The Westside Pocket Market Report 2011 (2)
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Transcript of The Westside Pocket Market Report 2011 (2)
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The Wests ide Pocke t Marke t
Project Report 2011
Prepared by: Ilse Sarady & Sara BlenkhornDate: October, 2011
Id like to buy all the tomatoes you have I mean, if thats okay?
Favorite quote remembered by Backyard Bounty, Westside Pocket Market Vendor
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TABLE OF CONTENT
1. Introduction & background to The Westside Pocket Market 3
2. The voucher program making fresh food available to everyone 3
2.1 Details about the voucher program 4
3. Vendors 44. Financials a pocket full of money? 54.1 Sponsorship 6
4.2 Pocket market sales 6
4.3 Sales trends over the market season 64.4 Correlation between sales and number of vendors 7
5. Marketing getting the word out 8
5.1 Market attendance 9
6. Survey results what did people think? 10
6.1 Visitor survey results 10
6.2 Vendor survey results 12
7. Volunteers the people who helped make it happen! 14
8. Discussion 15
8.1 Vouchers 158.2 Preaching to the converted? 15
8.3 Factors influencing vendors and sales 168.4 Assessing The Market location 16
8.5 Getting the word out 168.6 What should be done differently next year? 17
8.7 Scaling out
how the Westside Pocket Market fits with the Citys goals 17
9. Final conclusions -evaluating the outlined goals 18
10. Additional Resources 19
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1. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND TO THE WESTSIDE POCKET MARKET
In the summer of 2010, the KitsilanoNeighborhood House (KNH) created The
Kitsilano Growers Market with support from theWestside Food Security Collaborative and the
City of Vancouvers Greenest City Grant. Its
development sprung out of a need for
increased support for community access to
fresh food, and a desire to support local
Westside growers by contributing to the local
food economy.
Due to the markets popularity, this year KNH joined forces with a neighboring NGO with
similar goals and initiatives around food, TheSociety Promoting Environmental Conservation
(SPEC). Once again, supported by the WestsideFood Security Collaborative, KNH and SPEC
called on Future Strategies, a local
sustainability consulting company, to oversee
the management of the project. Drawing on the
successes and feedback from the year before,
the management team consisting of, Sara
Blenkhorn and Ilse Sarady, decided to host ten
markets over the course of the summer.
The goals of the market were the following:
Build community and the local food movement;
Support the local economy; Educate people about sustainable local eating through direct interactions with
vendors and at free workshops;
Provide access to affordable local food for low-income families and individuals.
2. THE VOUCHER PROGRAM MAKING FRESH FOOD AVAILABLE TO
EVERYONE
The Westside Pocket Market ran a voucher program aimed at subsidizing the cost oflocal products for low-income families and individuals. The voucher program was
made possible through a grant received by KNH from The City of VancouversGreenest City Action Plan. The vouchers were
distributed by KNH to community organizationsoperating in and around Vancouver andspecifically the Westside. Families and
individuals in need would use the vouchers to
bring down the cost of the desired items,
making the local and delicious goodies not only
nutritious but also affordable. The vouchers
received plenty of positive feedback from users
saying that the program allowed them to buy things
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they perhaps wouldn't or couldn't previously. In total, the program made $300
available for families and individuals for which $227 was redeemed.
2.1 Details about the Voucher Program
There is a large demand for programs like this and local agencies are hungry to
provide these kinds of programs to their constituents. Participating organizations,through which the vouchers were distributed, were: Jewish Family Services, Sheway,
Steeves Manor and Kits Garden Group. To understand if, and how the vouchers were
used, the vouchers were numbered, tracked and tabulated at the end of each
market. A large contributor to the success of the program came from efforts to
educate vendors on the program and the process for reimbursement. To make it
easy for both the farmers and the voucher users, change from purchase was not
allowed. Each voucher represented one market dollar. If the cost of a product was
$2.50, the vendor would round up and take three vouchers in return for the local
merchandise.
3. VENDORS
In total, the market had 23 different vendors over a ten weeks span, ranging fromsmall local famers, backyard growers, bread, pastry, jam and cookie makers. The
bigger vendors, such as small farmers and midsize backyard growers, were able to
provide enough products to sell for the duration of the ten weeks. Smaller backyard
growers would participate only when they had an excess of produce exceeding their
personal use.
Farm Farmer Products
Back Yard Bounty Paul MyersSalad and salad mix, garlic, snap peas, pole beans, rainbow chard,kale, broccoli, sprouts, zucchini, green onions, new potatoes,
tomatoes.
