Fresh Facts
Newsletter #288
July-August 2013
Volume 28, Number 6
Presidents Message
Ahoy Mateys! I am writing this letter while nursing a sore throat as we have just finished our 5th annual Pirate Boot Camp. Aaarrrr!!!!!! It is one of two childrens events that we hold pre-blueberry season. The other is a Princess Tea Party. These events help to generate store traffic during our slower season. They provide great publicity and allow us to have fun with our own kids before the crazy season starts. What we have found is that they are also very good team building days. The staff have a lot of fun and have to work together to pull these events off. They also get a lot of great feedback that day from our customers, which makes the new employees proud to be part of the business. It takes a lot of work and the monetary return may not be huge but any thoughts of not doing it again disappear with each thank you hug you get as the kids leave. We are now in the final days before our blueberry season opens and are very optimistic about the crop we have to harvest. We are also excited to be launching some new food products this week that we have been working on in the off season to add to our blueberry line up: a blueberry BBQ sauce and two blueberry salad dressings. Our core business is still blueberries and these products help strengthen the core and improve the brand. I will bring some along for you to try at the upcoming twilight tour nights. These evenings are great opportunities for a little break and to see old friends and make some new ones. You will not attend another social event this summer that you will have so much in common with everyone else in attendance. Come and share your triumphs and if you arrive with a challenge you will most likely leave with a solution (or two). Wishing you all a fabulous season and hope to see you soon at the next OFFMA event.
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MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Classifieds
Delhaven Orchards Ltd., Blenheim, ON frozen, pitted sour cherries available for wholesale and retail Call 519-676-4475 or e-mail delhaven@ciaccess.com
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Welcome to our new members. We hope you come out to a twilight tour so we can introduce ourselves in person. New Members
Profitable Golden Horseshoe Farm Grow from a base of 20,000+ visitors 2 Houses. Manager wants to stay Ample water. Equipt, supplies avail. Call Martin now at 519-754-6927 More details at realtor.ca: MLS#37959 Sweet Cherries for sale Bulk packed sweet cherries minimum 20lb. count. Contact Cheryl or Kris at 519-4260705 or email ciderkeg@kwic.com Attention Wineries/processors : please call 519-692-5971 - Jennen Farm Market if you would like to purchase local, no pesticide (not certified organic) large BLACKBERRIES. Price negotiable. We are located in the Thamesville area, and the berries will be coming into heavy season approx July 20 Act Now! email petelle@ciaccess.com
The Classifieds are for members who are selling a product or are looking for something specific. There is no charge for a member to list a classified ad. Just send your ad to the OFFMA office. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vails Orchards
Bill & Phyllis Vail Meaford, ON 519-538-4474 Vails Orchards have a wonderful farm market near Georgian Bay at Meaford on the way to Owen Sound, where they feature their apples along with cider, pies, pears, pumpkins and squash. Business Member
Baby News Nick and Lynda are thrilled to announce that Iris Elizabeth Van Casteren chose the summer solstice (June 21, 2013) to join the Nicholyn Farms family! She is doing a great job of training her parents Ryan and Katelyn. Perhaps a career in Human Relations is in her future.
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Premier Wynne enjoys an Ontario rhubarb muffin while visiting with Leslie Forsythe (left) and Cathy Bartolic (right) at the OFFMA booth during Foodlands 7th annual Queens Park Farmers Market to kick off the summer season and promote Ontario food. A special thanks to Baxter Kitchens for providing the delicious muffins for the event.
The Ontario Table now available for the special price of $14 ea. Lynn Ogryzlo, author and publisher of this Canadian best seller has lowered the wholesale price and the savings are being passed along to you. Get a box of 8 and put them on sale, feature them as a special. The coffee table style book is filled with lovely pictures of Ontarios countryside and great recipes using Ontario products. To order, call the office today at 905-841-9278, quantities are limited.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle
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VIII. Positioning - How will you position your product/company? Try the onliness statement (developed by Marty Neumeier, ZAG) What: How: The only (category) that (differentiation characteristic) Who: for (customer) Where: in (market geography) Why: who (need state) When: during (underlying trend) IX. Thinking about the logo list everything that the brand will be used on. For example, more than just business cards and stationery you may have it on caps, shirts, signs (big and small), bags, product packaging etc. Start working on the elements that will identify your brand colours, tones, texture/feel (ambience), fonts. This video about colour will provide some background
III.
