My husband is a farmer and I have learned to do many things on the farm. We love to play with dirt and make things grow. As part of that, we take part in several of our local farmers’ markets selling produce that we grow and source from orchards across the state. When we don’t have enough fresh strawberries or raspberries to sell to people to make their jam, I tell them I have other options if they are interested, and I introduce them to Alison’s Pantry’s strawberry bits and pieces and the raspberry crumbles. I also tell them about all the great canning spices and so many other canning products that are available, which leads me to talk about a few of my other favorite products that I order almost every month from AP. I run a fruit stand at my house and get to meet lots of new people through that as we sell produce. I have people ask to be on my email list for the produce so they know what is on at the fruit stand. Then I ask them if they would like to be on my “produce only” list or on my “Alison’s Pantry email list”, which gives me another opportunity to teach them about Alison’s Pantry.
I know these are kind of unique opportunities with the farmer’s market, but they are great opportunities. A lot of people around here love to be self sufficient with canning and preserving food. I try to find out what types of food my customers love to eat – if they have allergies, or have foods they need to avoid or if they are just more into healthy eating and steer them towards those foods in the AP catalog. I feel like customer service and a “can do” attitude are most important in my business.
I have a husband and 4 active boys who are awesome helpers with my businesses and on the farm. They could sell the foods almost as good as I can!