Back Yard GrowerRebecca
CuttlerLettuce and herbs
Bee in BloomMarkusStorhas
Honey and honey products
Cherry LaneFarm
Miles Smart
Apples, blueberries, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, kale, Italian
dandelion, romaine lettuce, squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup),early potatoes, corn, cabbage (green and sauerkraut), cauliflower,
peas
Dog Gone Farms Emi Do A variety of veggies
Fresh RootsUrban Farm
(utilizing schoolgardens, etc.)
Christopher
Miles
Root veggies, herbs, lettuce, kales (all kinds), herbs, flowers,
zucchini, etc.
The Vancouver
Fruit Tree ProjectErin Kastner Fruit pastries galettes
GI Foods Alan BaguettesGiddy up and
growWheatgrass shots and cat-grass
Icy Fresh popsMoni andChristina
Habib
Popsicles made from fresh local fruits and veggies
Jennifer'smassage
Jennifer Massages for a donation
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Kits Cookie Co.David Jianu
and LukaHealthy power cookies
Levni Chocolates Paul Handmade chocolates
Break baker Moji Bread
San Juan Family
Farm
Ruth
HearndenA variety of organic and non organic fruits and veggies
Sandhu Produce
Growers
Avatar and
JeffFruit and veggies
SemishellShelleyCollins
Salad dressing
Sev's Bread Sevran Howe Bread
Sevia Sevia Jams Jams, compotes and jellies
Sole Food Farm Sean Dorey Tomatoes, peppers, greens, lettuce, spinach, arugula, chard, kale.
World in a
Garden, andSeeds of plenty
TriciaSedgwick
Sprouted grain cookies, herbs, root veggies, zucchini, lettuces andkale
2051 Back YardGrowers
Marnie
Newell andSasha
Faminoff
Veggies and herbs
4. FINANCIALS A POCKET FULL OF MONEY?
The original financial projections had been to run the
ten markets on a total of $5,000.00. This was to coverall expenses, including two coordinators to manage
volunteers, vendors, financials, and marketing and
market supervision. In reality, the Pocket Market
required a lot more time than anticipated; hence,
creative ways to generate more funds were needed.
Through the Pocket Market Sponsorships Program the
market managed to generate $1,650 in support fromlocal corporate sponsors. The table rental, although
revised to become more affordable for vendors 1 ,
created an additional $1,678 in revenue. The need forin-kind donations such as printing and
1Tables were originally rented at $30 per table. As sales were slow in the beginning for our farmers we adjusted therate to 10% of total sales to a max of $30.
Expenses
Project coordinator x 2 $6,74
Volunteer expenses $440.6
Printing $499.6
Market permit $1Misc. expenses $58.1
Voucher program $227.0
Total $7,98
Revenue
KNH $3,60
SPEC $60
Corporate sponsors $1,65
Vendor table sales $1,678.7
Massage donations $16
Swag sales $1
Voucher prog. (KNH) $227.0
Total $7,981
Donation in Kind Amount Value
Printing (SPEC & KNH) $300
Market material $500
Volunteer time 324 hours @$17/h $5,508
Professional vol. time 100 @ $25 $2,500
Total $8,808
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volunteer time was paramount to the success of the market. In total, the market
took 350 paid hours of planning and coordinating and over 425 volunteer hours.
4.1 Sponsorship working with local businesses
As mentioned, to support the Westside Pocket Market in delivering a successfulcommunity project, a corporate sponsorship model was implemented which was
integral to funding the market. One of our Big Pocket Sponsors found it anopportunity to align with a progressive local food initiative.
Salt Spring Coffee loves the concept of pocket markets and wewere impressed by the vision and organization of the Westside
Pocket Market team. Access to good quality local organic food is
important. Pocket Markets offer a great way for local farmers and
artisans to interact directly with local citizens and provide a direct
link to where [their] food is coming from. Salt Spring Coffee works
hard to build connections with coops and farmers at countries of
coffee origin and we also support projects that do this in our own
back yard.
Aron Bjornson, Director of Marketing, Salt Spring Coffee
The Pocket Market is very thankful for the corporate sponsors who participated in the
market. A big thank you goes to Big Pocket Market Sponsor, Salt Spring Coffee
Company and to the Small Pocket Market Sponsors Beverlys Spa and Ethical Deal.
Organizers would also like to thank Future Strategies, West Coast Seeds and How Do
You Do for their generous in-kind donations.