The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp Today - brand is the personality that identifies a product. A brand identity is something tangible and appealing. When people recognize a brand it evokes recognition, feelings (good or bad), helps people to differentiate from other similar offerings.
X.
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- http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=XDohoPavchc. At this point of the branding session I am pre pared with stacks of magazines design and style magazines, food, travel, fashion, that are full of colourful images. Each person will have scissors, glue and a piece of bristol board and they will be invited to go through the magazines and cut or tear out images that they feel represent the brand colour, fonts and feel appropriately. Once completed, each will present their board to the group. In most cases, if the proper groundwork has been laid (meaning youve gone through all the fundamental steps of creating a brand and havent skipped to this point), you should see similarities among the images chosen and a few will really stand out. XI. Now you may look to creating a name. This can be quite challenging often the name is already in use for example. A quick Google search can help avoid duplication or name associations that may be negative. If its a company name you can go to http://www.nuans.com/ nuansinfo_en/home-accueil_en.cgi and search.
Considers long-term goals Is the name limiting or does it position you for growth? Does the name lend itself to brand extensions. Can you own and trademark the name? Is the domain name available? Positive Look at the markets/ customers you will be trying to attract and make sure the name has a positive connotation. Visual Does the name lend itself well to a visual representation? With the previous steps completed you will then take away all those notes and ideas and begin to craft key messages which are basically the most important things you want to communicate about your brand. You will also move on to a logo design. Logo design is much more difficult than it looks. Thinking about the logo list everything that the brand will be used on. For example, more than just business cards and stationery you may have it on caps, shirts, signs (big and small), bags, product packaging, websites, social media etc. A June 2009 article in Smashing Magazine identifies 10 Common Mistakes In Logo Design.
XII.
Qualities that you may look for in an effective name may include: Meaningful It communicates the brand essence Distinct It is unique and easy to remember, pronounce and spell.
XIII. Its important that anyone who may be representing your company be clear on the key messages about your brand so that everyone is singing from the same song sheet. You need to remain consistent with the messages you communicate about your brand whether it be in advertising, media interviews, signage, online or in the one-to-one interactions your customers have with your staff.
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the travel trade and let them know you want to offer on farm experiences to the general public. Can I satisfy the physical needs of visitors and the vehicles they come in? Do you have the staff to ensure that visitors are greeted promptly and processed quickly in the shop at the end of the visit? Do have enough inventory in the shop to satisfy groups of 35 to 50 people? Is your public space free of hazards (physical/chemical/biological) and is there access for those with limited mobility. Are your biosecure areas clearly marked and inaccessible to those who do not know what biosecurity is? Do you have washrooms and can you provide hand washing? If your visitors are coming by car do you have adequate parking for a few cars? If your visitors are coming by bus; -Do you have a space big enough for a large bus to turn around? -Will the yard and driveway take the weight of the 27 ton bus? -Are there overhanging trees that pre vent the bus from getting into the yard? -Does the road you are on have a sea sonal load limit? -Is there a low overpass or a load re stricted bridge on the way to your location? Can I provide pre or post visit material to my visitors? Many of your visitors are coming to you because they have a strong interest in what you do. Can you provide them with interpretive material about what you do before or after the visit? Can you provide them with written material or electronic aids that will extend their visit to you and to allow them to share what you offer with others Can you provide product giveaways so visitors can take a bit of what you have to offer, home?
Am I willing to share what I have with others? There are many agricultural businesses that open their doors to the public and become disenchanted with the fact that visitors know so little about their world. Look at the decision to open your doors to the public as a first step to a greater level of understanding by a willing and inquisitive audience and do whatever you can do to make them feel comfortable with what you do and how you do it. An informed population is the first step in growing your business off the farm. Can I charge for what I do? Having company on the farm will mean that you will have expenses either in the form of costs for prep, clean up, staff time and possibly extra insurance. Dont be afraid to offset those costs with a small per person fee for your visitors. As a tour operator we are used to paying from $2 -$5 per person for a basic tour and double that for an experiential activity. Most sites use the money from visitors to improve the visitor experience.
