About Markets, Producers and Produce

The first Farmers Markets opened in the UK over 30 years ago. Prior to then ,the only way to buy local produce was at the 'Farm Gate'

The Farmers Market retail concept enabled small producers to sell directly to the public. With the closures of the small Village shop in the early part of the 21st century, the number of local rural Farmers Market grew to fill the gap.

The concept of the Farm Shop has grown over the last decade. Initially it was based on selling locally grown produce at the Farm Gate it grew by adding a small shop in the Farm. When Farmers realised they had a unique selling location, with plenty of parking space and old buildings ripe for conversion PLUS their own LOCAL produce these shops started to grow in number and size. So they, plus Farmers Markets have now become the bastions for retailing of local produce. Both have also grown in variety of produce sold and both attract 'Local Artisan Producers' .

More recently we have seen a major growth in another local producer in Kent and Sussex, Vineyards. They have become major visitor attractions and many now have shops anfd offer food to visitors.

Our aims are to inform the shopping public as to

WHERE they can find these local food and drink outlets,

their OPENING TIMES and

WHAT THEY SELL

We display these Producers by SECTOR and LOCATION

We also help all these Local Food Oriducers to understand the importance of following Food Regulations to ENSURE THE QUALITY OF PRODUCE SOLD is maintained.

FARMERS MARKETS IN KENT

NUMBER OF MARKETS ................................................ ....... ............ 50

These include 'Village' and 'Community' Markets which aspire to follow the Farmers Markets standards . (There are also a few other markets which are not members of the Association).

NUMBER OF MARKETS OPERATED EVERY YEAR IN KENT.....................1050

NUMBER OF STALLHOLDERS ATTENDING THESE MARKETS.................650 +

(of which 450+ sell food produce)

Our Stallholders/Producers sell an amazing variety of produce.

Click here to see the Producers selling at ALL Farmers Markets in Kent.

and

Click here to find out what is sold at each Farmers Market

ABOUT KENT FARMERS MARKET ASSOCIATION

Kent Farmers Market Association was set up in 2006 following a review of Farmers Markets conducted by University of Canterbury. Their main finding was that Markets and Producers and the shopping public would obtain considerable benefits by mutual co-operation. In particular by:-

Championing local food and drink sold directly by the Producer to the consumer at Farmers Markets.

Adding to the local economy by increasing the income of local producers, who in turn increase the spend in the local economy

THE FUTURE ASSOCIATION

With the realisation of the health benefits of eating local produce and the detrimental impact of Ultra Processed Foods combined with facility of buying food in far more interesting environments ,there has been a major increase in demand for LOCAL PRODUCEall over the country. In Kent this demand has also been further 'enhanced' by the growth of the local wine and micro brewery industries which have grown from a base of a few hobbyists to a major industry. This concept of shopping in an interesting environment has also helped farmers diversify and create new income streams.

We (Kent Farmers Market Association) have gone back to our formative days when we realised that there no one place to find information about Farmers Markets and so we created our 'one stop web site' which enables the shopping public to find information about all Farmers Markets in Kent. We have now widened our key objective to become the 'one stop' web site; to enable the shopping public find information about growers and retailers of local produce throughout the area. To date we have completed Vineyards, Farm Shops and Micro-Breweries sectors and we will be adding more food sectors in the near future.

We believe we can offer the same benefits of mutual co-operation to all Producers and Retailers of local food in Kent (and the South East) by:-

Promoting Local Food and Drink Producers and retailers in Kent and the South East.

Providing a facility to enable Retailers of local produce to easily find local producers and vice versa.

Providing a 'One stop shop' web site for visitors to the area and local shoppers to help them find retailers of local produce and drinks in specific areas.

Offering an existing large network of shoppers of local produce who already use our web site to these new local food and drink sectors

adding 'EatDrinkLocal' to become our common brand .

Expanding our Advice and Guidance to food quality standards for Retail Outlets of local produce

Encouraging local food outlets become key focal points in their local communities.

Providing start up guidance for new local food outlets

Stimulating the public’s understanding of the health benefits of eating local food in season and the environmental benefits of reducing food miles

Representing Local Food and Drink PRODUCERS to ensure future needs are recognized by local and national government and other formal organisations.

Helping improve both sustainability of local produce and making a positive contribution to climate change and environment

Making best use of Managers’ and Producer members’ time and money through use of standard web design templates and social media marketing.

MARKET SURVEY RESULTS

A survey, conducted at Shipbourne Farmers Market, illustrates the benefits of shopping at a farmers Market.

A recent survey of customers shopping habits at a Farmers Market

Edit Image Bar ItemX