4.2 Pocket Market SalesIn total, the ten pocket markets generated $20,000 in sales for market vendors. At
the most, The Market generated $2,500 per week. Sales per vendor varied from $50to $650, depending on product, weather and number of market visitors.
4.3 Sales trends over the market season
Sales were low on July 7 (at the first market), July 14 and July 21. During these
dates, the sales totaled around $1,000 to $1,400 and The Market only had seven
vendors at these times. It is likely that the low sales result was due to weather
conditions as it rained for the first two markets and word-of-mouth promotion was
still developing. On Aug 25, The Market increased to eight vendors and the weather
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improved resulting in sales totaling around $1,800. On market days with eleven to
thirteen vendors, sales averages around $2,500.
Table 1. Vendor sales over the time period of ten markets. Sales results were affected by the weather,
size of vendor, variety of product offered and how well it matched buyers demands. Note: Vendors whoattended The Market three times or less have not been included.
4.4 Correlation Between Sales and Number of Vendors
Through the market season the number of vendors varied from seven to thirteen
vendors.
Table 2 shows the relationship between the number of vendors and the total $ sold per market.
As seen in Table 2, there is a correlation, if not strong, between the numbers of
vendors and the total generated sales per market. It is more likely that independentvariables such as weather and the number of market visitors affected the sales more
than the actual number of vendors. However, it was important to balance the
number of vendors with the number of visitors to make sure each vendor was able toturn a profit. It was also important to ensure that there was diversityin the products
offered to reduce competition. For example, at one point, three tables were selling
honey, which resulted in the sales of honey being low for all vendors. As vendors got
to know each other they could anticipate what other vendors would bring, and would
adjust their own offerings to accommodate each other.
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5. MARKETING GETTING THE WORD OUT
Initially, marketing efforts were primarily focused on social media. However, early
market surveys indicated that visitors largely came from the immediateneighborhood. From this, marketing strategies shifted towards poster and flyer drop-
off in mailboxes, as this became the most effective way to reach the target audience.
Table 3 demonstrates how people heard about The Pocket Market.
To increase market traffic, volunteers
distributed over 3,700 flyers and 800posters in total. These posters and flyers
handed out every Thursday before The
Market. In addition, sidewalk chalk and 40re-usable lawn signs were placed around the
neighborhood on market days.
The City of Vancouver generously put up
two Farmers Market signs on 4th and Vine
and on Broadway and Vine.
The visitor survey shows that 49.5 % ofall who attended the market saw a poster
or a flyer on the street. 21.8 % heard
about the market from a friend and 14.4% happened to just walk by. A very
small number of people heard about the Pocket Market from any of the other
marketing channels, such as KNHs or SPECs website or newsletter. A large effortwas also put into marketing via various list-serves and blogs. However, based on
survey responses this effort was the least fruitful in producing buyers and visitors.
How did you hear about the Westside Pocket Market?
Answer OptionsResponse
Percent
Response
Count
From a friend 21.8% 41
I saw a poster on the street 49.5% 93I saw a poster in a cafe/community center,
shop etc.5.3% 10
Via Facebook 3.7% 7
Via Twitter 0.0% 0
Via SPEC's website/newsletter 1.6% 3Via KNH website /newsletter 2.1% 4
Via a blog 0.0% 0
Through a list-serve 1.6% 3
I just happened to walk by 14.4% 27
Other (please specify) 56
answered question 188skipped question 58
Picture 1. Surprisingly consistent traffic, despite
inaccurate posting of market times. The Markets
official hours were from 3pm to 7 pm.
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5.1 Market attendance
The biggest attendance spike occurred from
3:00pm to 3:30pm, weekly. Thanks to thediligent volunteer efforts, visitors were tracked
according to the following categories:Purchasers - people who bought products from
The Market and, Walk-by people who simply
walked by, or stopped, but did not buy anything.The purchasers were divided into three
categories; those who arrived by bicycle, those
who drove and other purchasers- people who
arrived by unknown means. As noted below in
table 2, the other purchasercategory was the
largest survey respondents.
Unfortunately, data is missing from the first twomarkets when the weather was very poor.
Based on our sales record from these first twomarkets, attendance was lower than the other
markets. Excluding the two first markets and
taking into account the difficulty of tracking
attendance, its estimated that The Market had
over 3,739 visitors over the ten weeks, out of
which 2,466 made purchases.
