Advice for farmer's market newbie....

[g:m:me]

Hi!
So I am just about to start vending my baked goods at a local farmer's market and I was wondering if any of you have any advice - particularly from those of you who have tried it before. Baking is my absolute passion and I'm excited about this new venture, so thank you for any tips!

[tempura]

free samples!

[ajoe]

What type of baked goods are you selling?

Around here, bread seems to sell much better than pastries and cookies, perhaps because they are the things that people don't have time to make. There always seems to be a market for good artisan breads.

IMHO, you can sell bread without samples but anything else will sell better if people can try them first.

[Mezzaluna]

I agree about the samples. One of the pleasures of the Dane County Farmer's Market on the state capitol grounds in Madison WI is the prevalence of samples from vendors.

You might consider teaming iwth a jam vendor, for example, if you're selling bread or scones. Then you'd both get double visibility. Shroomgirl here at Chef Talk has a lot of experience with Farmer's Markets in the St. Louis area. I'm sure she'll have some insights for you. You can send her a Private Message (PM) through this board.

Good luck!

[bubbamom]

Don't forget to touch base with your local Health Department to see if they have any special requirements and/or info brochures. In addition to items like bread, you might want to consider items that can be bought individually and eaten while folks shop; brownies, cookies, cinnamon rolls all come to mind. Good luck!