Hi Duane,
I've sold heirloom tomatoes at markets for 6 years. Unfortunately, last year was my last year selling due to health reasons.
We were very successful. Some days we sold 500 + pounds. We NEVER came home with tomatoes.
Can't remember if you asked, but the plants are also BIG sellers.
I did ALOT of research into growing for market. We easily sold 5X more than any other vendor. I am sure that our success was due to the attention we put toward display, customer interaction etc.
First, we packed and transported the heirlooms in SINGLE LAYER 10 LB tomato boxes. Most people use the smaller -taller (2 layer) boxes, but we feared that this could risk damaging the ripe ones. (We always strived to bring tomatoes at all stages of ripeness so that the customer could enjoy them for more days). The single layer boxes were harder to find, but well worth the effort.
Next, we displayed the tomatoes using a 3-tier stand so that more of the tomatoes were visible to customers from across the market. Each of the shelves were 12 inches deep (and as wide as you need). We also used LOW, FLAT baskets that were 2 inches tall (wicker baskets lined with cloths to prevent indentations). The baskets were about 12 inch deep (to fit the shelves) by 9 inch wide. We usually brought at least 8 colors of tomatoes. We wanted to group by color and have the basket large enough for a nice looking display.
The other key factors are communication. Provide information about the varieties available. Ask the customer what they prefer, how they plan to use the tomatoes and make recommendations when appropriate. Customers love to get information. The more the better. Thats part of the reason they come to the market.
Another HUGE key for us was providing samples. Whenever we had a glut of a certain color or type, we started slicing and providing samples. Man, you should see those tomatoes fly off of your shelves after someone has tasted them. The cool thing is that when one customer tastes one and goes nuts, the other 6 people in line start grabbing samples and tomatoes like the world is coming to an end.
For weighing, we used a hanging scales that is Legal For Trade (required by all of the markets in our area). We used plastic bags for the customers, but by last year many of our customers were bringing their own re-usable bags.
Any other questions, feel free to ask.
Bill
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