Date07-
Jul
14-
Jul
21-
Jul
28-
Jul
04-
Aug
11-
Aug
18-
Aug
25-
Aug
01-
Sep
08-
Sep
WeatherR
R S/CC/L.W
S S S.B H O.R/S H
Purchasers by
bike
46 50 29 29 26 32 33 31
Purchasers car 15 15 8 19 8 12 9 2
OtherPurchasers
332 190 257 306 311 238 210 258
TotalPurchasers
N/A N/A 393 255 294 354 345 282 252 291
Walk-by 173 193 179 125 120 95 133 87
TOTAL 168 N/A 566 448 473 479 465 377 385 378
Table 3. Pocket Market Attendance. Weather explanation; R=Rain, S/C=sunny & cloud, C/L. W=cloudy &
before a long weekend, S=sunny, S.B=Sunny with blue skies, H=very warm, O.R =overcast & sprinkles.
Based on survey results, the majority, 66.9 % of the people who attended The
Market lived in Kitsilano. The second biggest group came from areas outside of
Vancouver (9.5%), which were put together in a group called other. It is likely that
the market attendees in this group were either summer tourists or people whoworked in and around Kitsilano.
Pocket Market organizer Sara
Blenkhorn with visitor Tommy Chong.
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6. SURVEY RESULTS WHAT DID PEOPLE THINK?
6.1 Visitor Survey Results
To appreciate if and how the Pocket Market reached its outlined objectives a surveywas generated and 246 responses were collected.
In trying to understand what attracted people to the Market the following questions
were asked:
Reasons for Attending the Westside Pocket Market?
Answer OptionsResponse
Percent
Response
Count
To buy produce and products 74.3% 176To partake in the workshop 3.0% 7
To socialize and connect with my community 30.0% 71
To learn more about SPEC and KNH 8.0% 19
Other 13.5% 32answered question 237
skipped question 9Table 4. Why people attended the Westside Pocket Market.
The survey results showed that the majority of people who attend the market did so
to buy local produce. The second biggest reason people attended the market was toconnect with community.
Reason for purchasing produce at the Westside Pocket Market?
Answer OptionsResponsePercent
ResponseCount
For environmental reasons (e.g. trying to live more
sustainable)58.8% 140
To support local agriculture 75.2% 179
To support local urban agriculture (backyard
growers, etc.)65.5% 156
For health/taste reasons 65.5% 156
To meet and connect with local farmers, growers
and other vendors41.6% 99
To support my community 63.9% 152
It's convenient (e.g. close to where I live) 44.1% 105
It's good value (e.g. the market offers a good price
for what I am looking for)29.0% 69
Other 10.5% 25Answered question 238
Skipped question 8Table 5. Reasons people bought items from The Westside Pocket Market. Respondents selected as many
answers as were relevant.
The top four reasons for purchasing at the market were: to support local
agriculture and support local urban agriculture, for healthy/taste reasons, tosupport my community and for environmental reasons.
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Visitors were also asked how important is it for you to support local and urbanagriculture. 71% stated that it is very important, 27.3% said it is important and
1.6 % said that it is not important.
One of the few complaints around farmers markets is the high price of the products
sold. Since industrially farmed food is heavily subsisted people are often shocked byreal cost of producing food, which is reflected in the price tags at farmers markets.
Market organizers and vendors struggle to find a balance to make it work for farmers
and buyers to attend the market. To understand this better people were asked to
provide feedback on their price expectations.
How did you experience the product/produce prices at the market?
Answer OptionsResponse
Percent
Response
Count
As expected, reasonably priced 39.9% 87
As expected, somewhat reasonably priced 38.1% 83
As expected, expensive 13.3% 29Unexpectedly, reasonably priced 4.1% 9Unexpectedly, somewhat reasonable priced 3.2% 7
Unexpectedly, expensive 2.3% 5
answered question 218skipped question 28
Table 6. Price expectations from The Market visitors
Table 6 shows that the majority buyers seemed pleased with the vendors prices. Its
worth mentioning that urban growers and small farmers produce might have beenslightly less expensive than what is sold at the bigger farmers markets, and that
people in general seem to expect that farmers markets are pricey.
Also surveyed were peoples experiences in purchasing from and interacting withlocal vendors at The Market. Here are some examples of the 100 responses
collected:
I love the freshness of the food and the farmers. Its nice to talk with farmers, bakers and
beekeepers. I would have come to every market all summer
long if I had known about it. Let me know how I canhelp!
I think it is important to bring producers andconsumers closer to reduce prices for consumer and
increase the income of producers, only by reducingthe amount of transactions that add no value to
products.
