finding your target market using marketmaker....produce travels nearly 1,500 miles. •...

Finding Your Target Market Using MarketMaker.

Darlene KnipeMarketing Specialist

University of Illinois ExtensionNational Food MarketMaker Founder

Challenges Facing The Commodity Approach to Food

• Procures on the basis of price not value

•Product flows through the system anonymously

•Differentiated products can’t easily find their way to receptive markets

• “Collection Points” can by-pass regional food systems

• Niche markets go unmet due to lack of economies of scale in distribution and high cost of market intelligence.

The Long Road from Farm to Fork

• In the U.S. the average grocery store produce travels nearly 1,500 miles.

• Approximately 40% of U.S. fruit is produced overseas.

• Broccoli is grown an average of 20 miles of the average American’s house.

• The average broccoli at grocery stores travel 1,800 miles. SOURCE:

What Regional and Local Foods Systems Offer

• Meet growing consumer demand for “Local Food”

• Reduce overdependence on geographically concentrated food sources

• Food security concerns demand source verification and more diversity in food supply chain

• Rural development thru Ag Entrepreneurship• Reduce Food Miles

MarketMaker

A Tool to Help Famers Find Markets and Find Farmers

MarketMaker Goal•

•To create an agile efficient virtual value chain that connects high quality sources of food to willing markets.

•Accomplished through a multistate network of partners to pool valuable marketing information into an easy to access online resource that can be used by farmers, businesses and consumers at no cost.

What MarketMaker Does…..• Helps farmers and food entrepreneurs identify potential markets

• Helps consumers find fresh and locally grown food

• Helps farmers and other food related enterprises connect with other members of the food supply chain

• Educates users on food marketing and value-added agriculture marketing topics and regulations.

Who can use it?• Anyone with internet access • MarketMaker is a free tool for people who:

– Grow food – Process food– Sell food – Eat food

MarketMaker Fast Facts• A Partnership of 15 Land Grant Institutions and 30+ Food and Agricultural Organizations in 15 States

•Technical Support Provided by University of Illinois

•Directed by A Multistate Advisory Board.

•Funded through State and Federal Partnerships

•No Cost to User to Access and Use MarketMaker

Maps of demographic information.

Database of farmers, processors, distributors, and retailers.

MarketMaker’s Strategy:

• Consolidate• Conform• Communicate

Tapping the Resources of Extension and the Land Grant

System• Largest informal education system in the world.• Infrastructure that includes 104 land grant institutions

and 2900 Extension offices nationwide. • Grass roots relationships with Farmers at the

Community Level• Widely dispersed effort to build data base of food

producers• Capacity to couple information gathering and

educational outreach with technology . “High Touch meets High Tech”

What Information Can be Found on MarketMaker?

• Nearly 350,000 profiles for food related businesses across 13 states

• Over 5600 expanded farmer profiles (as of 05-11-09)

• Demographic and census Data• Food preference data• All data is geo-coded and can be

viewed on a map

MarketMaker Features Maps potential markets by demographic characteristics

Provides census profiles of the markets being targeted

Maps and provides profiles of farmers and food related businesses

Allows users to query all data.

http://www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/index_pcs.asp

http://kydev.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/

Buyers Sellers Forum

State Administrators

Can Create Customized

Reports Using MarketMaker

Feedback to Producers

Farmers markets can

link to farmers

Farmers can link to businesses

Businesses can link to businesses

What Can MarketMaker Do to Build a Successful Electronic

Infrastructure• Converge on a standard core of

information across all states…..a common currency of information

• Create an Interface that is both local and yet connected nationally…..a virtual community for buyers ,sellers and consumers to interact

MarketMaker:Keys for Success

• Strong well resourced MM teams at both the state and national level.

• Comprehensive Source of Information (Farmers are Key)

• Ease of Access for Users• Few Barriers for User Participation• Sustainable Information• Financially Sustainable• Demonstrated Economic Impact ( e-

commerce)

Heritage Agriculture…building on the past & creating a better future. 47

WalMart: A New Commitment to Buying Local …..

Wal-Mart’s commitment to buying from local and regional farmers and producers dates to our entry into the food business. Since opening our first Supercenter in Washington, Missouri and then our first food distribution center in Clarksville, Arkansas we have been actively buying local. The process has been called many things, but today we refer to those efforts as SOTC or Store-of-the-Community. As good citizens and neighbors we already strive to support the farms and businesses that support us and our customers.

Examples: We buy Potatoes from 21 states; Tomatoes from 19 states; Apples from 15 states; Pumpkins from 30 states; Broccoli from 8 states; Onions from 16 states; and the list goes on and on.

Total Annual MarketMaker Hits

2,799,473YTD

April 09

608,470359,295

215,582

586,039

1,876,648

4,367,586

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

4,500,000

5,000,000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2,009

Questions?

If you’d like to know more about MarketMaker contact:

Dar Knipedknipe@illinois.edu

http://national.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/

Thank You!