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Yale, Michigan | The consumer-driven "local food" trend is continuing to get bigger from what I've seen and we're close enough to some larger urban areas in Michigan that this is something I've been looking into a lot lately.
How many of you with livestock market directly to consumers, especially consumers who are very far removed from the farm? I mean freezer meat, local groceries, restaurants, hog roasts, individual cuts, CSA, etc? If it's not giving up your secret competitive advantage, how do you advertise - social media, newspaper, farmers market, word-of-mouth only? What works/doesn't work with consumers?
A consumer trend I've seen is the desire to have products with feel-good, buzz-word labels like "no hormones added", "non-GMO", etc etc the list goes on and on. These kinds of value-added products are not something I personally want or need, yet many consumers do. I find myself thinking, do I want to educate/argue with a consumer who doesn't know about food production? ... Or do I want to just give the consumer what they want? When I see "no hormones added" pork or "non-GMO" popcorn, I just shake my head, but consumers will pay a lot of money for that.
Thanks in advance | |
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Direct Marketing to Consumers