Very positive experience. Everyone is willing toshare thoughts, ideas, food, and I feel a very strongsense of community. Thanks.
Excellent, informative-explanations about garlic,
chocolate Love bringing my toddler. Trust the health of the
food for my child. I think it's great. Only suggestion is to make it
bigger! The food is always awesome and you can feel good
about buying it
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It's nice to meet vendors, not as hectic as at the bigger markets
It's the most important thing for connecting to community and the earth Good for community involvement
Wonderful! You get to find out first hand where your food comes from and you can tell peopleput love into making their products
Very good and you find items you would not normally buy
But, not all were as delighted with their marketexperience and some provided good feedback for
improvements which were soon implemented;
I would like to see prices posted at tables
It needs to be more competitively priced in relation towhat you're getting. Certain segments of the population
(low-income, marginalized, visible minorities) need to beaccommodated to truly reflect the community
Mostly great interaction, but I found a couple of thevendors in the first markets somewhat indifferent and
rude, lacking awareness that we are customers
More signage and door-to-door canvasser
All in all, several requests were received for a longer
market season, expanding The Market into the fall
and winter. There was also great educational value
in the experience of buyers interacting with vendors. The Market clearly helped
connect people with food and the community while creating a general sense of heath
and wellbeing.
6.2 Vendor survey results
Surveying vendors helped to create an understanding of how, and if, the market hadbeen valuable for them as local food producers. It also shed light as to how they
thought that the market might have impacted buyers and made a difference to the
local food movement. The following questions were asked:
Can you describe in what particular way(s), or why, the Pocket Market providedvalue for you and your business?
The market has provided an opportunity to develop a social enterprise for a local food recoveryprogram [The Van Fruit Tree Project]
We need to diversify our revenue sources, [the market] brought in a good additional income It has been so important for our product! Word of mouth
[It helped give] exposure to a new product The direct contact between me as a producer and to the consumer; being able to collect
feedback on the spot and develop a relationship that goes beyond selling. It is very importantfor me to go beyond simple supply and demand
Decline in farm gate sales due to gas price [increase], HST, and regulatory changes have limitedthe restaurant sales. The duo has caused market sales to be a fairly important source of revenue
[The market is] the epitome of local and fits very well with me. The customers find it easy toshop here which brings them back week after week.
In your experience, interacting with customers, do you believe that the Pocket
Market has been effective in educating people about local food and contributing to
changes in eating habits?
Costumers come back for particular produce which indicated that they have healthy eating
habits. They learn new ideas for food preparation [at the market] and they are inspired to bemore creative with healthy food
How can it not? If vendors only talk about their product and they do-they are educating[people]. Also, many people asked for advice on growing food themselves. Hurray!
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[The market provided] time to talk about food.
This [contributing to change] could be improved but we did the best we could. I tried tointroduce people to new food and [I] was fairly successful at that. Lots of people returned for
things like dandelion, squash and eggplant Many people had not heard about the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project. We had a chance to educate
about food recovery and food security This is the most humble way to go towards incorporating self-decisions and individual values.
Not sure. It seemed to me that most of the buyers were already conscientious eaters and all for
local food.
For you as a food producer, what has been the most valuable reason for
participating as a vendor at the market?
Learning more about harvest and establishing relationships with other farmers, vendors and
customers. Giving people the chance to taste something new. Meet other vendors and people in the
neighborhood. [Earning] money for meat and come to think of it bread, too.
The atmosphere of the market. It is incredibly friendly, peaceful and truly local! Outreach and education. Promoting our social enterprise.
Building community. I have a great relationship with all the beautiful local people and it feelsawesome!
I love being with like-minded people. It gives me hope and reminds me that we are many, from
both sides of the table. I sense that local food is not a quant idea, but a growing movement.
Finally, the vendors were asked to provide input to improve for future markets:
Make it bigger, block off a whole street. More marketing and longer [market] season, [run it]well into October.
Provide free table space for organizations. Customer reward program, [for example] come and pick up leftover produce.
