Farmers

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Farmers Market Federation of New York
ConferenceWhat are Your Market Numbers?
March 7, 2013
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Presentation Topics

1. About Market Ventures, Inc.
2. Customer analysis
3. Vendor analysis
4. Market records

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Market Ventures, Inc. Consulting / Development
/ Operations

• National consultants on public markets and
  food-based economic development projects
• Lead Author, Public Markets and Community
  Revitalization
• Conduct public market feasibility studies and
  research throughout the United States

Grand Rapids Downtown Market
By Ward Market, Ottawa
Rochester Public Market
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Market Ventures, Inc. Recent Projects

• Grand Rapids Downtown Market (opening July 2013)
• Charlottesville City Market District Plan
• Rochester Public Market Renovation Expansion
  Plan
• Boise Public Market Feasibility Study
• Grand Traverse Regional Market/Food Hub
  Feasibility Study
• Fort Collins Community Marketplace Feasibility
  Study
• Salt Lake City Public Market District Plan
• Broome County Regional Farmers Market
  Feasibility Study
• NYC Wholesale Farmers Market Feasibility Study
  and Development Plan
• SchoolFood Plus Initiative (NYC) Program
  Evaluation
• Milwaukee Public Market Feasibility Study
  Concept Plan
• Tioga County Cooperative Market Distribution
  Study
• Reading Terminal Market Merchandising Plan

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• Developer/Operator Bronx Sunday Market,
  Portland Public Market
• President, Farm to Market, Inc.
• Co-owner, Maines Pantry

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Questions to Answer about Customers

• Whos coming to the market now?
• Who is not coming that you would like to attract?
• Higher spending consumers
• Low income residents
• Children
• Why are customers coming to the market?
• Where else do they shop for food?
• How did they hear about the Market?
• What are their visit characteristics?
• How long do they stay
• What do they buy
• How much do they spend
• Customer concerns or issues

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Customer Research Methods

• Qualitative methods
• Key informant interviews
• Focus groups
• Quantitative methods
• Customer counts
• Dot surveys
• Intercept surveys
• Web-based surveys (e.g., Survey Monkey,
  Zoomerang)
• Trade area demographic data
• Trade areas determined by intercept surveys
• Compare current customers with residents within
  the trade areas

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Qualitative Methods

• Key informant interviews
• Select respondents
• Prepare questions but allow flexibility to
  explore topics as they emerge
• Identify major issues
• Focus Groups
• Efficient means to interview a group of market
  customers
• Invite representative range of customers (gender,
  age, location of residence, income, household
  composition)
• Guided conversation prepare questions
• Record or have person taking notes
• Good method for testing ideas

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Rapid Market Assessment

• Boise Capital City Public Market
• Saturday open-air farmers market in Downtown
  Boise
• 160 vendors (31 ag, 23 prepared food, 45
  arts)
• Rapid Market Assessment methods
• 14 volunteers gathered attendance at 15 market
  entrances for 10 minutes per hour over 4 hour
  period
• Dot survey set up at 2 locations with 4 flip
  charts (10 volunteers)
• Each respondent given 4 dots
• Dot survey questions
• What is your primary reason for coming to the
  Market today?
• How often have you shopped at the Market this
  year?
• About how much have you or will you spend at the
  Market today?
• How much have you or will you spend at other
  Downtown businesses today?

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Rapid Market Assessment
2011 2009
Agriculture Products 39 38
Music 2 2
Arts 5 8
Atmosphere 45 45
Prepared Foods 8 4
Childrens Programs 1 3

• Boise Capital City Public Market
• Estimated 17,443 visitors
• 45 of visitors come for the atmosphere, 39 for
  the ag products
• How much spent given in 6 categories cant
  capture very high sales which would skew average
  upward
• Can approximate average customer sale by
  multiplying midpoint of ranges by number of
  respondents, and dividing resulting total sales
  by total number of respondents (19)
• Can approximate total market daily sales by
  dividing total attendees by estimated group size
  (2) and multiplying by average sale (17,443 2 x
  19168,000)

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Customer Intercept Survey

• Survey design
• Exit survey what did you do today at the
  market, not what you usually do
• Clear questions without ambiguity
• Keep short but complete
• Test survey instrument
• Sample size
• More the better, allows to dig deep into data
• 100 minimum, 300 preferred
• Conduct over multiple days and repeat annually
• Training
• Speak to customers as they leave the market
• Avoid selection bias
• Knowledgeable and cheerful interviewers
• One person takes survey
• Dont change questions
• Record interviewers observations
• Manager review all surveys soon after completed

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Customer Intercept Survey Demographic Profile

• Conducted two Saturdays
• 262 Surveys Completed

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Customer Intercept Survey Demographic Profile
Q23. What is your home zip code? (N253)
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Customer Intercept Survey Demographic Profile

• Boise median household income 2009 50,633
  (quickfacts.census.gov)

