FARMER’S MARKET RESEARCH FINDINGS

austin farmers’ market research findings

The Sustainable Food Center (SFC) received a grant from the City of Austin to assess the feasibility of a large, city-centered farmers’ market in Austin. Over the past decade similar initiatives to launch a city-centered farmers’ market have failed. As a result, SFC felt the feasibility study was critical to determine the city’s readiness and key factors for success. To achieve its goal, SFC conducted four separate surveys designed to assess the interest and attitudes of four key groups as they relate to a city-centered farmers’ market 1. Random sample of Austin consumers; 2. Central Texas growers and vendors;
3. Current farmers’ market consumers, and 4; Community leaders. The specific methodology of each survey and the key findings are described below. This work would not be possible without support from the City of Austin, donors, volunteers, students and dedicated SFC staff. For copies of the original surveys or the survey findings contact the Sustainable Food Center through email at info@sustainablefoodcenter.org or make a request through www.sustainablefoodcenter.org.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The goal of the Sustainable Food Center (SFC)’s market research effort was to assess the feasibility of a large, city-centered farmers’ market in Austin. Feasibility was defined by sufficient consumer demand in Austin, adequate regional supply/interest among farmers, and support from the city’s business and community leaders. The survey results indicate the city-centered market is supported by a majority of consumers, city leaders, and growers. Key factors that will determine the markets’ success include early farmer participation (especially from large established growers), significant marketing and education, consistent supply of high quality produce, and adequate parking.

The primary market customer will be one who has attended markets in the past, or is currently attending farmers’ markets. This individual is likely to be a woman between the age of 35 – 49 with a college degree, representing a household income of $40,000 or more. For these customers, the primary drivers for purchasing at the farmers’ market include access to quality, locally grown food, and ability to meet the grower. Most customers plan to buy vegetables and fruits, but also look forward to value-added products (breads, jams, cheese, etc.). A majority of current customers estimate they spend between $21 - $50. For most, the food purchased at the farmers’ market represents a fraction of their total food purchases. For these market goers adequate parking will be essential as a majority will be arriving by car. Most would like to spend 15 minutes or less getting there, but many were willing to spend up to 30 minutes.

There was a 17% response rate from the Central Texas farmers/market vendors and managers who were mailed a survey (103 of 597). Ninety farmers replied, a majority (86%) was interested in potentially participating in the city-centered market. Trending close to the Central Texas ‘tomato season’, a majority of farmers prefer to sell the months of April – July and their interest declines throughout the rest of the year. Farmers appear to prefer Saturdays (47 of 77) of those interested in coming and Wednesdays (30 of 77) for market days; however many may currently participate in markets on Saturday as many indicated that this was the least preferred day. SFC must investigate this with potential market participants.

SURVEY OF POTENTIAL CONSUMERS

SFC contracted with Montgomery & Associates to assess attitudes and opinions of Austinites about a city-centered farmers’ market. The survey was conducted by phone, and represented a random sampling of 628 residents of Austin, Texas. Conducted from April 16 - 23, 2002, the bulk of the survey questions were asked only of the 500 who said they were or might be interested in attending a new city-centered farmers’ market in or near downtown Austin. The margin of error for the sample of 500 is 4.3%. Highlights of the survey are as follows:

Demand for a Market	67.2% of Austinites said they would be interested in attending a new, city-centered farmers’ market.
Primary Demographic	25.6% of those with an interest in the new market currently shop at a farmers’ market, local roadside or pocket farm stand. About one in four of these people are over 55. 39.6% live in a two-person household.
Frequency	43.2% of those with an interest in the new market thought they would shop there at least once a week.
Estimated Spend	44.4% of current farmers’ market customers say they now spend up to $21-$50 a visit whenever they go to a farmers’ market. People estimate their future spending more generously. Among those interested in a new market, 28.2% estimate spending up to $20 a visit; 44.6% estimate spending $21-$50, and 19% estimate spending more than $50. This represents a range of 10 – 50% of the total food budget of nearly 75% of all respondents.
Individual Motivation for Attending Farmers’ Markets	44% of those who currently shop at farmers’ markets do so mainly for the high quality produce and unusual choices.
Preferred Days and Times	24.6% of respondents said Saturday mornings and 18% said Saturday afternoons were most preferred. 16% indicated that weekday evenings were the next most convenient time.
Key Success Factors to Attract Customers	Quality of produce and availability of parking will be key factors in determining whether people visit the new market.
Transportation and Distance	92.8% said they would probably use a personal vehicle to get to the market, and 54% would prefer to spend 15 minutes or less getting there.

