WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS PREVENTING CUSTOMERS FROM VISITING FARMERS' MARKETS MORE?

Schmit, T.M.¹, Severson, R.M.*², Sawaura, E.³

¹Associate Professor, *²Extension Associate. ³Research Assistant, Cornell University

Farmers' markets (FMs) could be considered the original flag bearer of the local foods movement. Research conducted by the USDA documents the explosion in the number of the FMs and sales over the past 15 years. Late in the last decade, USDA research found a flattening trend in the development of new markets, decline in farmer participation, and weakening customer sales; creating uncertainty regarding the viability of FMs themselves and as a sales venue to sustain farming operations in the long term. Understanding the barriers experienced by customers is important to (re)design FM operations and locations  improve the customer experience and increase sales, and advance vendor composition and product displays to attract patrons and maximize customer sales. An online Qualtrics survey was developed and completed by 3,800 persons located throughout the U.S. A Likert scale (0=not important to 4=extremely important) was utilized to calculate average scores to rank and measure the magnitude of barriers experienced by three customer groups (flag bearers casual shoppers, non-market shoppers). Means difference tests analyzed statistical difference defined as a p value less than 0.05. Consistent barriers among all three customer groups were issues related to convenience. Market times conflicted with personal schedules. Customers preferred one-stop shopping. Access to and purchase of local foods were important to shoppers as was the ease to make such purchases at retail outlets other than FMs. The four largest barriers to spending more at FMs were prices being too high ranking first and lack of carrying cash ranking second. Limited variety of products and number of vendors to choose from ranked third and fourth. The research served as a foundation to develop Reversing the Downward Trend: A Toolkit for Farmers Markets to Match Consumer Trends. The toolkit suggests strategies to retain dedicated shoppers, entice less frequent shoppers to return more regularly, and to attract customers who do not shop at FMs to participate.