Coop Farmers' Markets Operation - Plunkett Cooperative Franchise Models
Farmers’ Markets have increased rapidly in number and popularity over the last 10 years.
- In 1997 there were just 14 markets in existence in the UK
- by the end of 2005 there were believed to be over 500 markets
- Some small producers now generate most of their income from Farmers’ Markets, attending several markets per week
Many Farmers’ Markets were originally established and run by local councils in order to promote town centre shopping in the face of competition from out of town retail parks. As the markets have grown, local councils have become less able to devote the resources needed to continue to operate them. Increasingly, they have been passing responsibility to either private commercial operators or independent groups of producers.
There are concerns about private market operators taking on the management of markets as profit-making concerns:
- producers could lose control of an important distribution channel.
- the integrity of markets could be compromised through allocating stalls to the most profitable customers
- stall fees could increase unreasonably
- insufficient resource may be devoted to promoting markets and raising awareness of consumer benefits.
There is a window of opportunity for independent groups of producers to take over responsibility for running Farmers’ Markets in their area. Research has shown that the most sustainable system of market organisation is regional; a single organisation runs several markets across a region, thus gaining economies of scale and spreading administration cost. This regional structure is the basis for the franchise model of a Farmers’ Markets Operator.
Click here to download the Farmers’ Markets Business Model