Managing A Market

Before you start to set up a Farmers' Market, we would strongly recommend that you approach KFMA or a manager of a Farmer's Market close to you, to discuss your ideas and plans in order to help move the ideas into reality. We would be very happy to help with this and to share our experiences.

We have a series of Toolkits we have developed based on our own experiences. One of the key reference documents to help a new market get off the ground is the Market Manager Job Description This summarises almost everything you might need to cover to get your market off the ground and is recommended as a ‘must-read’ document. Not all markets have a paid Market manager and its not essential at the outset to have one person carry out all the tasks, in fact we recommend that they should be shared around.

Just like any other retail outlet, your market should have a good selection of quality products to sell, at sensible prices and will need to attract sufficient number of shoppers to make it a success. However, it is important to realise that your stallholders are businesses and their continued presence at your market is determined by their individual economic viability. Consequently we suggest that the market needs to be set up and run in a business-like fashion from the outset, which we believe will bring benefits to all who are involved in it.

Our 'Tool kits' offer advice and guidance on some of the practicalities of setting-up and running a farmers’ market from setting up a Farmers Market to a series of more detailed “Getting Organised” documents such as developing a Market Plan (which sets out the issues which need to considered and reviewed when running a market) a draft Constitution (which can be used to help you establish the framework for the market, what your objectives are, what sort of market you might want to set up and run) plus an operating guide (which sets out sets out how the market could be run in terms of opening times, management committee, stallholders etc.)

You should inform your Local Authority (Environmental health and Food Depts. and Planning, if local roads are affected) that you intend to set up a market. The former will occasionally visit and check whether your Stallholders comply with the relevant Hygiene standards. We have included an example Market Risk Assessment ‘check-list’ which you may want to adapt to your local market (please ask us for a 'Word' version) plus Stallholder Standards which ensures you have all the relevant information needed about each business This latter form establishes a ‘contract’ between yourselves and them and confirms that they can meet the basic standards that you expect of them, particularly in terms of insurances and food hygiene etc.