In addition to the final survey, surveys
were also conducted after each market
to capture the satisfaction rates of all 23vendors that attended over the span of
ten weeks. Table 7 shows that themajority of the vendors were pleased
with the sales results. However, the
results from this survey likely portray a
slightly negative picture regarding sales
satisfaction, as vendors did not always
fill in a survey after each market. Getting
vendors to fill out the survey at the end
of each market was difficult as most of
them wanted to pack up and go home.The purpose of the survey was to create
the space for vendors to share theirexperience from each market and use
the feedback to make changes before thenext. However, the surveys were morefrequently filled in at the start of the
season, when the weather was wet and
the number of people attending the market lower. Judging by the final market
vendor survey, described previously, the vendors were generally very satisfied;
Seven out of eight vendors who attended the last market said that they would come
back next year. One out of the eight vendors said that they would maybe come
back as they were concerned about the reality of drawing more shoppers as it
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seems like the market [area] might be saturated with Kits Sunday [farmers]
market.
It is important to point out that had all vendors filled in the ongoing vendor survey
after each of the ten markets, the results would have portrayed the market in amore positive way. The reason for this is that vendors that did not feel that the
Pocket Market was worthwhile chose to not come back after one or two markets.
Are you satisfied with today's attendance and sales results?
Answer OptionsResponse
Percent
Response
Count
Not satisfied 11.8% 4
Somewhat satisfied 23.5% 8Pleased 41.2% 14
Beyond my expectations 14.7% 5answered question 34
Table 7 shows the vendors satisfaction with the sales results. Note that the results are likelymisrepresented as most vendors did not fill in a survey after each market and because the surveys weremore frequently filled in at the start of the season, when the number of people attending the market was
less and the weather was not favorable.
7. VOLUNTEERS THE PEOPLE WHO
HELPED MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Organizing the pocket market was an
amazing experience, and it could truly not
have happened without all the volunteers!
So many people stepped up and donated
their time and skills to the market, giving it
its community feeling, which was part of
what made this market so unique.
It is hard to pin down just how many hourspeople gave to the market as so many
helped out, even people who were not
officially SPEC or KNH volunteers, but simply
friends, family and others who just happened
to walk by.
The Westside Pocket Market would not have
been possible without the following volunteers
who made amazing contributions over the last
ten weeks. A BIG thanks goes to: STEVEN LIM for where does one start to thank Steven -he did everything
and anything, including data entry, surveys, marketing, market set-up and
takedown and so much more! Steven was always there to help when needed!
MOSHSEN MOLAVI for taking pictures, making sure our visitors filled in thesurveys, marketing and helping out with set-up and takedown.
TRACY SCALLION-MOORE for the countless hours she walked around the
neighborhood dropping off flyers, keeping a close count on people at the
market and helping with set-up and takedown.
Pocket market organizer Ilse Sarady with
volunteers Moshsen Molavi and Steven Lim
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JOANN MELMAN for convincing people to take the survey and helping vendors
whenever they needed it and most of all for her warm community spirit!
MARY-ANN SIMPSON for assisting with data entry and convincing her partner
to help her with flyer distribution.
DONALD ADAMS for his musical talents and his success in creating acommunity vibe throughout the duration of the market;
HEATHER COWTAN for helping with transportation of material and for being
an amazing friend and supporter!
ROB BECKWERMERT for his insight on outreach strategies and for lending out
material.
MARK GRIMSRUD for using his design skills to make an eye-catching poster
and designing market vouchers.
THOMAS CAMPAGNE for taking the poster picture.
SYD KJELLANDER for offering her back pocket and backyard for the photo
shoot.
JASON FOX for designing and making lots and lots of pocket market buttons.
TARA MOREAU and CAROLE CHRISTOPHER for volunteering their time to
educate people about gardening and seasonal eating. A big thanks also goes to all the staff at KNH, especially Tamara who put up
with countless printing requests! and finally, a big thank you to everyone else who lent a hand!!!
8. DISCUSSION
8.1 Vouchers
As previously mentioned, the program was not used to its full potential as 73 un-
used vouchers remained by the end of the market season. The vouchers were the
most successful (most likely used) when individuals picked them up directly from
KNH on market day, as opposed to receiving them on a different day, or from a third
party organization.
8.2 Preaching to the converted?On average, the market had 374 people at each market. To understand whether the
market attracted new local consumers, or if it simply diverted market dollars from
other farmers markets, visitors were asked if they attended additional markets.
Results showed the majority (84.3%)2 of the people who came to The Westside
Pocket Market also attended other farmers markets. Visitors were also asked if they
bought less from other farmers' markets in the weeks they attended the Pocket
Market. The survey showed that 33% of the people who bought produce from the
Pocket Market did purchase less at other markets.
