Easy to read and well organized, this 162-page booklet outlines how you can launch a processing business and sell products directly to the public.

Statistics show strong growth potential for managers who decide to "do it on their own." Natural products, for example, such as organic foods, functional foods and supplements, are a $45 billion US industry and growing 20% per year. At the farm level, the trend towards healthier eating has been evidenced in the sales of garlic between 1970 and 1992, up 8.51% (USDA food Consumption Prices and Expenditures).

Marketing on the Edge explores how to approach a wide range of direct marketing businesses such as meat markets, wineries and much more. All related topics are covered including processing, merchandising and promotion (see table of contents below). Special sections on the role of the Internet for your business are included.

Table of Contents

Consumer trends

    * Improved nutrition
    * The population is aging
    * People are eating out
    * Farms as educational resources and family destinations
    * Increasing Internet use
    * On farm processing is expanding

Is Direct Marketing for You?

Types of Direct Marketing

(making selections to match your operation)

    * Roadside Stands
    * Roadside Markets
    * Farmers Markets
    * Direct Delivery
    * Agri-tourism
    * Subscription Farming and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Components of Direct Marketing

    * Retail (includes produce, greenhouse/garden center, gifts/crafts, Internet and mail order, winery.
    * Food Service (includes coffee, snack bar, ice cream, bakery, deli, meat market, on farm restaurant).
    * Agri-tourism (includes pick-your-own, school tours, bus tours, festivals/events, corporate parties, weddings, bed and breakfasts, working vacations, mazes, children’s play areas, birthday parties, haunted houses and boo barns, wagon rides, amusement rides, animal barn yards, trails, cross country skiing).

Merchandising

    * Displaying products
    * Allocating space
    * Arranging displays
    * Pricing
    * Customer service/knowledgeable staff
    * Quality control care and handling of fruit and vegetables

Advertising and Promotion

    * Developing an advertising strategy
    * Methods of advertising and promotion (signs, logo, newspaper, magazine, radio, television, direct mail, coupons, flyers and posters, yellow pages, point of purchase, labels and packaging, display rack cards, displays at fairs, co-operative advertising, word-of mouth, special events)
    * Advantages and disadvantages

Value Added Processing

    * Evaluating feasibility of on farm processing ventures
    * Financial and operational plan
    * Regulations for processing (sanitation, food safety, labeling, zoning, licenses, registrations, sales tax, Universal Product Code, trade marks, insurance)
    * Production plan (development, testing, launch, facilities and equipment, supplies)
    * Distribution (food service, wholesalers, brokers, packaging)
    * Labeling (requirements, design, development)