By Ruth Tott 

Selling Your Produce at Country Markets

Lucy Hill provides a real ‘no risk’ solution through the nationwide Country Markets co-operative organisation
See Also:
A Guide to Selling at Farmers Markets
Selling Eggs at the Farm Gate
Get Bartering
How to Make Your Plants Pay for themselves
Smallholders and Producers Guide to Social Media

Do you ever have craft items or surplus produce that you would like to sell? Alternatively, perhaps you would you like an easy market opportunity for the sale of regular production from your plot or animals? If so, read on to learn a little about the Country Markets organisation.
For more than ninety years a network of about three hundred Country Markets across England, Wales and the Channel Islands has been selling home-made baked goods, preserves, garden and smallholding-grown fruit and vegetables, plants and handmade crafts. Visitors to these markets can buy a wide variety of produce – in fact almost anything local and seasonal that can be produced in a domestic kitchen, garden or on a smallholding; and alongside these home-made goods, many Country Markets also sell locally produced meat, fish and dairy goods, and honey and eggs. The producers pride themselves on keeping the tradition of home-cooking, home-growing and hand-crafting alive, as well as producing the latest fashionable produce.
The aim of Country Markets is to encourage the public to discover the diversity and deliciousness of local, British, home-made, home-produced goods, and each market will reflect the locality and interests of its members – both customers and producers pride themselves on the quality of their produce and the friendliness of their markets.

Who can sell at a Country Market?

To sell produce at a market you have to be a member of your own regional market society, and you will, in addition, need to apply to be registered as a producer. Markets sell on a co-operative basis, so all produce of the same type is pooled together on a table; for example, all vegetables are on one table, regardless of who produced them. If you help at a market, you sell the items on the table you are manning, which will include any producer’s goods, not just your own. In return you will receive the sale value of the goods you sell, less a small commission, which covers the costs of running the market. You will also be covered by the Country Market insurance, so you do not need to arrange your own public liability policy.

Country Markets and the WI

The origins of Country Markets are inextricably linked with the foundation of the Women’s Institute (WI) in 1915. The WI was sponsored and supported by the Agricultural Organisation Society (AOS), which was a government predecessor of Defra. The AOS was interested in promoting co-operative selling amongst farmers and, as this was wartime, in encouraging a better distribution of essential foods.
The first official market actually opened in 1919 using the same principles as today’s Country Markets. In 1932 the current regional Market Societies started to become separately registered from the original central organisation, and operating procedures were formalised to accommodate this. The National Federation of Women’s Institutes became the sponsoring body, and remained so until 1995 when the present Country Markets organisation was established as a self-financing and self-regulating body. Any association with the WI name was finally dropped in 2004.

The Legalities

Country Markets Limited is the umbrella organisation under which there are now over fifty participating regions, each of which is a co-operative social enterprise, and both the umbrella organisation and each of the regional societies are companies registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act. In order to be a producer and gain the right to bring things to sell at the market, you have to become a member of the society.

This is open to anyone over the age of sixteen and costs the princely sum of five pence – yes, that’s right, five pence – which is a one-off payment and a real bargain based on the typical daily wage of a man in 1919. If inflation was taken into consideration that figure should now be between £70 and £80.

If you do become a producer you must abide by the members’ manual, which is there to make sure that markets do not fall foul of trading standards and food safety rules and regulations and also to make sure that each market presents a similar ‘corporate’ face to the public.

The manual contains sections on each of the different types of produce that can be sold at a Country Market, together with easy-to-follow guidance. The topics covered include what can and cannot be sold, labelling requirements, packaging, and the standards of production and cleanliness required for items on sale. It also offers guidance on whether an individual producer must register with any additional official body, for example, if selling eggs or producing cooked items.

Any producer wishing to sell food items (but not including garden produce or eggs) must have a Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering, which must be renewed every five years.

