Simon Knott learns about the growth in the county’s farmers’ markets.
About two years ago the success of Ian Chisholm’s egg production on his free range poultry farm at Norton Field Farm in Norton Heath, near Chelmsford, led him to diversity into meat production too. As with many new ventures not everything went to plan and he was badly let down, leaving him suddenly with a lot of free range chickens to sell.
Ian relates the story to me as we chat over coffee in his farmhouse. “It was a difficult time and I found it very had to get a stall on the better farmers markets that existed”, says Ian. “At the same time there was a big gap in the mid Essex with no farmers markets at all.” With serendipity on his side he noted this niche in the market and decided to set up on his own. “Our first market was at Blackmore Village Hall and it very quickly grew to other venues as well.” With no pun intended the growth of the markets was organic, with Ian finding smaller venues starting to struggle, while the town centre venues flourished. The biggest success to date is at Southend, where Ian took over the management from the local authority and transformed it into its current status as the busiest farmers markets in the county.
As Ian explains his role in actively nurturing the markets is a good part of the success and to this end he last year recruited the help of Stephen Brown, as a co – director. “When we organise a market we supply the pitch and gazebos, if needed. We also supply electricity for lighting and refrigeration, and actually manage the event allowing the traders to get on with selling”.
Observing traders in action Ian and Stephen quickly noted that although traders may produce the best product in the county, their sales and marketing skills can leave a lot to be desired. Nurturing these skills takes the form of constructive criticism; maybe better presentation, more effective pricing or active selling. The benefits are for all involved and Ian sums up the situation with a company motto: for us to be successful you need to be successful. The commitment by everyone involved is considerable. Ian and Stephen have to be up at 5am to get on site for a very busy 12 hour day in all weathers.
However, all the hard work brought its own rewards and Essex Farmers Markets has since become a successful business in its own right, so much so that Ian decided to return to just producing free range eggs on his farm. Successful markets are now established twice a month at Romford, and the recent opening at Lakeside Shopping Centre, on the first Sunday of the month, has proved to be an overwhelming success, with Ian recognising its potential to be the busiest farmers market in the country. I ask Ian what kind of feedback he gets: “We get a very positive response. Customers are a lot more switched on now as they wake up to the fact the farmers markets are a good place to buy produce. They now know what they want to buy”.
2007 looks to be the busiest year yet for Essex Farmers Markets, with plans to organise extra food festivals on the heels of last years three successes. Transferring the concept to other countries is also in the pipeline as Ian negotiates expansion with Capital Shopping Centres. It appears that Essex Farmers Markets is really shaping up to be the silver lining to Ian’s original cloud.
January 2007 Essex Life Magazine
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