There is no doubt that greengrocers have suffered along with their high street neighbours as supermarkets have become all powerful, and that the days of a family shopping at four or five high-street or village shops for their groceries are long gone. However, a renewed interest from consumers in farmers’ markets and farm shops has worked hand in hand to give traditional greengrocers a bit of a boost of late, and a clear trend towards these more traditional outlets has appeared.
Two kinds of consumers who buy from farmers’ markets, farm shops and greengrocers have emerged: those who enjoy the independent retail experience and almost treat it as a leisure activity, and those who have become more price-orientated since the recession and are shopping around. Both sets look like they are here to stay, even after the recession.
Farmers’ markets, in particular, have been used by local authorities as a way of breathing life back into the dying high street and farm shops are opening throughout the country, although their true definition can get misconstrued along the way. And greengrocers, albeit under new guises, are beginning to make their mark again.
The National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA) has a very positive tale to tell; in the last 12 years, since the first farmers’ market in the format that we recognise today was launched, there have been no less than 800 registered in the UK. “We have a strict criteria based on a model that ensures the stall only sells the company’s or grower’s own produce, must be principally involved in the production of the produce and must have a sense of locality - usually a 30-mile radius,” says FARMA managing director Gareth Jones. “The growth since 1997 has been phenomenal. According to a YouGov poll, 33 per cent of the population shops at a farmers’ market at least once a year -again, a massive growth.
“There are also more farm shops and the whole sector has worked very well together to bring fresh produce to the public minds,” continues Jones. “Some 33 per cent of the population also claims to shop in farm shops once a year.
“People want produce direct from the farmer and, according to IGD research, 67 per cent of the population claim that once the recession has finished, they plan to change where and the way they buy from mainstream methods. Some 60 per cent of those intend to shop more at farmers’ markets and more ethical shops.”
Nevertheless, it has been estimated that nearly 3,000 greengrocers have been lost in the last decade. This has been attributed to the strength of supermarkets and the increased costs of running an independent business. But traditional greengrocers have had to evolve to ensure they stay in the market and various different formats have materialised, with the advent of online greengrocers such as Abel & Cole, as well as local box schemes.
According to Mintel Research’s report on online grocery retailing in September 2009, the online grocery market is seeing rapid growth and by 2014, it is expected to be worth £6.9 billon - a growth of 57 per cent on last year.
Set to revolutionise the way the UK shops for food and drink online, Marcus Carter, managing director of Carter Food House, has established the first-ever interactive 3D Virtual Farmers’ Market (VFM). This concept combines online shopping with a 3D world and a traditional online retail website.
Using 3D games technology, the VFM is a virtual take on the traditional farmers’ market that will allow consumers and specialist food and drink producers to interact in a 3D environment without stepping foot outside their front doors. The VFM programme allows the shopper to “stroll” freely around more than 45 market stalls where they can view products, interact with the producer and buy the same high-quality, artisan-produced food and drink they might find in a real-life farmers’ market. They can shop at the VFM at any time of the day or night.
From the industry’s point of view, the VFM could give smaller specialist fresh produce growers the opportunity to reach new markets and extend the scope of their business, without the need to go through the multiples.
The VFM is designed to be used as a “top-up” for the regular household shop, where consumers can add products to their weekly shop that cannot be bought at any supermarket.
Carter took his idea to Digital Presence Solutions Ltd, based at Coventry University Technology Park, which then teamed up with two other small- or medium-sized businesses and Coventry University’s Serious Games Institute (SGI) to create the VFM, originally hosted in the biggest virtual environment, Second Life. Digital Presence upgraded the programme to give it its own 3D platform, a move that will, from this month, allow users of new technology such as iPhones to access the site.
“The VFM gives consumers the opportunity to buy direct from the producer,” says Carter. “Seeing the face behind the food is more important today than it has ever been. To be able to connect remotely by using the internet, with the people who make what we eat, enables consumers to get a sense of trust before buying.”
But there is also proof out there that traditional greengrocers can still be a successful and integral part of every town, with former Agrexco man Chris Bavin having set up a large modern greengrocer called The Naked Grocer in Walton on Thames last September. With the first four months proving positive, he is looking for a second site on which to open up an additional shop.
“Although farmers’ markets and farm shops have become very popular recently and offer a very viable alternative, they cannot replace the local greengrocer or market stalls,” he says. “Greengrocers have to be ready to evolve and change to offer the benefits that people feel they get from shopping at farm shops and farmers’ markets.
“The main focus from everybody needs to be quality and flavour - although it seems the most obvious of statements, all fruit and veg is to be eaten so therefore we should never overlook quality or taste for price.