Q26. What range includes your total household
income, before taxes, for 2010? (N215)
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Customer Intercept Survey Visit Characteristics
Groupsize    
Average 2.1  
Min 1  
Max 12  
Mode 2 48
Mode 1 or 2 75
Q1. To get to the Market today, did you walk,
bicycle, drive in a car, or take a bus?
(N254) Q2. How long did you travel to get to
the Market today? (N261) Q3. Including
yourself, how many people came with you to the
Market? (N258)
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Customer Intercept Survey Visit Characteristics
Q4. Before today, when was the last time you
came to the Market? (N260)
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Customer Intercept Survey Visit Characteristics
Range 0-12 Mean 3.5
Q5. Counting everywhere you made a purchase
today, how many different vendors did you buy
from? (N245)
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Customer Intercept Survey Purchasing
Q6. Did you buy any food today that you ate
while in the Market? (N247) Q8. Did you buy food
to take home or take away from the Market today?
(N251) Q10. Did you buy any crafts or nonfood
items at the Market today? (N248)
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Customer Intercept Survey Purchasing
Purchases Food to take home Eat on premises Crafts/nonfoods Total
Average (among those who spent) 29.67 9.53 30.88 37.15
Average (all customers) 23.33 4.69 6.01 34.83
Min 1.50 0.00 1.00 1.50
Max 200.00 50.00 160.00 226.50
Total 6,111.70 1,229.50 1,575.00 8,916.20
17,433 customers/day 2.1 customers/group x
34.83 289,000 total market sales/day
Q7. Counting everything that you bought, how
much money did you spend on food that you ate
while in the Market? (N129) Q9. Counting
everything that you bought, how much money did
you spend on food to take home or away?
(N206) Q11. How much money did you spend on all
the crafts or nonfood items you bought at the
Market today? (N51)
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Mean Expenditures
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Customer Intercept Survey Community Impact
Q13. While you are in downtown Boise today, do
you plan to shop at any stores or businesses, or
are you just shopping at the Market? (N251)
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Customer Intercept Survey
Q. 14-16. Compared to other places that sell
similar products, would you describe the
quality/selection/prices of products at the
Market as much better, somewhat better, about the
same, somewhat worse, or much worse? (N250, 252,
242)
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Customer Intercept Survey
Q19. What things to you like best about the
Capital City Public Market? (N255)
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Non-Customer Analysis
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Customer On-Line Survey

• Means to reach shoppers and non-shoppers
• Self-selected so unlikely to be truly
  representative
• Need aggressive campaign to encourage
  participation

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Demand Analysis Trade Area 1 (2 mile ring)

• Findings
• Small population but expected to increase
  (47,680)
• Small average household size (2.27)
• Very low median age (27.2)
• Below average household income but expected to
  increase substantially (62,181)
• Fairly small percentage of high income households
  (27 over 75k)
• Low percentage family households (common in city
  locations)
• Very high levels of educational attainment

• Downtown area and adjacent neighborhoods
• Current location convenient and easily accessible
  some can walk, accessible public transportation
• Significant competition for fresh food with
  upscale supermarkets and some specialty food
  stores

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Trade Area Demographic Analysis
Source Nielsen/Claritas, Inc., 2013
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Vendor Analysis
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Charlottesville City Market Number of Vendors

• Management began reporting average numbers of
  vendors per week in 2007 (83) rose to 111 in
  2011
• If trends continue, the Market will have about
  130 vendors by 2014
• Linear regression line (trendline) can be added
  to chart in Excel under Layout function
• Future years are determined by substituting the
  nth term in the data (here years 6, 7, and 8) for
  the x in the linear equation y7.5(6)71.3
• Excel also permits exponential and other
  equations which can have better fit to the data

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Vendor Stalls Sales
Vendors Reserved Non-reserved Total
Farm 46 50 96
Food 24 46 70
Crafts 32 112 144
Total 102 208 310

Vendors Reserved Non-reserved Total
Farm 45 24 31
Food 24 22 23
Crafts 31 54 46
Total 33 67 100
Charlottesville City Market Target 50
farmer/30 food/20 crafts
2010 Sales Reserved Non-reserved Total
Farm 800,201
Food 396,268
Crafts 167,969
Total 1,364,438 119,218 1,483,656

2010 Sales Reserved Non-reserved Total
Farm 59
Food 29
Crafts 12
Total 92 8 100
2012 Stalls Reserved Non-reserved Total
Farm 65
Food 21
Crafts 22
Total 108 7 115

2012 Stalls Reserved Non-reserved Total
Farm 60
Food 19
Crafts 20
Total 94 6 100
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Charlottesville City Market Gross Sales
Vendors required to report sales daily pay 6 of
gross sales for rent
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Charlottesville City Market Gross Sales
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Charlottesville City Market

• Median between 21 and 30, say 25
• Average likely higher (skewed upwards by small
  number of high spending customers)

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Farmer Analysis
Sources Google Map and US Census Bureau Quick
Facts
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Agricultural Data Findings
Year Farms - VA
1964 80,354
1969 64,572
1974 52,699
1978 49,936
1982 51,859
1987 44,799
1992 42,230
1997 41,095
2002 47,606
2007 47,383
2012 54,946
2017 62,522
? 2007-2017 15,139
? 1997-2007 15.3
? 2007-2017 32.0
? 2007-2012 16.0
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Farms Utilizing Direct Marketing
Year Virginia Region
1992 1,789 278
1997 1,713 267
2002 2,513 392
2007 2,855 503
2012 3,383 560
2017 4,044 640
Change 2007-2017 1,189 137
Change 2007-2017 42 27
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Direct Marketing Sales
Year Virginia Region
1992 7,036 848
1997 10,594 2,516
2002 16,825 2,049
2007 28,878 4,518
2012 33,773 5,119
2017 40,948 6,173
Change 2007-2017 12,070 1,655
Change 2007-2017 42 37
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Farmers Market Federation of New York
ConferenceWhat are Your Market Numbers?
Ted Spitzer, President www.marketventuresinc.com t
spitzer_at_marketventuresinc.com [phone]