Small Bites August 11, 2021
dedicated to creating opportunities to promote & sell more VT products to more buyers

Back to Square One?

Keeping staff & community safe has been our collective concern for 18 months. With Delta we have a persistent variant at our door. Though we maintain the “best in the nation vaccination rate”, we now seeing an uptick in covid cases particularly in the northern part of the state.
 
Lantman's Store in Hinesburg announced via social media on the evening of Sunday August 8th that the store would be closing & not reopening until the 16th.
 
The Morrisville Food Coop reinstated mask wearing on Friday. This applies to all who enter the store, including vendors, customers, & staff. It is well known that compliance to mask wearing for non-vaxed Vermonters & travelers is up to individual honesty & integrity. Sadly, those who are unmasked are also entering businesses without a mask. By requiring masks for all, it is in the Morrisville Coop's best interest to keeping their doors open & reducing the potential for community infection.
 
Will other stores follow the Coop's lead, or to keep the community safe from further infection rates, will they end up closing as Lantman's has?
This illustration by Mouse summarizes how some stores are feeling about the current
increase in C19 infection rates in Vermont.

Making decisions that keep staff, customers & vendors safe, is daunting & without precedent. All this while decisions are made that center around ordering, product receiving, & stocking & taking good care that customer service is maintained. Despite the glorious summer food & maybe a little because of the high summer visitation traffic, this picture is worth 1000 words.
On a more celebratory note!

Vermonters cheered on Olympian Elle Purrier St Pierre in all of her track & field meets. The VT Agency of Agriculture had fun sharing social media posts promoting all her races. It's not just the dairy farmers that are proud of her accomplishments!
For decades, Bread & Puppet Theater has rejoiced in the fine art of social activism with an eye to food produced as good, clean, safe, from small landholders.
 
Under the guidance of Elka Schumann, quintessential images we have come to associate with Vermont are the legacy of her visionary approach to art & activism. 
 
Her legacy lives on at farms, stores & offices across the state with the iconic images published as posters, banners & books. Read more on Elka's life & her recent passing at VT Digger. Make your purchases of her work at the B&P Publishing shop.
August. ENOUGH SAID.
Keeping Cool: Sweet Roots Farm Ice Cream

Sweet Roots Farm Store on Route 7 in Charlotte, has a commanding location & an extensive selection of products. Stocking VT products from Lesser Distribution & Pumpkin Village Foods, they also have vendors supplying DSD. Spotted in the snack section were the legendary Garuka & Butterfly Bakery Chocolate Peanut Butter bars.

A specialty of theirs is a line of ice cream using their own fruit made in partnership with Lu.Lu of Vergennes. The ice cream is made from blackberries, raspberries, & blueberries from their own patches.
 
The former Charlotte Berry Farm is now under new ownership with loads of excitement & lots of engagement. While strawberry fields undergo renovation, they purchase strawberries from other local farms to round out their product mix.
 
And a bonus! Sweet Roots is engaging customers with family-friendly Open Farm Week Events- including flower-crown making for everyone!
Stores across the state host flavorful experiences to celebrate the summer season. Here are a few random fun ones From Craftsbury to Putney:




Keep your signage accurate. Produce can change fast this time of year. Buyers & stockers need to double check signage is correct. It is especially true when you are stocking cross-over from out of state to VT produce.
 
Pennsylvania & New York peaches are strong sellers across Vermont this time of year, however Vermont peaches are more widely available. Your signs need to be truthful. Here is an example of mis-labeled seen recently in Vermont. Through a conversation with the staff, the peaches came from PA. Need help thinking it through? Try this tool to facilitate communication for signage & new products. Modify for any department to meet your store or farm stand's specific needs. 
Celebrating VT Farmers

August 8-15 is Open Farm Week! It is THE opportunity for farmers to showcase their operations, promote their farm to travelers & locals, while featuring their practices. It is a partnership of the VAAFM & VT Fresh Network's DigInVT, & of course our farmers.
 
Travelling along VT roadways, it is easy to spot the Open Farm week signs. Front Porch Forum is one of the key sponsors helping promote with announcements & event postings. Some farms are listing on FPF to steer locals to their operations.
 
At Farm to Plate, we love when stores cross promote with their farm-vendors to drive awareness of Open Farm Week happenings. Some of your vendors are hosting on farm experiences including pick your own flowers, flower bouquet making, orchard walks, goats & cow milking, tasting freshly made summer jam, music at the blueberry fields, flower crown making, AND so much more!
Blueberries a gift that keeps on giving this year!

Rob & Patricia, owners of Sunshine Valley Organic Berry Farm in Rochester, VT are seen as they engage with recent travelers from Massachusetts. Beside taking part in an endurance bike ride in Bristol, blueberry picking was at the top of their “while in Vermont in August” to-do list . Rob directed the folks to the Patriot Patch, where the berries were absolutely unbelievable!
 
There is plenty more to be harvested & this week's heat & sunshine, after copious rain, will sweeten them up even more. Stop by your local patch & savor the flavor of each nuanced variety. 
Corn is going nuts! Across the state, we had had some mixed amounts of rain & sun, but now that we are in mid-August (or there about) the corn varieties have kicked in full tilt.
 
Remember, shoppers like a "farm-feel” so try not to be too orderly in your display. Another good thing to consider, open a few ears to differentiate the variety & always have some bags handy along with pricing by the each & by the dozen.
The best of the season just keeps getting better at the Sweet Roots Farm store!
Produce merchandising pointers:

Always stock your freshest, most vibrant produce. Do not wait for old product to sell before putting out the freshest. Your farmstand gains a reputation based on being "fresh".
Promote the Bounty of
your County. 
Sunflowers, they just feel good, especially in these "still uncertain times".
In every valley, up in the mountains & down along the rivers there are "pop up” & long established farmstands sharing the bounty of the county so all can savor the flavor. With heat like we are having this week simple salads, outdoor grilling, & easy summer food is a must. Farm stands have it all from VT cheese, local meat, & all the summer veg you can imagine. As folks wrap up their stay… travelers are filling their coolers with Vermont products to take back to enjoy back home. Be sure to help them with impressive displays of all our products.
Hikers, bikers, boaters, travelers of all types, & home cooks are enjoying the first of the VT stone fruits! Champlain Orchards is just one of many offering pick our own & DSD, others like Omar's Fine Fruits can be found at farmers markets in Addison County. Locals & travelers are using ACORN's Eat Local app to help find PYO orchards, farm stands & can use the
map to help located farms participating in Open Farm Week.
Maple is a bounty in every Vermont county!

VAAFM celebrates all things maple with the Vermont Maple 100 this fall!
Use #VtMaple100 to promote your Vermont business & its maple affiliation Sign up today. It's free marketing for your business!
Reminder!
Retail training tools are available for free from Farm to Plate. Here are a few for you to explore:

Did you know....Vermont Climate Council Agriculture & Ecosystems Subcommittee is part of the Global Warming Solutions Act. And read the Farm to Plate Climate Change Brief