How to become a Country Markets Producer

If you wish to become a producer for Country Markets you should first check if there is a market operating near to you. Visit www.country-markets.co.uk and enter your postcode in the ‘Find a Market’ box – this will bring up a map showing all the Country Markets in your area. If you then click on a particular market you can get details of when it is open, where it is held and the appropriate contact details. The best thing to do next is to visit markets within a small radius of where you live (but not too far away, as some open very early!) and have a look at what they are selling and what their customers are like. Each market has a ‘market manager’, and if you have a chat with them they will be able to give you more details about that particular market, what sells well, what items they are short of, etc. You can even take your produce to more than just one of the markets in your own area.
Most markets are open once a week for between one and five hours, and some close for the winter period. Some of the more established markets now also have their own website, which will give more information, such as the type of goods you can find for sale there.

If you like what you see you can then apply to become a member, which means filling in a simple application form. You have to be approved by the Market Society before you can officially become a member, but that is just a formality. You may well have to do some further preparation before starting to take things in to sell, such as getting a food safety certificate, purchasing proper packaging, or setting out and completing any required labels.
As a producing member you will be expected to make yourself available to help at the market to which you take your produce, but the level of commitment required will usually depend on how many other regular helpers there are, the type of produce you take, and the frequency with which you bring your goods to sell.

The typical goods a home farmer might wish to consider selling will probably include surplus vegetables or fruit, possibly surplus vegetable seedlings (where your sowings have been more successful than you thought and you can’t bear to throw them away), excess eggs, ornamental plants, home-baking, your own jams or chutneys and any hobby craft items.

The beauty of the Country Markets system is that you do not necessarily have to supply a minimum quantity of things, or on a regular weekly basis, although you can do so if you have the time, the inclination and the items to sell. You will also encounter no financial risks and be paid for anything you sell, with just a small commission deducted so that the market can cover its costs without you having to pay anything out other than the cost of getting there and any time involved.
Most markets are made up of many like-minded producers willing to give advice on subjects such as growing, food production and smallholding, so a typical market day can turn into a rather useful social occasion as well. With many people these days keen on reducing food miles, most Country Markets customers are also very appreciative of finding a regular source of local produce, food and goods, and there is nothing nicer than a customer telling you how much they enjoyed your cooking, vegetables or whatever it might be!
If you like the sound of Country Markets but there is no market near to you, it may well be worth asking your regional or your nearest market if they would be interested in providing assistance to open a new market in your nearest town. Ask yourself if there is a demand in your area for home-produced items that is currently not being fulfilled. Then ask yourself if there is a suitable venue available in a good location – perhaps an unused village hall or community centre – and also if there are enough potential local producers to fill that venue. If the answer to these questions is “yes”, opening a new market would certainly be an excellent solution.

Case study: Ledbury Country Market

Ledbury Country Market is in Herefordshire (a county well known for its local food producers) and is held in a thirteenth-century building – a former hospital and one of the oldest buildings in the town. The market is open every Friday from 8.30am to 1.00pm, except for Good Friday and for two weeks over the Christmas period. They will be celebrating their 70th anniversary this summer. The market sells vegetables and fruit, eggs, ornamental plants and, in season, vegetable seedlings, as well as various crafts, sweet and savoury baking, jams, chutneys and honey, and locally produced apple juice. You can also enjoy a cup of tea or coffee served with home-made biscuits, a toasted teacake or a weekly special.
There are currently fifty-seven market members of whom thirty-three regularly produce items. They have one main vegetable producer and some smaller or occasional vegetable and fruit producers. Their main vegetable producer grows specifically for the Country Market, thus ensuring there is always a continuity of supply for visiting customers. Every week there is also a good selection of vegetables, all in season, but growing under cover really extends that season. One of their home cooks also uses garden produce in sweet and savoury baked items.
They now also have about two hundred and fifty purchasing customers each week – most of them now loyal regulars bringing repeat business. The market has a lovely community feel and they are lucky to be able to rent a local hall for the market (located in the town centre), which helps to bring in customers, and as a tourist region they also have many holidaymakers and day trippers popping in.