Buyers expect quality, flavour and, most importantly, variety. They’re not interested in a stand with a single product such as carrots, beets or strawberries. They want the whole produce basket.

For a single grower to meet those expectations is a tall order, as one farm would have to grow many different crops in small volumes and essentially be a jack of all trades, master of none.

That’s why, 30 years ago, a handful of family operations in central Alberta banded together — first in an informal joint venture, later as a closed co-operative — to found Innisfail Growers.

Through this structure, the independent farms work together, avoid internal competition and find a way to thrive.

“It allows us to specialize and find economies of scale,” says Rod Bradshaw, who chairs the group and operates Beck Farms along with his wife and partner Shelley and their two sons. They specialize in carrots and other vegetables.

Borrowed model

The idea to work together came from a trip to the Netherlands and United Kingdom that Rod and Shelley took in the early 1990s. They found inspiration in an organization called Shropshire Growers.

“There are no new ideas under the sun,” Rod told a recent tour of international agriculture journalists who visited two co-op member-farms. “You have to take one and make it your own.”

Returning to Alberta they looked for potential partners and found several in nearby farmers pursuing similar goals of growing fruit and vegetables and marketing them directly.

A neighbour was growing peas. Another was specializing in strawberries. Yet another was growing table potatoes.

“Everyone was doing something different,” Rod says.

They were all learning together, and breaking new ground for their farm operations, most of which had been in existence for many years but in a different type of agriculture.

“We were all grain farmers and we all moved into vegetable growing,” Rod says.

Working together allowed the growers to specialize and to expand their reach. They were able to attend more markets and even hire staff to manage and attend those events. Many of those employees were the children of growers, which gave them valuable work experience.

It also allowed them to jointly fund a packing house that washes and bags their produce for distribution, and the trucks to haul it to market.

Today, in its 30th year, Innisfail Growers attends about 20 markets during the summer growing season, plus three year-round markets, including two in Calgary.

Community extension

Another early member in the co-op was The Jungle Farm, operated by Blaine and Leona Staples.

It’s been in Leona’s family for four generations, and was named by her great-grandfather after Rudyard Kipling’s classic The Jungle Book collection of stories. A bear living near the farm when he settled it brought to mind Baloo the bear from those stories.

In 1996 Leona returned to the farm with Blaine and they were intent on making their lives there.

“I said ‘one thing we can certainly get rid of is the name,’” Leona says with a chuckle. “Blaine said we couldn’t, because he loved it.”

They returned to grain farming, and Blaine’s own experience on his family’s southern Alberta operation was also in grain growing. But horticulture, and in particular strawberry growing, quickly took centre stage.

Today they plant about 30 acres of strawberries and vegetables. On top of their presence at farmers’ markets, they have a farm store and a U-pick operation. Blaine, who holds a master’s degree in agriculture from the University of Alberta, is central to the agricultural operations. He’s now experimenting with table-top strawberry growing, a technique imported from Europe.

“Strawberries are very susceptible to soil-borne disease,” Blaine says. “A lot of strawberry growers fumigate their soil every year.”

Moving to a table top operation should eliminate that need, simplify management of the crop while growing, and ease harvest since the plants are at a better height for manual picking.

“Every strawberry in the world is picked by hand,” he says.

The Jungle Farm also tries to reconnect people with how their food is produced, Blaine says. He credits Leona’s abilities on social media and her background as an extension home economist as crucial. She puts it another way.

“I’m afraid it’s made me a not very good worker here,” she jokes. “I spend my days talking to people.”

Said people include school day trips, group tours and others. Leona estimates the farm hosts about 1,500 schoolchildren (and their teachers and chaperones) every season, giving a younger generation new insight into agriculture.

That effort includes showing the children Indigenous history for the region, and a portion of the farm is left natural, facilitating this discussion.

“That forest is so important to me, because it’s what so much of central Alberta used to look like,” she says.

Story to tell

In the end, quality produce is just part of the businesses that have banded together under the Innisfail Growers banner.

They also work hard at making strong connections with consumers. Similar produce might be available at the grocery store, but this produce’s growers are right there beside the customers to further forge that bond.

“We’re selling a story,” says Rod Bradshaw. “And you’re paying us for that story when you buy our produce.”

The post Central Alberta fruit and vegetable producers find success in co-operative effort appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

It was difficult to convince folks to go back to buying local produce and food. As the population shifted to buying in grocery stores, the market continued to struggle.

But that changed to a realization that local food was a good thing. Now farmers markets and farm stores are the preferred way of shopping for many urban and rural families.

Despite the many downsides of the pandemic, it prompted a sudden concern about where food came from. As grocery shelves emptied, consumers flocked to tiny corner stores, farm stores and later, when they were open, farmers markets.

