Rob Leeds reports on the NAFDMA Advanced Learning Retreat 2009

Rob Leeds with Leeds Farm was fortunate enough to attend NAFDMA's Advanced Learning Retreat (ALR) this past July at Huber's Orchard and Winery in Starlight Indiana.

Rob is a long time NAFDMA member who has spent many years on the NAFDMA board. Rob has assisted in the planning and execution of many NAFDMA events. He has seen it all. Well almost all....

Q: Rob, what stood out for you at this year's ALR?

Rob: There were several highlights this year.

• The session on hosting weddings and events- it was great to see how it was done. The lesson covered everything from what brides/event planners look for in a location, the booking procedure, kitchen prep to the delivery of the product. The session had a lot of practical advice, of trying out ideas before investing dollars, what inside information to tell people, contracts used and handling billing. It was a complete lesson in how to develop a business to host events and weddings
• The school tour session. This was a good overview of how the Huber's ran school tours. We picked up some great ideas during the discussion on sound systems. Jan gave us copies of her teacher letters and marketing material. This type of information really helps farms as they are trying to improve there school tours.

Q: What types of operations took part this year?

Rob: We had very different types of operations attending, from small farmer's market vendors to farms looking to branch outside of the fall season to large farms doing year round food sales

Q: What three things were the hot-topics this summer?

Rob:

• The Recession. The discussion was how were farm markets going to take advantage or minimized the impact of less disposable income. Several of the discussion revolved around the reduced ability to travel during this summer's vacation season. This was seen as an opportunity.
• Liability of the play areas- Someone had an issue with the jumping pillow. This once again brought up the issues of how much risk an individual operator is willing to take.
• Next Generation- Several of the farms sent their next generation family members. It was great to see! There was a lot of discussion with them about how they became interested in the farm and if they were going to stay on.

Q:In your mind, how do NAFDMA members, like the Hubers exemplify the NAFDMA spirit?

Rob: The NAFDMA spirt is about sharing. I always had a lot of respect or Jan and Greg but the amount of information they shared at the workshop was more than anyone could expect. The sharing of Teacher letters, marketing material, sample contracts and behind the seans looks is why being part of NAFDMA is so important. The quality of the Huber operation and the willingness of Greg, Jan and the rest of the Huber family and staff to share is what the NAFDMA is all about. Truly a NAFDMA WOW!

NAFDMA Member Spotlight: Wood Orchard Market

Wood Orchard Market is run by Janice and Steve Wood, and Jeff Wood.
They have been apple growers in Door County , Wisconsin since 1955.

About 15 years ago the Woods started planting a new apple variety that they felt had marketing promise. In 1996 they built a retail outlet in the County to be ready to sell these new apples.

Since that time they have expanded their operation by adding a bakery and more sales area. They now get about 25% of thier sales from each of the following 4 categories: gifts, specialty foods, bakery items, and fruit (that they grow).

Wood Orchard Market is open daily May thru October for the summer tourist season in Door County .

"All winter we worried that the current economic environment would not be conducive to our retail business. So to enhance our curb appeal and first impression of people driving by, we designed new landscaping for the front yard of the market", shares Janice.

The new landscaping will include apple shaped pedal cart tracks, and an 8’ high fiberglass apple. (Both the pedal carts and the fiberglass apple were ideas we came away from NAFDMA conferences over the years).

The Wood's have been members of NAFDMA since the St Charles , Illinois conference (1994).

They have had lots of good NAFDMA memories over the years. But I think what stands out is the opportunity for Steve’s sister from Phoenix and Steve and me to travel together to beautiful cities in North America . Traveling and learning in Boston , Victoria and most recently beautiful Savannah.

Visit the Woods at www.woodorchard.com

How airlines are using twitter

Rob Leeds sent me an interesting social media story about the Southwest airline incident. Thought you might enjoy it too.

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=137977

Meet NAFDMA members Pat & John Sondgeroth

NAFDMA members direct market all types of food. Pat and John Sondgeroth direct market beef.

The Sondgeroth's are fourth generation farmers on a century-old farm where they raise corn, soybeans and piedmontese beef. They direct market approximately 300 head of cattle per year.

This year, Pat and John will be participating in 6 farmers' markets in the Chicago area. This busy couple also sells their beef to restaurants, dinner prep businesses, specialty stores and through their own retail store located in their USDA-inspected processing plant in Mendota, Illinois.


Pat and John have NAFDMA members since 2001. I met John in a Joel Salatin workshop in Arizona.

"We would probably not still be in the direct-marketing portion of our business if it hadn't been for that first conference we attended . It introduced us to marketing at farmers' markets," shares Pat. Farmers' market sales now account for over half of their gross meat sales.

