APRIL 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Blossoming markets face growing pains Markets must focus on what they do well to retain and attract consumers


by PETER MITHAM NEW WESTMINSTER – The


explosive growth in BC farmers markets over the past decade is presenting operators and vendors with hard questions as they embark on a new season. With local produce


available in more places than ever before, the province’s 165-odd farmers markets are hoping to expand their customer base and become more business-like. “The ecosystem around us


is changing and we really need to be cognizant of this change,” said Richard McCarthy, the founding president of the Farmers Market Coalition in the US and current executive director of Slow Food USA.


What farmers markets have to do is identify the value they bring to communities, what they do best and focus on doing it well, McCarthy told the 120-plus participants at the annual meeting of the BC Association of Farmers Markets in New Westminster on March 4. “We need to figure out how


to improve best practices,” he said.


These include improving


protocols in the key areas of mission, governance, staffing and marketing. While markets have flourished in a space beyond the economic pressures of the chain supermarkets – fostering authentic connections between producers and consumers – market managers shouldn’t fear intervening in the rich ferment of market activity.


Somewhat like a vigorous plant, it may need to be pruned so that energies and resources flow to where it will bear the best fruit. McCarthy encouraged managers to set performance goals and to measure market activity against those, not necessarily in a cold-blooded way, but to ensure the market is performing well.


Ethnic attraction The theme was picked up


in several other sessions during the three-day event, with the sessions on Saturday including discussions of branding, risk management and best practices for vendors and producers. The growth of markets has


largely limited the need to consider such questions but as farmers markets become more mainstream, they need to meet consumers’ expectations and broaden their appeal beyond white, middle-class consumers. Roberta LaQuaglia, the


departing operations manager for Vancouver Farmers Markets, said 43% of the Metro Vancouver population is ethnically Asian but just 14% of market attendees identify as such. She wants to see that change and for new immigrants to know that farmers markets “can be a viable option for their grocery dollars.” Kevin Huang of the Hua


Foundation has produced a guide that aims to raise awareness of market greens among Chinese consumers but many still patronize shops within their established network.


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FILE PHOTO Surrey farmer Eric Koo,


meanwhile, said carving a niche for Asian greens was tough because non-Asians were unfamiliar with them. Winning acceptance for them requires education and time.


Risk management


Bob Prenovost of Propellor Social Enterprise Advisors in Vancouver led a discussion of risk management that saw


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