Observations from first season farmers market

[miboss]

After our first season, we've been attending/selling our syrup/confections at local farmers markets.

I just wanted to share a few humorous observations that occur no less that 100 times a day at every market.


Honey

While looking at our booth loaded with maple filled glass maple leaf bottles, "maple" printed on signs more than 10 times in different areas of our booth, "Oh look, honey!", or "how many hives do you have?", "mmm, I love honey, especially in these beautiful bottles". Not to mention, we're setup right next to a local honey vendor...I wonder if he sells any maple syrup.


Sugar free

No, I'm sorry maple syrup is not sugar free. Oh, you've bought sugar free maple syrup at this market in the past? I wonder what their process is. I'll have to look into some sugar free maple trees.


Diabetes

I'm happy to sell you syrup, but please consult your doctor about adding maple syrup/sugar to your diet, I will not confirm/tell you that diabetics can process maple sugar safely.


Prices

"Your prices are too high, I buy my syrup 6 hours away in another state, he calls is B grade and sells it to me to 40/gal"
"Wow, you're prices are very reasonable compared to other local markets"
"your prices are lower than I've seen, is there something wrong with the syrup?"


Misc

"Do you make the glass bottles?"
"Do you etch the glass bottles?"
"Oh that too sweet"
"I'm watching my sugar"
"I don't like maple"
"Is that whiskey/bourbon in those tall/skinny bottles" - referring to 500ml etched marasca bottles

And finally, something positive to end on...

(from an eight year old boy trying maple cream for the first time) - "That's like liquid heaven" - That one made my day

[maple flats]

I only did a farmer's market one year, but you will be educating the public constantly. Just get used to it. I suspect, if you do the same market in subsequent years the % of weird comments may get better, but I doubt they will ever stop. Do you put out any signage? I have a set of posters I printed and laminated that are very good, they were by Cornell, if you can't find them, send me a PM with your email and I will send you the posters (there are 5 or 6). I had them blown up to 12x18 (or maybe it was 11x17) and laminated. I still use them in my sugarhouse and also I put them up when I do a school presentation.
My sales now are local at the sugarhouse, or at my house and one retail outlet plus thru my website.

[buckeye gold]

The poster are great. I got a couple at a Maple days a couple years back. I put one up in one gift shop that sells my syrup and the proprietor says at least half the people read it that look at the syrup and will often pick up a bottle after reading the poster. He has sold double the volume of my other shop. He has it is a nice case and right in front of the entrance. A local honey producer shares the space with me and also has informative posters, we are the stores best sellers.

[Maple Man 85]

Farmers markets are fun... We are in 6 different locations over the course of a week and all those questions ring true! The best part is seeing the same kids comeback week after week because they remember the samples.

[SeanD]

I agree with Dave. You are providing much-needed info to the consumers in your area. Think of it this way - every silly question you get is an untapped market. The vast majority of my sales are at the FM. My regulars grab what they need, chat for a few minutes and head out. The noobs hang around and ask lots and lots of questions. Each tidbit you share with them gets them more and more excited about what they have discovered. They are the ones who wave all their friends over and tell them everything they just learned. Then they all buy a ton of stuff because they want to share some to everyone they know. There's no coincidence that on my best days my voice is hoarse from all the talking. I get a chuckle from some of the questions, but in the end, the folks who ask the questions are yes, clueless, but genuinely curious.

[miboss]

Don't get me wrong, I love talking about maple. My wife sometimes nudges me because I'll just keep droning on while the customers are looking to move onto the next booth. One time I started explaining the process of making cream and candy and started talking about invert sugars and sucrose changing to glucose and fructose...she quickly had me run and get more bottles from the truck to restock.

[miboss]

Farmers markets are fun... We are in 6 different locations over the course of a week and all those questions ring true! The best part is seeing the same kids comeback week after week because they remember the samples.

The kids are what make the markets fun. I know I've converted a few away from the fake stuff already. And some regulars know to stick around till then end to snatch up the extra free samples we have left.

[Tweegs]

I love the “We made some ourselves this year”, while they hand me a card for their quart purchase.
“Didn’t go as planned?”
Wife in the background shake her head no, meanwhile the gent regales me with all his misfortunes.


Years ago, I had a hollow maple come down in a storm.
I cut a section of it and rigged it up with a water bottle, some tubing and a spile. We named this prop “Herman”.

Herman’s sole purpose is to sit on a table in our booth and dispense water into a clear plastic cup, one drop at a time.
Very much like a tapped tree would.

Herman will stop folks, young and old alike, dead in their tracks. Those experienced will chuckle and maybe explain it to others in their group.
Some will catch a drop on their finger and give it a taste <ooof, yikes and ewww>.
Had one elderly woman drink the whole cup of water <OMG, did that really just happen?>.
(We’ve made a point of periodically sanitizing Herman since…as well as keeping an eye out for that elderly gal).
Curiosity overwhelms some, they simply have to figure out how it works.
Others are convinced we have rows of dead tree stumps pumping sap all year <facepalm>.

We regard Herman as a sort of lure and let him do some of the fishing for us.
He’ll reel in about 10% of those attracted for a quick sale. Sales we wouldn’t otherwise make.
He’s become a constant companion to every market we do and every talk we give, if only for the entertainment value.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I worked the sugar shack at a friends farm during a FFA dairy breakfast and I had a good group of people looking and asking questions. Some lady asked why some syrup tasted sweeter than other a guy in the crown piped in with "is sweeter because they put more sugar in it".

Just recently I had a relative that sells lumber to the pulp mills add his 2 cents to a discussion on tapping trees that" the reason you have to drill in so deep is because the outer layer of the tree is dead" My father in law winked at me and as I walked awa he said I showed great restraint in not calling him out.

[hookhill]

Don't know how producers can sit at farmer markets during the summer. A rainy summer day maybe. To many other things to do.