Farmers Market & Vendor Licenses & Best Practices
Licenses for Farmers Market Food Vendors & Market Tips, Techniques, and Preparation
- State of Vermont
- Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food & Markets – Overview of Regulations Covering Products Commonly Sold at Vermont Farmers’ Markets
- Vermont Department of Food & Lodging – Licensing a Home-Based Food Establishment
- Vermont Department of Health
Ever wonder how to make your booth more effective or why other booths at your farmers’ market do better than yours? Is it the products you offer? Is it the presentation of your products? Is it your pricing? Is it you? Ready to try some new things? Checkout these farmers market vendor best practices to discover how to increase sales at your next farmers market.
- UVM’s Farmers’ Market Vendor Checklist has some easy to implement valuable advice to consider such as:
- Make a list of the supplemental display materials you will need—banners, signs, table coverings, awnings/umbrellas, tables, racks, water containers, misting bottles, bags, etc.
- Collect recipes, product use and care tips, brochures, business cards or any other promotional items—get them designed and printed making sure your farm name and contact info are clearly visible and accurate.
- Make sure your signage and prices are clearly visible.
- Set up your display to have as many linear feet of display space as possible. If you have the room, consider a U‐ shaped or V‐ shaped display.
- Give a little something extra—a recipe, a sample, or just a sincere smile. Provide opportunities for customers to give feedback.
- Don’t put things you really want to sell on the ground. From eye‐level to waist‐high is prime shopping space.
- UVM’s The Art & Science of Farmers’ Market Display – Effective selling from your booth.
- Here’s a step-by-step process to price your farmers’ market products from the Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL): Pricing Your Farmers’ Market Products
Best Practices for Farmers Markets
- Farmers Market Legal Toolkit – Developed by a collaboration of the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School (CAFS) the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT).
- Vermont’s Direct Markets: Stagnant, Saturated, or Ready to Surge? – A tool for farmers markets and their vendors commissioned by NOFA-VT to understand how current (September 2017) trends in food retailing and consumer values shape the opportunities and challenges for Vermont’s direct to consumer food marketers.