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Research Outline

Prepared for Austin F. | Delivered August 3, 2019

Farmers Markets

Goals

To help determine the total addressable market size for farming record-keeping software, understand some statistics related to farming, such as the number of organic farms, number of farmers markets in the U.S., and the average number of attendees at farmers markets. Additionally, obtaining other statistics and data related to the farming and farmers market industry would be helpful for determining a marketing strategy and identifying the best features to include in a platform.

Early Findings

  • In 2016, there were 14,000 certified organic farms in the U.S., which was a 56% increase from 2011. This is the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  • Some farms practice organic farming but do not get certified because of the difficulty of the process and the cost.
  • The USDA publishes a directory of all farmers markets in the U.S. here. Unfortunately, the page was not working. However, an alternative source that was modified in 2018 listed the number of U.S. farmers markets as 8,720.
  • Annual sales at U.S. farmers markets are estimated at $1 billion.
  • More than half of farmers travel less than 10 miles to sell at a farmers market. 85% of vendors at the markets traveled less than 50 miles.
  • Many farmers markets are failing and attendance is down, likely because the market is getting saturated, and only so many markets can be supported.
  • On market in Ohio that has collected data from the time the market began, found that there was a 65% decrease in attendance from September 2017 to September 2019. However, the average sales per customer increased.
  • Another market in Vermont found that attendance decreased by 18% from January 2018 to 2019, but the average sales per customer increased by about 42% in the same period.