It is clear that a large number of the people who attended the market were already
converted local foodies. The survey results indicate that there may be saturationfor farmers market; that the number of people interested in or able to attend them
on the Westside is currently stagnant. However, it is also very likely that morepeople will start buying local as markets become more accessible in terms of varietyof locations, time of the day and day of the week. It is also likely that people who
start buying locally at one location may become interested in attending another. The
fact that close to 85 % of the people attended the Pocket Market also attended other
market indicates that there may be a need to access local food more than once a
week. Regardless, it is important that the local food movement continues to reach
2 A total of 199 responses.
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out and educate people about the benefits and importance of eating local. As more
people start to make educated food choices, the demand for local will grow andadditional venues like the Pocket Market will see increased popularity.
To survey interest for future market, visitors were asked if they would attend themarket again next year. 54% said they would attend it weekly, 43% said that they
would attend it sometimes and 3% said that they would not attend.
Had I known about this [market] I would have come every week!Pocket Market visitor
8.3 Factors Influencing Vendors and SalesThe slow start to the summer and the rainy weather was definitely a challenge, as it
resulted in poor attendance and low sales. A relationship of trust and reliability
proved to be a key factor in running a successful Pocket Market. Organizers neededto rely on vendors to show up on time and simultaneously vendors had to rely on the
organizers to bring in sufficient purchasers. Because urban agriculture in Vancouver
is still a developing concept, finding backyard growers with a surplus of produce, in
particular in the early start of the season, was challenging. Therefore, the market
had to complement with bigger growers, such as small local farmers.
There were also challenges in finding an egg vendor, something that had been on the
market-wish-list from the previous year. Unfortunately, eggs from backyard chickensare not permitted for sales and the market did not manage to find a appropriate egg-
seller to step up to the plate. The other vendors sold low-risk produce, ranging from
cat wheat grass to exclusive hand made chocolates. The diversity of produce helpedbring up sales as it provided interesting variety for costumers.
8.4 Assessing the market location
Despite the fact that the market location was not visible from most major streets, it
was still able to attract people with signs and sidewalk chalk. In terms of how thelocation was experienced, people enjoyed the quaintness of the market and reported
that it had a very local feel to it. The Market would likely have attracted morepeople had it been located in a busier area, but its not clear whether increased
traffic would translate into more purchases. Those who made big purchases may
have been people willing to go out of their way to buy locally.
8.5 Getting the word out
Marketing was definitely a tough nut to crack. Despite the frequent postering,tweeting, sharing the market on Facebook, sending email notices out to NGOs in
Vancouver and sending out two big email notices via KNH and SPECs e-newsletters,
people still seemed very surprised when they stumbled upon the market. The mostcommon feedback on the survey form under future improvements was more
marketing. Many visitors told us that they were very supportive of the market and
that they were disappointed that they had not known about it sooner. For peoplewho did know about it, it was clear that they often intended to come every week but
forgot about it from one Thursday to the next. It is clear that staking a presence in
the community and building a routine takes time. Therefore, it is wise to consider
having markets run for more than ten weeks in the future to compliment marketing
efforts. Regarding traditional media, local magazines were approached but
unfortunately the timing of the market did not match with print deadlines. It was
also slow building up market momentum in terms of visitors and it was not until the
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two very last markets that it felt like the neighborhood knew and understood the
market.
8.6 What should be done differently next year?
1. The Voucher Program: If the voucher program was implemented again it isrecommended that a third party organization inform low-income individuals
about the program and encourage voucher pick-up at KNH to spend onmarket day. This will hopefully result in fewer unused vouchers.
2. To achieve the goal of having more backyard growers at upcoming Pocket
Markets it is recommended to advertise the market to growers in early spring.
This way, growers have a chance to plan their growing season and they are
therefore more likely to be able to produce a surplus available for sale.
3. Extend the market season beyond the ten weeks.
4. Find creative advertising ways and reminders to reach people interested in
buying locally.
8.9 Scaling Out - How the Westside Pocket Market fits with the Citys goals
The Westside Pocket Market strategically aligns with the City of VancouversGreenest City Action Plan. In the early stages of its inception, organizers were very
specific about making this a project of relevancy. Market organizers began by lookingat the Greenest City action Plan and determining which areas they could create
value. The following quote taken from the City of Vancouvers website sums it up:
By encouraging a more local dimension in food we can start to reduce the sizeof our footprint by cutting down on the use of fossil fuels, arresting the loss of
food-producing lands (and related bio-diversity), supporting the local economyand eating food that is healthier and better for us.
