Consumer supply-chain demands and challenges at farmers’ markets

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer demands for local foods at a farmers’ market. This includes examining both what products consumers want more of at the market and also what factors influence consumers’ attendance for a weekday farmers’ market. Design/methodology/approach This study was based on open-ended comments from a market survey of 270 participants in a farmers’ market in the USA. Findings This study revealed that consumers want more products at the farmers’ market that require significant resources and time to grow, such as meat and fruit. Consumers reported that they would be more likely to attend a weekday market if it had better hours of operation and better selection. Consumer comments also revealed that consumers often perceive the market to run out of products and not have the full supply that they want to purchase. Research limitations/implications This research represents qualitative insights at one farmers’ market in the USA. While there are observations that may transfer to other markets, caution should be used when generalizing these findings. Practical implications This research is informative for farmers in providing them a list of consumer demands and also highlights the ways farmers need to make their market convenient to consumer work and life patterns. Originality/value This work adds value to the literature by expanding our understanding of specific foods customers see as limited in the farmers’ market, and it also provides much needed information regarding consumer behavior and weekday market attendance, which is not discussed as often in the literature.

Exploring producers' motivations and challenges within a farmers' market

“…Motivations and challenges may be influenced not only by the national or local socio-economic context of SFSCs and producers, but also by the type, such as FM, CSA, cooperatives, etc., and by attributes of the SFSCs under study. SFSCs are so diverse and heterogeneous, that even proximate FMs located in similar contexts can display different circumstances and characteristics that may explain motivations and challenges of producers (Garner and Ayala, 2018). The choice of a single case study was justified by the need to acquire an in-depth understating of producers' motivations and challenges.…”

“…On the supply side, FMs face a variety of problems. For instance, some challenges that limit growth of FMs can be lack of reliable supply and therefore convenient access for the consumer (Garner and Ayala, 2018). Furthermore, producers tend to struggle with getting access to consumers and building networks, because of the significant distance that separates them and the time that they need to invest (Koutsou and Sergaki, 2019).…”

“…Extensive research has been conducted around consumers' perceptions of SFSCs (Crawford et al, 2018;Dodds and Holmes, 2017), consumers' behaviour towards purchasing in SFSCs (Giampietri et al, 2016), consumers' motivations underlying their preference for SFSCs (Elghannam et al, 2018;Petrescu et al, 2017) and consumers' challenges within SFSCs (Garner and Ayala, 2018). In contrast, the issue of producers' motivations to engage and the challenges that they face remain under researched (Charatsari et al, 2018).…”

A termelői piacok fogyasztói – nemzetközi és hazai kitekintés The consumers of the farmers’ markets – global and local outlook

“…Fogyasztói preferenciák és motivációk Baker et al, 2009;Carson et al, 2016;Conner et al, 2010;Dodds et al, 2014;Dukeshire et al, 2015;Fehrenbach -Wharton, 2012;Garner -Ayala, 2018;Grebitus et al, 2017;Gumirakiza et al, 2014Gumirakiza et al, , 2017Halldorsdottir -Nicholas, 2016;Kadanali -Demir, 2018;Shi -Hodges, 2016;Spilkova et al, 2013] Jellemző fogyasztók a termelői piacokon Abelló et al, 2014;Berg -Preston, 2017;Grebitus et al, 2017 Fogyasztók és termelők közötti kölcsönhatásokat, motivációs különbségek Carson et al, 2016;Hunt, 2007;Leiper -Clarke-Sather, 2017 Termelői piacok működésében bekövetkező változások Bett et al, 2013;Blasi et al, 2015;Halldorsdottir -Nicholas, 2016 Helyi élelmiszerekkel szemben felmerülő attitűdök megítélése Asebo et al, 2007;Brown, 2003;Conner et al, 2010 Termelői piacok és a kereskedelmi egységek termékei közötti különbségek Bavorova et al, 2016 Fogyasztói tudatosság, fenntarthatóság és a termelői piacok környezetvédelmi előnyeinek fogyasztói észlelése Bozoglu et al, 2014;Szabó -Juhász, 2015;Dukeshire et al, 2015;Grebitus et al, 2017;Jadudova et al, 2018;Polimeni et al, 2018 Forrás: saját szerkesztés…”

“…A legtöbb tanulmány a felső-középosztályt azonosította be a tipikus termelői piacra járó fogyasztó jövedelmi osztályának. Ez a kifejezés minden esetben a vizsgált területi egység (nemzeti, vagy a vizsgált termelői piachoz kapcsolódó város/régió) átlagfizetését meghaladó jövedelmi szintet jelentette [többek között: Abelló et al, 2014;Dodds et al, 2014;Garner -Ayala, 2018;Hunt, 2007;Jadudova et al, 2018;Szabó -Juhász, 2015].…”