Farmers' Markets

Herefordshire Farmers’ Markets Group (HFMG) undertook this project to raise the awareness of Herefordshire Farmers’ Markets and local produce and producers.

The main purpose of the project was to produce a brochure and a website, which were informative about local produce, producers and the production process. Other benefits of this promotion project included healthy eating, producer contact details and the range of services offered.

Details of each producers’ other retail outlets were made available on the website. All outlets are in Herefordshire, with producers coming from within a 30-mile radius of each market, cutting down on the travelling miles of food for sale. HFMG customers are primarily local to each market, but interest has been generated amongst tourists from all over Britain.

Retail outlets supplied by HFMG traders were detailed in the brochure. Brochures were given to market customers and distributed, among others, through:

• Tourist Information Centres
• Holiday cottages
• Hotels
• Caravan sites
• Pubs

The overall aim of this project was to increase the number of customers who frequent Farmers’ Markets and to encourage them to seek out local produce from local retailers between market dates.

An additional benefit of the project took place during the individual visits to the producers. Whilst gathering information for the brochure and website, appointed HFMG members monitored the producers and reinforced quality standards. This began the annual monitoring of changes in range/type of product/method of production.

David Griffiths
Email: david@compton77.freeserve.co.uk