Sampling at the farmers’ markets
I remember when I was about to do my first farmers’ market. I wanted to sample to everyone and anyone to share the tastes of my business with the world. I had prepackaged samples that I put out in front at my booth, inviting and welcoming everyone walking by to enjoy. It was the new food business owner enthusiasm at play. It didn’t take long for some folks to ruin it lol.
The rookie days of sampling…
I have learned over the years that there is a time and place for sampling, and a strategic method to sample with a purpose. The ingredients for specialty products are expensive and I cannot afford to sample like Costco. At some markets, pretty much the entire aisle samples. Many of the booths are run by employees, especially at the more established companies. A few of us are a one person show where we make everything and wear all the hats. Sampling Costco style hurts less when you’re not so close to it. I mean, an employee has less ties with all the investments in the business just to even have samples, thus having less connection with sampling Costco style because they are not the ones paying for the ingredients, making the stuff by hand, preparing the samples, etc. It hurts less on the days and places where more people just want to sample than buy. Yes, sampling comes with our territory, but I think one should be strategic about it to make the most of it, rather than serving as a free buffet situation, week after week…
There have been samplers that played a key role in ruining the sampling experience. The ones that come to mind are:
THE POCKET STUFFER
It took about a couple of months for me to have had enough with the samples-for-all method lol. It was a lot of little things combined, but one specific incident really made me fed up. One morning, a man walked up to my booth and took interest in my samples. I briefly shared about the products and told him to help himself. He replied, “thanks,” and excitedly proceeded to stuff his jacket pocket with handfuls of samples and walked away. I’ve never seen anything like it. I was still fairly new to the farmers’ market scene at the time, but usually, people would usually taste the samples at the booth, not just grab and go, like I was a public pantry box, just there to feed everyone lol. Well, that was the first incident to dim the excitement of the new business owner wanting to sample to everyone in town to wanting to selectively sample.
GRABBY KIDS (UNSUPERVISED)
The first kid that rubbed me the wrong way was this girl that came week after week to eat samples and never bought anything (adults do this too lol, but kids rarely come to make a purchase, especially when I used to mostly have items that were for folks with dietary restrictions). Later, I noticed it was quite common for kids to do this at the markets. I am not going to lie. Now when I see a group of kids approach my booth, sometimes I hide. One time, I had my samples wiped out by a group of kids that lined up just for the samples. I was out of samples for those that had genuine interest in the products. Sometimes, the kids eat multiple samples. I’ve had to be careful to not have samples out in grabbable distance also because I don’t want to get into any trouble. Sometimes the very young kids may see samples and excitedly want to grab and try. And I don’t always know if they have food allergies or if there are ingredients their parents just may not want them to have. With kids too young, we can never be too careful. With kids old enough to be aware of what they can’t have, they came to my booth, interested in samples, but then proceeded to ask about certain ingredients because they knew they couldn’t have it.
THE WEEKLY GRAZER
With the farmers’ markets that have back to back sampling, sometimes the same people come by every week to graze their way through the market on samples and don’t buy anything lol. I am glad that they like the samples enough to keep coming back, but it gets especially defeating on days when enough people just want to sample and not buy. Like I said, many of the neighboring vendors that sample are employees of the companies. They aren’t quite as attached to it, as they’re not the ones investing in ingredients, putting in the time and love into making, packaging, paying for the fees, and everything in between just to be there. The employees just have to pick up, come and set up, and sell.
Sometimes people don’t even know what you have. They just want samples. Samples of anything. They go booth to booth, collecting samples. “Do you have samples?” they’ll ask. They treat the market like it is there to provide free bites of treats for them. Sampling to buy is one thing, but too many people come to sample with the intention of free grazing….again, some of the same people do this week after week.
I still sample. But I have since adjusted the way I sample. I sample when I feel there is a genuine interest in the product, not just an interest for a sample and dash. I found that having samples visible but not accessible for an easy grab and go helps. Having the samples cased or out of reach forces them to talk to you. When I had the samples just out in front for easy access, people would grab samples for the entire family and walk away. Some didn’t even make eye contact or say hello back to me, just grabbed and walked away lol.
I have noticed that at some of the popup events, pretty much it’s more likely that most people that sample, make a purchase. It’s such a different vibe and crowd compared to some of the weekly farmers’ markets. Of course, I have done my share of bust events when it comes to popups, but that’s for another blog post lol. I’ve done enough to know which ones do well with my products and brand.
