The Blog

In this season of giving, let’s see how we can introduce more people to the fabulous local food products offered by you and your fellow BC food producers.

For many food businesses, farmers markets are their primary sales channel. For some, they can be a stepping stone enroute to large grocery (chains) or bigger markets. And for others, they do both, what we call a blended sales & margin strategy – these food businesses do large capacity sales through grocery accounts and continue with farmers markets with higher margins, and the ability to launch/test new products or do short run items.

Market research is a crucial component to building any food business. Sharing our research expertise, Farm Food Drink recently collaborated with the University of British Columbia (UBC) to conduct two research projects with the Masters of Food and Research Economics program.

The BC food industry is full of interesting vibrant people, and the owners at Honey Bee Zen are examples of that. A couple of years ago, they came to us to rebrand their two honey lines and we have since built an ongoing business and mutually respectful relationship.

This year’s 25th anniversary of the Coquitlam Farmers Market drove the desire to formalize an umbrella brand for the Grow Local Society that would incorporate the two farmers markets and other initiatives they lead.

Their basil love started over 20 years ago with an indoor gardening project and grew into a basil pesto that needed a little marketing magic.