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the farm and the tornado that leveled their operation in January of 2008. At the other extreme is Zingermans. If you have had a chance to visit their website, www.zingermans.com, you know they have a designer who does a great job at using cartoons to depict various parts of their businesses. Every inch is packed with cute sayings, graphics or information. Well, their bags are designed the same way. The larger businesses are featured on the front and back panel whereas details about the smaller ones can be found in the gussets. This factoid will give you a sense of their business philosophy (complete with its lack of capitals). this is not your average plastic bag. The best food deserves the best bag. This is a super-sturdy, flat-bottomed, foldable, 20% recycled content, recyclable, and very, very reuseable plastic bag. And its free! Whole Foods just opened a store in Unionville, so it was worth a drive to have a look and check out their bags. As a company, Whole Foods is very committed to protecting the environment. Whole Foods offers only paper bags to their customers. They are of sturdy construction and were not disappointing when it came to gusset information. Actually they were the first bag that provided completely different information on each of the two gussets. The one side promoted their signature product brand and the other promoted an initiative where they would pay the customer a 10 refund for each bag they brought to reuse at the store. The refund could be donated to a designated non-profit organization if the customer so desired. Thats a lot of interesting information that may not be in front of the customer if it werent for bag gussets. Now that your eyes have been opened as well, keep a look out for what is included in gussets and more importantly, next time you submit your bag order, make sure you are using every inch of the bag in the best way possible, including the gussets.
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According to the blog, ringcentral.com, Twitter is also an excellent resource for information that can help your business grow, keep you inspired and ensure you stay current with whats going on in your industry Assembled here is a collection of Twitter accounts that are worth following. The list includes a variety of thought leaders, experts and companies leveraging social media in new and innovative ways. Definitely worth checking into. @smallbiztrends Relevant, applicable advice and links from the CEO of Small Business Trends, Anita Campbell. @ducttape Duct Tape is the Twitter account for John Jantsch, the author of Duct Tape Marketing and the Referral Engine. He churns out large quantities of high-quality tweets about marketing, social media and technology that applies to small business owners. @smallbizlady One of Forbes 20 Women to follow on Twitter, Melinda Emerson provides expert advice about social media, starting a business and finding success. @zenhabits Inspirations for how to create a better work-life balance and find happiness as a business owner. @Sprinkles Sprinkles Cupcakes uses Twitter to engage customers in a variety of truly innovative ways. Follow along to discover new marketing ideas that have helped grow Sprinkles online community to over 40,000 Twitter followers.
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Cannon Hall Farm, one of the places we visited during our best practices tour to England in 2011 has gone to the point of building kennels where dogs can be kept while the rest of the family enjoys the farm. They have had issues with customers bringing their dogs to the farm and felt this was a good solution for all concerned. Their website states that: Dogs (except for guide dogs) are not allowed into the farm. Kennels are provided outside the tearoom. Bring your own padlock for security. Please note, dogs cannot be left unattended anywhere on the farm site and must not be left in cars. Whatever your pet policy is make sure it is upfront and centre for your customers to see. You should start by having it on your website. Stroms Farm makes sure that their pet policy is on their home page for all to see before they even arrive at the farm.
It helps to try and bring a bit of humour to the situation. Even Starbucks has a policy
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Stroms greeters are also well versed in the no pet policy and they are required to remind people as they are greeted at the farm entrance. Whatever you decide to do about visiting pets on your farm, make sure that all your employees know and understand your policy. Secondly make certain that your customers know and understand your policy, preferably before they arrive at the farm. It will help to start the visit off on the right foot. Have you got a pet policy sign you are especially proud of or one that works for your customers? Send it to the OFFMA office and we will be sure to include in the next newsletter.
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Toronto Gift Show, Toronto International Centre & Toronto Congress Centre, for additional info visit www.cgta.org North American Manure Expo, Arkell, ON for more information, contact 1-888-599-2228 Canadas Outdoor Farm Show, Woodstock, ON Visit www.outdoorfarmshow.com for more information Canadian Greenhouse Conference, Scotiabank Convention Centre, Niagara Falls, ON Visit www.greenhouseconference.com for additional information Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Exhibition Place, Toronto, ON Details can be found at www.royalfair.org OFFMAs Bus tour to California...save the date, additional info to follow. REMINDER - Nows the time to get some excellent pic-
tures of your farm, your on-farm market and some of the activities you offer. It is also a very busy time. If you cant do it personally, assign the task to one of your employees. Ask them to do a mini pictorial safari to record what is happening. You will be glad you did in January when you sit down to put together new brochures for 2014 or look at updating your website.