"We very much enjoy seeing other parts of the country, other farmers' markets, and networking. One of the things that most amazed us was the upbeat, positive attitude of the members."

Although they have MANY great NAFDMA memories, probably thier most memorable is the Calgary Farmers' Market. "We are still envious of that beautiful facility and year-round, weather-protected farmers' market with a huge FREE parking area,"says Pat.

Visit Heartland Meats Inc. on thier website: http://www.heartlandmeats.com/

Visit Pat and John at the next NAFDMA conference!

Do farm direct marketers have a role in combating Obesity?

The 2009 F as in Fat report offers a series of recommendations to make preventing and reducing obesity a central objective of health reform, and it also calls for a National Strategy to Combat Obesity.

http://rwjf.org/files/research/20090701tfahfasinfatexecsum.pdf

This report has implication for farm direct marketed products. A good read for those growing fruits and vegetables.

mobile ATM

Spotted this Mobile ATM at the St. Albert Farmer's Market in St. Alberta, Alberta.

It was fun to just sit and listen to the crowd as it walked by.

"That's cool."

"What will they think of next?"

"It just a license to print money."

Has anyone had a mobile ATM at their market or event? 

How did it work? 

Did the market charge them to be there? Let us know. 

NAFDMA member spotlight: Kuiper Family Farm

Today we would like to spotlight the winners of the Best of Show 2009 ‘Celebrate Excellence Contest’, Wade & Kim Kuiper of Kuipers’ Family Farm in Maple Park IL.
www.kuipersfamilyfarm.com

The Kuipers were recognized for both their printed brochure and specialty printed literature. Congratulations!!

1. What has been your biggest challenge when developing brochures?
We seemed to be faced with the same problem when it came to our brochures as we had for newspapers and other printed ads......how to tell them what we have without the "listing" I see occur so often.

I felt this was especially important since we all offered many of the same activities so all our "lists" seemed to be the same! I also need the brochure and all our visual marketing materials so reflect our farm "brand" so that when our customers see an item they know right away it's from Kuipers just by the colors and style, like the McDonalds and Starbucks of the world do.

2. Do you use a professional design company? At what stage in your business did you hire a professional?
Back in about our third season we did contract with a professional advertising agency that did teach me the importance of branding our farm and making sure that everything we put out there from signs on the farm to printed materials all had the same basic look, a guideline I diligently follow today.

After that one year contract we also found that we were no where big enough to be able to afford that agency! I did however get to meet my current graphics designer thru that agency who continues to design everything from the farm signs to the doorhangers for me.

I'm sure by the time we open each fall he is ready to wring my neck but he is exceptional at taking the text and info I need a piece to say and designing the item to reflect our look, usually with a fresh new twist!

Believe it or not we do this all via email, I don't think I've seen him in person for a couple years! I would be happy to share his name and contact info with any member interested in his design talents.

3. Do you have any advice for those thinking of hiring out their designing process?
It's really important to concentrate on the tasks you're good at and to know when your over your head with something and you need to hire it done! In the struggle to save a buck on things I'm sure there are many times we've ended-up spending more doing it ourselves...and then usually redoing it it seems. Working with a graphic designer can be very cost effective in the overall picture!

4. Do you have a distribution strategy? How, where and when do you use brochures?
Frankly we seldom use our brochures nowadays. They seem to get sent out here and there and are distributed a nearby town's tourist info program.

Our main printed advertisements are our doorhangers and our bookmarks. Last year was our fourth year that we hired a company from the Chicagoland area that blankets towns with teams of people that hang our doorhangers on front doors.

Towns are chosen by zip code. Last year we distributed 213,000 and once again got many returned to the farm for coupon redemption.

We also work with surrounding libraries which we supply with our bookmarks to be given out as rewards to kids that participate in their Summer Reading Programs. Like the doorhangers they also contain coupons to help us track whether people are really using them as intended.

5. How long have you been a NAFDMA member?
Our first NAFDMA experience was Boston (2005) and we've been hooked ever since!

6. Why do you come to the NAFDMA convention?
Networking, new ideas, the opportunity to learn, encouragement, laughs, exploring new places, and fun! We think the bus tour is a must if you can only do one aspect of the convention.

7. Why would you encourage others to attend?
Seriously the information you come away with is invaluable! Especially the first couple years you attend, you have to whittle down your list of new ideas to something a bit more realistic to tackle in the upcoming year.

I keep categorized files of ideas collected each year and review them each winter when we are in the planning stages for the upcoming season. While I may not be able to implement an idea the year I got it on the NAFDMA tour, I often will pull the idea a year or two later and do it then.

Thank you Wade and Kim! We hope to see you in Lancaster in February 2010.