Page 7 - Farmers

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7
The advantage of this system is that
the consumer enters your stall and is
engulfed in the products you have for
sale.
Displays
Eye-catching displays are critical.
When customers walk into the market
they will be barraged with all kinds of
sights and smells. Stand out as the
most eye catching vendor there so the
consumer is drawn to your display.
You may have the “better mousetrap,”
but if people don’t see it, they won’t
buy it.
Improve your displays
Build displays that fill more of the
vertical field of vision.
• A common expression is “pile it
high and watch them buy.” People
aren’t as impressed with a deep
display as they are with a high
display. Even if the inside of the
high display is hollow or “dummied
up,” your displays look huge.
People will think you must have the
best strawberries, because your
display is the biggest.
• Another way to fill vertical space is
to have more than one elevation
in your display. You can create
different elevations by building a
box or “riser” that sits across the
back of any display table. It needs
to be high enough that any product
displayed on the riser can be
removed from the display without
damaging the product in front of it.
• Slope your display to make it look
more impressive. By sloping the
riser shelving (see Diagram 2),
more of the products are visible.
Use contrasting colours to accentuate
different products. Put red beside
green, yellow beside dark green, etc.
Make your produce really stand out
by separating the green produce with
radishes, beets, cauliflower, yellow
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pedestrian traffic
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2.5’
5’
5’
5’
2.5’
preparation area and storage
beans, tomatoes, carrots, peppers,
eggplant, etc.
Wilting or dehydration of fresh, leafy
vegetables is a major concern at
outdoor markets. Build displays under
a canopy (see website list at the
end of this document for a source).
Canopies can be put up in a matter
of minutes and will go a long way to
reducing wilt. Alberta has relatively
low humidity which will draw moisture
out of shaded produce, causing
it to wilt; wind can also dehydrate
produce. Even though you harvested
it yesterday, it could start to look old
in a short time if it is a hot, sunny, or
windy day.
There are a couple of things you can
do to keep your produce looking fresh.
• Set your displays up under a
canopy. You can get different sizes
and most are fairly easy to erect.
Some operators have commented
that 10 by 20 foot canopies are
fairly cumbersome to erect, and
they recommend using two 10 by
10 foot canopies.
• You can buy a small garden
sprayer, and about every
Diagram 1. This pattern shows the placement of retail display tables