Another season, another great reason to celebrate local food!

As you know, Local Food Week starts today (Monday, June 4) and runs until Sunday, June 10.

At FMO, we hope your market is going all out to make Local Food Week a special event. This is a great week to emphasize all the things that make farmers’ markets so awesome!

Creating some buzz for Local Food Week is simple and fun.

Here are a few ideas to amp up your customers:

  • Customized signage made by vendors: Emphasize the unbeatable freshness shoppers get at your market by having your vendors post homemade signs that say “Picked this morning!”
  • Provide free samples: People love free stuff! Vendors can treat their customers to free samples of their bestsellers or new products.
  • “Market Goodie Basket” raffle: Surprise and delight your customers by creating a raffle of market goodies.
  • Create some buzz online: Send a media release to your local radio station and newspaper describing what your market has in store for Local Food Week. (For tips on how to write a news release, log into the FMO website as a member, click on View Member-Only Resources and then scroll down to click on Media Tips: Tips for Writing News Releases.) Take advantage of your social media channels to tell your customers about Local Food Week (click here for social media tips). Create a hashtag for your market and encourage your customers to tag it when they’re sharing photos, and definitely use it when you’re sharing their photos! This’ll add up to more fun, more customers, more engagement, and ultimately, more success for your market!

Local Food Week is the kick-off to the outdoor market season, so make it a grand event! It’s an awesome opportunity to start your season on a fun, enthusiastic note. Your customers will
remember the excellent service, exciting atmosphere, and free treats, and they’ll be back!