market has an answer: offer an online option.
In this episode of Carrot Cashflow, Stephanie Haynes of the Vancouver, Washington Farmer’s Market joins us to talk about why they created an online store for their local farmer’s market, how they pulled it off, and the CSA-type program they have to increase to further increase their vendors’ sales while introducing more unique produce to their market.
Today’s Guest: Stephanie Haynes
Stephanie Haynes is the Partnerships and Programs Manager at the Vancouver, Washington Farmer’s Market, as well as the organizer behind the online store for their local farmer’s market. With her strong belief that a farmer’s market’s goal is to provide a place where farmers and vendors can be successful, she helps and guides their vendors to add an online platform for them to increase their sales week per week without much of the legwork.
Relevant Links
Vancouver, Washington Farmer’s Market – Website | Instagram | Facebook
In this episode of Carrot Cashflow
- Diego introduces the episode’s guest, Stephanie Haynes (00:24)
- Stephanie Haynes and the Vancouver Washington Farmer’s Market in 2020 (02:15)
- Thinking out of the box: an online farmer’s market (04:06)
- Serving more customers with the online farmer’s market (05:48)
- A CSA-type of program run by the farmer’s market (05:57)
- Should more farmer’s markets consider having an online option? (08:43)
- Competing with other organic produce providers (11:09)
- Choosing to go down the hub route with Local Line (12:09)
- Stephanie’s pitch to market vendors to go online (14:20)
- The point where everything clicked, and everything worked out well (16:13)
- What the customers say about the online farmer’s market (17:32)
- Stephanie’s advice for someone who wants to create a successful online farmer’s market (19:32)
- Get your farmer’s market vendors on board (21:13)
- If something goes wrong, make it right times ten (22:07)
- How Stephanie sells the online farmer’s market to their farmer’s market vendors (22:38)
- Extra sales with not so much work (23:57)
- Customers requesting vendors (25:18)
- The biggest challenges with opening an online farmer’s market (25:47)
- A final call-out to the market manager who’s on the fence about creating an online store for the farmer’s market (27:02)
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