From 2019 to 2022, sales in Canadian farmers markets grew 19 per cent, even though they were often closed because of COVID restrictions. According to Statista, 53 per cent of Canadians say they want to buy local food.

The concept of a direct-from-farm market is not new in Canada. The longest-running market in the nation started in 1785 in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Saint John City Market remains in operation, cuddled by the original 1876 building, one of the few that survived the fire of 1877.

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Selling farm produce directly has been around for thousands of years. The centralization of food distribution and retail sales nearly uprooted the ancient practices. But today, anywhere in Canada, you can enjoy vibrant farmers markets in almost every community, as well as on-farm markets and local food features in grocery stores.

From the early beginnings of a $10 table to sell your beets or bread, the local market today is part of the fabric of communities that want information directly from the person who grew the food, baked the bread or put those jams in jars. They are curious and knowledgeable, and those in Gen-Z also believe that what they eat today affects their body in the future.

These profound changes in the way we view food lead us to contemplate the future of marketing.

Brands were once the be-all of food identification to reflect quality, consistency and fair pricing. That has changed. The 11 companies in the world that create value-added products control more than 4,000 food brands.

This is often the “same doll in a different dress,” and consumers are starting to get that. They can see in the pricing of food that competition has been lost in the current system. Their access to information has created not only curiosity but a boundary on what they will and will not accept.

What does this mean for farmers? Regardless of farm size, there is an opportunity to connect authentically with those who buy our food and food products. These good folks range from gardeners to those disconnected from the food system entirely.

Whatever their story, they have decided to buy local. It’s not just about hearing the farm story. It needs to reflect their values.

Consumers look beyond what a farmer sells to try to get a glimpse of who they are and what they believe. In other words, they seek a values alignment with the farm in the areas of environment, equity, diversity, management practices and sometimes even politics. They look at the carrot from their own global perspective, however accurate that may be. They want local food to reflect a culture of care.

According to Kelly Leighton from the Centre for Food Integrity, it’s critical for farmers to be patient in relaying the message and building relationships with our consumers. They are hungry to get to know producers, but may not know how to go about doing that. It might be the farmer who is asking the questions.

The farm story should be solid enough to put on social media, and if it isn’t, then it’s likely best to quietly go back to the field and rethink the production plan and values that drive the business.

It’s a demanding new reality for farms of every size, including those who take food to the local market and those who export it by the tonne. Supermarkets have been around for decades, but the concept of a farm market has been solid for millennia.

The practices of the farm should reflect those that would sell food in a local market to the most discerning clientele.

The model of selling off the farm in a farmers market or any model of selling locally or regionally has the added advantage of the opportunity to add value to the food, the community and the region, based on shared values.

The post Schoepp: Farmers markets have become part of the community fabric appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Double J Crop and Cattle is a third-generation family cattle and grain farm near Rimbey. In addition to beef (they have 300 head of cattle), they sell pork, poultry and lamb at a local farmers market.

It’s all about quality, relationships and letting the public know they don’t always have to shop in grocery stores, said Double J co-owner Erin Jaffray.

“We started out just wanting to fill our freezer for ourselves,” she said. “Then some friends and family showed some interest, so we increased those numbers, and then last year we decided to expand into lamb. We picked up about 40 head of ewes and we lambed out our first crop of lambs this spring.”

When the pandemic hit, Jaffray noticed some grocery store shelves were thinning out while she and husband Cody were receiving messages from people looking for meat. That’s when they decided to turn the farmers market idea into reality.

“We wanted to show people this is what’s in their backyards,” she said. “And it’s probably, in some instances, significantly cheaper than the big stores. That’s kind of how it evolved into the farmers market. We thought, ‘well, let’s give this a whirl.’”

Jaffray said they are glad they did, although there was a steep learning curve to understand what products people are willing to buy, and how much.

“We very quickly realized that people were interested and there was a need,” she said.

The goal for her first farmers market was to make $100 but sales quickly went well beyond that.

Her first bit of advice is to make sure would-be farmers marketers have a good relationship with their processors and suppliers – in Jaffray’s case, her butcher.

“Thankfully we have a great relationship with our butcher and our processors, and we were able to call them and say, ‘hey listen, we need to increase the number of animals we’re processing so we can meet this demand.’ They were more than accommodating.”

She also recommends a social media questionnaire asking people what they’re interested in buying.

“Try and get a feel for volume, how much you need to have on hand,” she said. “We definitely underestimated. There were a few weeks where we just didn’t have as much as we wanted.

So these are animals, right? They take time to finish out and process properly. We can’t just run out and grab whatever.”

Once products are identified, Jaffray recommends running with it.

For example, if interested in selling preserves, start with what’s popular, then slide in something unique and encourage customers to try it.

Selling at farmers markets can be fun and uplifting, said Jaffray.

