Chef preparing food
Updated: April 11, 2024
By Ginger S. Myers

Marketing to Restaurants and Food Retailers

A growing number of natural and specialty food stores, chef-owned restaurants, and even some larger grocery store chains are actively purchasing locally grown food products. Farmers need to keep informed about trends in the food industry to fully utilize this outlet.

Explore Resources on Marketing to Restaurants and Food Retailers

Publications

  • Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Wholesale Markets
    By Andy Zieminski, SARE Outreach

    For direct market farmers, expanding your operation to capture local and regional wholesale markets can represent an opportunity. But such a shift brings with it many changes to how you run your farm because the expectations that wholesale buyers have is much different than your direct market customers. Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Wholesale Markets guides you through the likely changes you'll need to take into consideration when planning to branch out into wholesale markets. These include business planning, working with wholesale buyers, and areas of production that range from increasing yield and produce quality, to harvest and postharvest handling, food safety and more.
     
  • Meat Marketing Planner: Strategic Marketing for Farm-to-Table Meat Enterprises (EB 403)
    This Extension Bulletin EB 403 addresses marketing beef, pork, lamb, and goat, but not poultry since poultry processing falls under differing USDA, FSIS, and state regulations.  While many of the key strategies discussed here can be applied to the sale of any farm products direct to consumers, this publication focuses on marketing farm-raised meats. (2013)
     
  • Selling Directly to Restaurants and Retailers (pdf)
    Gail Feenstra, jeri Ohmart, and Daivid Chaney
    University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (2003)
     
  • Selling Shell Eggs to Retailers, Wholesalers, and Food Service Facilities in Maryland (FS 1068)
    This publication provides introductory information and resources that can help Maryland’s egg producers improve their sales of shell eggs into retail channels. Because there are continual changes and updates at both the state and federal levels, please check for the most current edition of any regulations cited in this publication.(2017)

 

Explore Resources from Market Outlet and Tools

Agritourism
Alternative Sources of Payment
Choosing Distribution Methods
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Direct Marketing
Internet Sales
Maryland Niche Meats & Poultry Working Group
Maryland Niche Meats and Poultry Producers Online Directory
Selling a Service
Translate Trends into Profits
When Advertising is a Waste of Resources
Wholesale