CURRENT FARMERS’ MARKET CUSTOMER SURVEY

Betsy Levy, a long-time SFC volunteer and Texas A&M doctorate candidate, volunteered to survey existing farmers’ market consumers to identify their demographic profile, preferences, and attitudes towards a new central market. As part of her doctorate research, Betsy Levy had conducted a similar survey of Boggy Creek farmers’ market consumers. Leveraging this expertise, Levy worked with staff and volunteers to develop a survey instrument. With the help of SFC staff and volunteers, Levy conducted in-person interviews with 96 consumers who were willing to be surveyed. The surveys were conducted October – December 2001 at four area markets. Highlights of the survey are as follows:

Farmers’ Markets Surveyed	38.5% Westlake, 28.1% Georgetown, 18.8% San Marcos, and 14.6% New Braunfels.
Demographic Profile of Customer	Of those individuals that agreed to complete the survey, 69.8% of consumers were female; 34.4 % were between 35 – 49, 33.3% were between age 50 – 64. When asked about ethnicity, 91% identified themselves as Anglo. 35.3% have household incomes above $60,000, 28.2% between $40 – 60,0000. When asked about education, 29.4% have some college, 28.7% have a Bachelor’s degree, 27.7% hold an advanced degree. 48.6% live in the urban environment; 36.5% live in a suburban environment.
Shopper Habits	60.6% of those surveyed had been to another market in the past six months.
Individual Motivation for Attending Farmers’ Markets	When provided with options, those surveyed identified the following as their motivation for attending markets: 84.2% like to buy food that is grown in or near their community; 77.9% like the high quality and/or unusual choices; 50.5% believe the food is nutritious and safe; 34.7% like meeting the producers.
Estimated Spend	14.8% spend $25 or more; 26.6% spend $15 - $25; 54.3% spend $5 – 15; 4.3% spend between $0 – 5
Portion of Food Purchased	59.6% purchase ‘A fairly small amount – the rest I buy at grocery store’; 23.4% buy about a quarter of their food at the market; 12.8% buy most of their food at the market.
Products Purchased at Market	Vegetables 96.8%, Fruit 76.8%, Baked Goods 50.5%, Other Prepared Foods 47.4%.
Needs not Fulfilled at Current Market	68% indicated that current markets had all they needed. Small numbers (less than 3 % in each case) felt that the markets needed bread, honey, more herbs, craft items, local beer and wine, more plants / flowers, vegan products, and more customers.
Distance Traveled	68.1% said the market was ‘near their home.’ When asked how far they would be willing to travel, respondents indicated they would be willing to travel a few minutes (7.4%), 10 – 15 minutes (46.3%), 30 minutes (37.9%), more than 30 minutes (8.4%).

FARMER / VENDOR SURVEY

To conduct a survey of interest of local growers, SFC staff worked with volunteer Karen Enyedy, local grower associations, and government agencies to identify a list of farmers and farmers’ market vendors located within a 100-mile radius of Austin. Prior to SFC’s work, the general assumption was that there were approximately 100 growers in the area. The research identified 597 growers and agricultural contacts. SFC developed a 21-question direct-mail survey targeting these potential market suppliers. In February 2002, SFC mailed the survey to assess interest, supply, and opinions about a city-centered farmers’ market. 103 surveys were returned, yielding a 17 % response rate. Highlights of the results are as follows:

	Profile of Survey Participants		94.2% of those surveyed were farmers; 5.8% were not farmers, but potential vendors. 81.1% had participated in a farmers’ market before.
	Grower/Vendor Interest		35.9% indicated interested in participating in a central farmers market; 36.9% maybe interested; and 27.2% are not interested.
	Average Amount of Sales ($) Expected		The sales expectations appear to vary significantly by grower depending on their size, ranging from $50 to $2,500 per week. More than 50% of the buyers expect to make between $200 - $500. The median sales expected are $300 per week.
	Available Supply		There is a significant range in the acreage each grower manages. Eleven (11) farmers manage one-acre farms, and one farmer manages 2,700 acres. The median available land for production is 24 acres. Of the 37 farmers that indicated they would participate in the market, the total available acreage for production is 1,518.
	Product Available		There are 59 different products that farmers/vendors identified to bring to market (vegetable, fruits, flowers, cheese, etc.). The products that farmers will bring include tomatoes (47%), squash (35%), melons (28%), peaches (24%), onions (23%), peppers (23%), and eggs (20%). There are 25 ‘value-added’ products that farmers/vendors identified they would like to sell. These products include dried produce (23%), pickled produce (20%), jam (20%), preserves (16%), and salsa (13%). Others mentioned include crafts, pesto, cider, syrup, cookies, relish, mean, oils and vinegar.
	Fee Structure		65.8% prefer a booth fee; 26% prefer a % of sales; and 4.1% prefer a membership.
	Months Farmers Prefer to Sell		May, June and July are the months growers prefer to sell, commanding 96%, 91% and 85% participation respectively. There is a sharp decline in interest beginning in August (68.1%) and continuing through November (55.6%). Based on this research, the preferred season for growers appears to follow the Central Texas growing season, with a peak season of May – July.
Best Days / Times of Week		The research indicated that Saturday and Wednesday appear to be preferred days of the week of the farmers interested in coming (77). Growers circled all days and times they prefer, yielding the following results: 46 for Saturday, 30 for Wednesday, 16 for Another choice (multiple choices were given—no third day yielded more than 4). The least favored day is Sunday AM (59.1%). Curiously, the second least favored day is Saturday AM (50%). The fact that 80% of those surveyed already participate in a farmers’ market may mean that their response is influenced by their participation in current Saturday morning markets. 14 of the farmers favoring Saturday already participate in a Saturday market and would have to expand yield and staff to cover two markets.
Current Market Participation of Grower/Vendors		35.6% of farmers surveyed currently sell at the Westlake market, 33.9% attend the Georgetown market, 13.6% attend Armadillo (now closed), and 37.3% attend other markets not identified on the survey.
Growers-only Market Position		89% would favor a growers-only, non-reseller market.

AUSTIN COMMUNITY LEADERS SAMPLE SURVEY

A group of seven (7) members of the 2002 Leadership Austin (LA) class assisted the Sustainable Food Center in identifying the opinions and attitudes of community leaders in a city-centered farmers’ market. The team developed a survey tool and identified 28 community leaders to target. These individuals were chosen based on their various positions within the community and their experiences analyzing city initiatives. The LA class members conducted the survey over a two-week period in April 2002, and successfully completed surveys with 23 of the 28 targeted individuals. Highlights from the survey results are listed below:

Profile of Survey Participants	13 business leaders; 4 government leaders; and 6 neighborhood and non-profit leaders.
Overall Support for Farmers’ Market	22 out of the 23 leaders surveyed support the idea of a city-centered farmers’ market.
Key Success Factors Raised by Respondents	Location, Parking, Motive, Content
Location	The respondents provided the following qualitative feedback when asked about potential locations. Plaza Saltillo (East Austin) and Downtown were cited most often. Riverside Drive was also cited as a potential location. The location chosen must provide easy access to the local farmers. The location must provide ample shade and water.
Parking	Parking was the most cited concern of leader respondents. Those surveyed felt a majority of market goers would drive to the market, and ample free or inexpensive parking must be available to ensure the market’s success.
Motive	Leaders felt the market must be economically viable, so it must be able to attract those willing to spend. Marrying economic viability with the availability of quality produce to East Austinites is the most challenging issue.
Content	Leaders felt fresh fruits and vegetables were required for a successful market. Meat, cheese, plants and other content could be added now and later (once the market was established). The market should be a family attraction; activities for kids and local music are needed.

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