“People are more aware of where food comes from and are also very mindful of the ethical side of things as well, so this has to be catered for. We have to be careful and informed about the whole seasonal debate that is very much in people’s mindset at the moment, but surely eating seasonally isn’t just applicable to the UK? Surely every country, and indeed region, has times of year when the produce from that part of the world is at its best and therefore the best in the market at that time, so surely that counts as eating seasonally?
“I think people are not only hungry for good food but also information and you will be surprised that if you actually engage your customers in conversations about ‘local’, ‘organic’ or ‘seasonal’ and the many other topics that are so relevant to our industry now, they will be interested and very surprised to know what actually is the case.
“I have had so many customers who only used to eat organic produce, completely oblivious to the whole range of non-synthetic pesticides that can be used. Or they think that the only way to eat flavoursome fruit or vegetables is to eat organic, which is a shame because people have not been able to make informed decisions - that’s where we come in.”
Bavin, who has 16 years’ experience in the fresh produce business, believes that supermarkets are not providing consumers with the quality and range they want and that the public has become trapped in a shopping world in which they buy for convenience.
And this could be to the detriment of their pockets. In 2008, Daily Telegraph research showed that the price of fruit and vegetables was up to 45 per cent more expensive in supermarkets compared with the same produce at a traditional greengrocer.
“Across any style of retailing, there are going to be some losers at a time of economic uncertainty but, generally, councils have seen farmers’ markets as a way of reviving town centres and those that are well organised will do well and those that are not located in the best locations or have inconvenient hours will not,” says Jones.
“Everyone has to watch want they’re doing - there is no room for complacency. Although farmers’ markets and farm shops have seen a huge increase, it will not have continued completely in that vein during the recession. Everyone really needs to be thinking of what the consumer needs for businesses to survive.”
But despite consumers looking for diversity and good value for money amid the recession, is it all too late for the independent retailers and markets? Bavin doesn’t think so. “The feedback we have received since September has been very positive,” he says.
“A lot have fallen by the wayside, but I hope traditional greengrocers are on the up. People are generally very displeased with the supermarkets and are not being serviced particularly well. The recession has handed everybody an opportunity as consumers are now looking around and taking notice of how and where they are spending their money.
“If you asked a customer a year ago how much a bunch of asparagus would cost or where it came from, they wouldn’t have known - ask them the same question now and they would be able to answer you.
“The greengrocer is far from a dying industry and if it is done properly, it is not too late for resurgence or renaissance. We all just have to adapt and change and sometimes, in an antiquated industry, that is difficult but essential. There is a lot that can be done, from taking credit card payments, doing veg boxes and offering easy, convenient ways for people to get their 5 A DAY, to making recipe cards, writing newsletters and setting up a web site.”
And for the first time in a decade, it looks as if the government may be moving towards supporting the rural industry again. If DEFRA’s 20-year Food 2030 policy, which integrates policy on food across every department for the first time since World War II, is anything to go by, these independent forms of retail will be encouraged in the future. The plan aims to increase domestic food production, use more sustainable farming methods and increase the drive to eat local, as well as recognising the critical nature of food supply.
The industry is taking a stand as well. To maintain credibility with consumers, FARMA has introduced two certifications to ensure consumer trust. In addition to the first farmers’ market certificate, FARMA has brought out a verification programme for stallholders to make sure that the goods on their stall are genuinely their own produce and that the volume of produce is appropriate. The other accreditation has been introduced especially for farm shops, where the retailer receives a badge to display that guarantees the product it sells is local.
“What we are trying to do is put forward a standard for a proper farm shop that sells produce from the farm it is attached to and draws other produce from the local community,” explains Jones. “We have got a very enterprising industry in this sector and some farm shops produce what they sell on the farm and others act as a village shop, because that is what the local community wants. But we are trying to get to the core of what a farm shop is about -fresh, locally produced food.”
Looking to the future, the huge demand for this type of offer is set to continue, with both ethical thinking and value for money on the independent retailer’s side. But there are fundamental issues holding back farmers’ markets, farm shops and greengrocers. Unreliable local supply chains let the side down, with demand outstripping supply because growers do not have the money or support to produce the volumes needed. “Farmers have to invest, sell the volume to reflect that and be confident enough in the local market,” points out Jones.
“Sometimes it is not easy to grow in the UK. Small growers cannot afford to lose out on crops, so therefore there is not enough local food.”
But Bavin remains positive. “Greengrocers and the industry in general need to realise that the supermarkets are only going to get stronger and will take hold of the situation,” he says. “We have to change and adapt; but most importantly, the quality has to be good. Repeat custom is the key; if it doesn’t eat well, don’t sell it.”
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