Taking this a bit further, the Westside Pocket Market has contributed towards helping
the COV achieve their goals in following ways:
The City of Vancouver (COV) has a long-term goal to become a global leader
in urban food systems, with a specific target of increasing city andneighborhood food assets by a minimum of 50% over 2010 levels. Over the
last ten weeks The Westside Pocket Market has been a driving force in
teaching local residents how to garden while simultaneously encouraging
people who are already growing food to grow more by showing them how to
and creating an avenue for them to make money from selling their surplus.
On the demand side of the equation, The Westside Pocket Market played a
role in educating the surrounding neighborhoods on the importance of
supporting their local farmers by giving the community an opportunity to
meet local growers and their products.
Additionally, the COV has a long-term goal to achieve a one planet ecologicalfootprint by reducing Vancouvers per capita ecological footprint by 33% from
2006 levels. The Westside Pocket Market was able to facilitate in this goal byallocating $20,000 to the local food economy, money that may have beenspent on importing food from other countries.
Another long-term goal of the COV is to gain international recognition as a
mecca of green enterprise by doubling the number of green jobs in the City
by 2020, over 2010 levels. The Westside Pocket Market directly contributes to
this goal by creating an avenue for small scale growers to explore growing
and selling the products with little to no risk. Growers were invited to sell
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their produce and only pay the market organizers 10 % of their profits to
maximum of $30, this encouraged new farmers to explore in this space, seethe demand and find their niche. Money went directly to farmers with
operations in Kitsilano, Richmond and Vancouvers east end. In total the
Westside Pocket Market was able to generate $20,000 towards the local foodeconomy
9. FINAL CONCLUSIONS -EVALUATING THE OUTLINED GOALS
An iterative process of vendor and visitor feedback proved an effective methodology
for perfecting the Westside Pocket Market model. In this process, three main
success factors were reveled:
Weather conditions affected the number of attendees and vendor satisfaction;
Visual reminders (posters) and verbal endorsement (word-of-mouth) proved
to be the most effective marketing avenues;
A broad diversity of products resulted in satisfied vendors with high sales.
Based on the goal criterion of the market, the market did meet its outlined goals:
1. Community building
Having experienced ten markets this summer it is evident that the Pocket Marketcreated a wonderful community feeling. Neighbours from all social and cultural
backgrounds engaged and connected over food, live music and chats with vendors.
Additionally, the market attracted many just for the sheer enjoyment of the market
ambiance. This is supported by the findings that 30% of the people who attended
came to connect with their community. Feedback from vendors also speaks to the
fact that the market provided an important community connection.
2. Building the local food movement
The market achieved this goal by simply providing a place for small vendors and
growers to sell their products and to reach out to an interested audience. The$20,000 in revenue was pumped directly into the local food economy, most of which
will continue to circulate locally. In terms of converting industrially produced foodeaters into local eaters, the market might have been less successful as many who
attend the Westside Pocket Market already attended other farmers market.
3. Educating people about sustainable local and seasonal eating
It is likely that the market contributed in planting the seed for many more to start
urban agriculture projects in their back yard. Evidence for this derives from feedback
from vendors and responses at workshops as well as in conversation with visitors
many where thrilled about the opportunity to start to grow and potentially sell at
future markets. Many also learned from vendors about seasonal and local eating asvendors were extremely knowledgeable and eager to share.
4. Supporting the local economy
According to livingeconomies.org for every $100 spent locally $73 remains in thelocal community3.As a total of $20,000 was generated, The Market provided asubstantial amount to local food economy. In addition, vendors also said that the
market provided an important source of revenue.
3www.livingeconomies.org
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5. Providing access to affordable local food for low-income and individuals
As mentioned, the voucher program distributed a total of $227 worth of subsidies toaid local low-income families and individuals in accessing local food. The program
was very well received and the feedback given supported the fact that these
subsidies were necessary in assisting local low-income families to receive access tolocally grown food.
10. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Short Film - A short film by Michael Millard How Do You Do TV:
http://vimeo.com/27594338
A short film featuring one of the Westside Pocket Market vendors Alicia Baddorf from
World in a Garden.
Pictures -There are plenty of pictures from The Westside Pocket Market. The best
selection is collected on pickNshowhttp://www.picnshow.com/viewer/?id=d46a6076b05c183a
and on Society Promoting Environmental Conservations Facebook page.
The Kitsilano Growers Market 2010 Report -If you are interested in readingabout the Pocket Market results form the year before, you can find it on
http://www.kitshouse.org/programs/food-security/west-side-pocket-markets/