Promotion

The process of identifying your potential customer Decision Marketing Units (DMUs), determining your market segments, and then developing a targeted strategy is called market research. This research involves gathering additional information about customers, competition, and overall market potential.

Other Resources is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide information on other resources that will help your product to become ready for retail.

Getting Things Right is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide information on supply, storage, purchasing, establishing prices, ordering and delivery schedules, invoicing and payment terms, and product promotions.

Know Your Product and Brand is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide information about packaging, USDA/FDA label and nutritional label requirements, and Allergen notification requirements.

Sales and Marketing Tools is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide resources on marketing channels and tools to sell your retail products.

Specialty vegetables, of course, don’t have to be weird, odd-shaped, or off-colored cousins of their traditional counterparts. More often than not, they are not weird at all, but are simply vegetables that are not available or grown on a large scale for traditional market outlets. They may be vegetables that are grown quite commonly in other parts of the world, but are not yet known as a traditional staple crop here (ethnic specialty vegetables). They may simply be miniature versions of full-sized fruit (baby or miniature vegetables) that are available at a time when they are traditionally not in season (early or late season extension) or are an unusual or different variety (heirloom, local cultural favorites, etc.).

Organic produce has become very popular in the last 10 years. U.S. organic fovod sales have grown between 17 and 21 percent each year since 1997. This is compared to conventionally grown food sales that have grown only 2 to 4 percent a year for the same time period. Organic food sales now represent approximately 2 percent of U.S. food sales (Greene and Dimitri).

Agritourism—one of the fastest-growing segments of agricultural direct marketing—allows farmers to diversify their core operations and keep farmland in production while preserving scenic vistas and maintaining farming traditions. By providing authentic farm experiences for visitors, agritourism helps educate the public about the importance of agriculture to a community’s economic base, quality of life, history, and culture.

The popularity of craft beer and micro-breweries combined with the growing awareness of buying locally-produced agricultural products provides Maryland farmers with an emerging crop production opportunity: hops. Research the possibilities of producing this high-value crop right here in Maryland. Maryland and surrounding states have a good market for locally-grown hops.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service website, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) threatens the health of honeybees across the nation, the issue exacerbating in the 1980s with the increase of new pathogens & pests. Since a great number of agricultural crops we grow in Maryland depend on honeybee pollination, the honeybee decline threatens our food industry.