New Startup Enables Farmers To Sell Their Goods Direct To Consumers

Not many consumers these days are getting their groceries directly from local farmers,..

but there has been a growing interest surrounding farmers markets in recent years. We've seen a growing trend in the market for eating local and since 1994 the number of farmers markets in the US is said to have grown about 350 percent.

It's estimated that there is almost 9,000 farmers markets around the US today (roughly 8,500).

The growing preference of consumers to opt for local items has prompted restaurants, suppliers, and grocers etc, to take notice and adjust their strategy by looking to supply this need. Consumers want fresh products, they want to be sure of quality, they want to know where their food is coming from, and this has given rise to the popularity surrounding farmers markets not only in the US but in many different countries in the world.

Not only are suppliers, restaurants, and grocers, looking to make some changes, but farmers themselves are looking to get creative with their selling.

They are looking to develop solid and personal relationships with consumers, which helps to foster loyalty. And they won't be able to do this unless they deliver the goods to them that they are looking for, at the quality they are expecting.

Traditionally, when a farmer has wanted to sell their goods they've had to find wholesale customers, attend farmers markets, find local buyers, they've had to go out there and do a lot of selling to try and get their goods to the people. But thanks to technology, things are really changing and it's becoming more convenient for them to get their goods to those who are interested in them.

We've seen the introduction of new services that are trying to change things for the better, like subscription meat delivery services, group funding/cow-funding for local meat products, and more.

One new startup, known as WildKale, is helping consumers to get closer to the farms that their goods are coming from, by directly connecting the consumer with local farmers.

The startup is looking to help consumers get in contact with their local farmers, by using an app to do it. And by accessing the app, the idea is that the consumers will be able to order their goods with ease right to their front door step.

The service is brand new and just launched recently, currently operating in a variety of areas across the US: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

With their app service, they are connecting consumers in those areas to at least 30 different small and medium farmers in those regions. The farmers will have “virtual farm stands” that get hosted by the company, they won't have to leave their home and attend any farmers market in order to display their goods to the people. The app is going to do that for them.

They will be selling their goods to consumers who live within 300 miles of the farm location.

For those who want to use the new app service, it looks like it's pretty simple. All they need to do is go to the site, enter the zip code of the region that you are from, and you should then see a selection of farms in your specific region (you'll get a screen that looks like the image above, showing the farm and the items they offer).

Once you see the farms that are available, you can pick the items that you want from the farm. After that, the goods are going to be delivered within 24 hours via UPS. There is also a minimum delivery order of $30 and also a shipping charge of $5.99 that gets applied to your order.

For the farmers, after an order gets placed they are going to receive a printable order list right to their smartphone and that is going to come with a convenient UPS packing label. They are provided with the shipping materials and everything that they need. And for its service the company takes a 25 percent cut from every exchange.

This isn't the only online farmers market out there either, there have been a lot of companies that have come about who are trying to connect consumers to local farmers. WildKale is doing things a bit different though by only using UPS to connect the farmer and the consumer, they don't have to worry about any other transportation issues or warehouse problems, storage complications, etc. The simple process is likely going to enable them to scale very quickly to other areas; if it proves to be a successful idea that the people enjoy.

Pics:
Pixabay
St malo via iadorestmalo.ca/chamber-members/farmersmarket/
via whatsoncariboo.com/event/farmers-market-2017-grand-opening/2017-07-14/
via clipartix.com/handshake-clipart-image-28709/
wildkale

Sources:
http://globalnews.ca/video/2031231/eating-local-moving-from-fad-to-trend-expert
https://www.thedailymeal.com/cook/101-best-farmers-markets-america-2016
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-zacka/local-foods-from-fad-to-f_b_5502757.html
https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/local-regional/farmers-markets-and-direct-consumer-marketing
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/30/tesco-cuts-range-products
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/new-startup-wildkale-lets-farmers-sell-directly-customers-through-app-180964843/
https://wildkale.com/

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