“We’ve developed some really good friendships. As far as the customers go, yeah, we’ve met lots of people. We’ve got quite a few that are repeat customers. The markets we do are our hometown markets – lots of the faces we already know. We’ve just been able to strengthen those connections a little bit.”

Jaffray is also interested in educating her community about local whole foods.

“There’s life beyond the food stores,” she said.

A big business

“Entering this market channel with the right skills can shorten your learning curve and enhance your success,” the association says on its website. “If you are a new vendor, want to refresh your knowledge or manage a farmers market and want to learn skills that you can share with your vendors, this session is for you.”

Resources are available for those who want to start a farmers market business, said Nicola Irving, the association’s president and a 15-year veteran of selling at farmers markets.

Irving and husband Alan own Irvings Farm Fresh, a modern pork processing facility on their farm near Camrose. They produce artisanal products from locally grown pork and specialize in their own free-range Berkshire pork as a primary business.

“The market association is the place to learn everything,” Irving said. “It doesn’t cost much to be a member. It’s like $75 a year. That will give you access to support and specific workshops and webinars that we already have pre-recorded on our website. It will give you information on where to find markets.”

Irving recommends that newcomers find a mentor in the farmers market community. There are many questions to answer along the journey to success.

“I think you need to go and visit the market that you think you’ll want to sell at,” she added. “Go and learn. Go and visit and see what things are like.”

Not all markets have openings.

“The very successful markets sometimes have a waiting list, or you must meet certain criteria to get in,” said Irving. “If they’ve got five people already selling honey, they are not going to bring in another person. And the bigger markets aren’t necessarily the ones where you’ll be successful, either.”

The post ‘Let’s give this a whirl’ – a farmers’ market can be a rewarding sideline appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“For Irvings Farm Fresh, 2021 felt more like business as usual,” said Nicola Irving, owner of Irvings Farm Fresh near Round Hill.

“In 2020, we had seen reductions in sales by up to 30 per cent on pre-COVID revenues. In 2021, we still experienced reduced revenues, but it was definitely better than 2020.”

Through the early part of the pandemic, farmers’ markets were allowed to continue to operate as an essential service, with the exception of vendors who provided crafted products. And despite the restrictions, Albertans stepped up in a big way to show their support to local producers.

“When COVID hit and we were starting to see some challenges in our supply chain, people really wanted to support local,” said Eileen Kotowich, farmers’ market specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.

“We had a lot of folks saying that they had the best year they’ve had in a long time because the people who came really wanted to shop and support the small businesses.”

But that support waned somewhat this summer when restrictions were lifted entirely.

“What I’ve heard from vendors and market managers this year was that crowds were down,” Kotowich said. “I think that had to do with the fact that restrictions were really lifted come summertime and people were out doing different things this summer that they weren’t able to do last year.”

Even so, this year’s season seems to have been easier on both vendors and their customers.

“This year has definitely been better than 2020,” said Irving, who operates booths in eight farmers’ markets across central Alberta.

“For most of the summer, whilst restrictions were relaxed, it was easier to operate markets, as there was less required in terms of restricting numbers of people, managing flow, and requiring people to follow rules around masking and sanitizing.”

There was also a return of product sampling, which many vendors rely on for sales, as well as live entertainment. The markets themselves were also bigger, as craft and other ‘non-essential’ vendors were allowed to participate fully this year.

“Since about 50 per cent of vendors at farmers’ markets are non-essential, this definitely made a huge difference,” said Irving, adding that crafters and artisans have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

“Many businesses closed or found a way to shift to online sales, as they literally lost their market with face-to-face customers.”

But at the same time, these markets have also seen new vendors who looked at the pandemic as an opportunity to try out a new business idea.

“I’ve seen a lot of brand new vendors who were impacted either because of COVID shutting businesses down or because of the slowdown in the oilpatch,” said Kotowich.

“There are some really great new products and some excited, passionate people, and the support these folks are getting from customers is very positive. These vendors are excited to be out there and doing something different.”

Kotowich has also seen a continuing interest in new markets forming across Alberta, with 11 new markets approved for 2021.

“It’s unbelievable. I truly didn’t expect to see the number of new markets forming that we have in the last couple of years,” she said.

“Sales may be down this year, but there’s still that demand for it and that desire to get out and buy those local products. It’s a really positive trend.”

Irving hopes to see that trend continue.

“Farmers’ markets are supporting thousands of small businesses, many of which don’t have any other way to sell their products,” said Irving, who is also president of the board of the Alberta Farmers’ Market Association.

“We are grateful that markets have been recognized as a vital part of many communities, and an integral part of the local food system.”

Kotowich agrees.

“Without these markets going, a lot of these folks wouldn’t be around. It’s really important to continue to support them.”

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