Tent Talk

This week our guest is Sina Pleggenkuhle, Director of Programs & Partnerships and Market Manager at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, Minnesota's largest open air farmers market. Sina is such a ray of sunshine, it's no surprise she's able to keep her farmers and vendors joyful seven days a week, no matter the weather! In this episode we chat about how to make the market your happy place, the pros & cons of hosting resellers at your farmers market, and the importance of listening when it comes to DEI measures and supporting immigrant farmers and vendors. Listen along for a cheerful and inspirational conversation with a kick-butt market manager! This week's episode is made possible by support from Blue Owl Promos.

This week we're joined by Michelle Pusateri, Founder and Granola Master at Nana Joes Granola. After spending years working as a pastry chef in high-end restaurants in San Francisco, Michelle set off on her own venture in 2010 and launched Nana Joes Granola at local Bay Area farmers markets. Over a decade later, Nana Joes is a multi-million dollar company and Michelle's delicious granola can be found in grocery stores all over Northern California, online and of course, still at farmers markets! Tune in to hear us chat about her move from the restaurant industry to starting her own business, the important role farmers markets play in her bottom line, and an inside look on how CPG brands are adjusting in today's current economy. This week's episode is made possible by support from Gusto.

Ok market managers, time to get real! This week we're tackling the tricky topic of "uninviting" a vendor from your market. Maybe they can't follow the market rules, or they're burnt out and the quality of their product has slipped below your standards...or maybe it's a personality mismatch. If approached correctly, breaking up with a vendor doesn't have to be messy. In this episode we'll cover all the bases on how to approach vendors having a hard time and how to try to get them back on track, steps to take if it's time for them to move on from your market, and how to keep things professional. This week's episode is made possible by support from Vendor-101.

Our guest this week is Jake Johannes, farmer at Sacred Sun Cooperative Farm and Board Chair at the Brookside Farmers Market in Kansas City, Missouri. As a year-round farmer and vendor-run organization, the Brookside Farmers Market has a unique perspective on what it takes to operate a farmers market that serves its community and its participants. In this episode Jake gives background on how the Brookside Farmers Market came to be and explains how the organization works with an active board made up of vendors and community members. We also chat about his market's extensive vendor application requirements and the benefits of bringing on a full-time farmers market manager! This week's episode is made possible by support from American Farmland Trust.

"How much does it cost to pop-up a tent here?" If we had a nickel for every time a potential vendor asked us this question, we could retire from managing markets! No two markets are the same when it comes to collecting rent and fee structures vary greatly depending on a market's operation costs, number of vendors, location, length of season, foot traffic, and so on! Determining your fee structure can be tricky, so this this week we're diving deep. Tune in to hear us talk about how to structure fees, how to establish fair rates, and what to do if you need to increase your fees. This week's episode is made possible by support from MarketWurks.

This week we're joined by farmers market manager and market musician, Kristin Eggen. Kristin is in her second year of managing the Decorah Farmers Market in a rural area of northeast Iowa. One of the many ways she makes the Decorah Farmers Market feel welcoming is by bringing talented musicians to the market each week. Tune in to hear us chat about the pros and cons of hosting musicians at your market, how to fund compensation for your musical talent, and some tips for booking performers. This week's episode is made possible by support from Square.

Our guest this week is Sadie Scheffer, CEO and founder of Bread SRSLY. Sadie launched her gluten-free sourdough company in her home kitchen in San Francisco back in 2011. While her initial business plan was focused on selling direct at farmers markets in the Bay Area, after giving it a few goes, Sadie decided the market life wasn't for her. Listen along as we chat about gluten-free baking, farmers market trial and error, and how to find your own version of success. This week's episode is made possible by support from Sarah Delevan Consulting.

This Tent Talk Live episode is from long-time farmers market vendor and InTents Conference veteran, Sarah Marshall of Marshall's Haute Sauce in Portland, Oregon. Sarah's 2022 presentation "Can We Talk About Burnout?" will help you gain useful self-care and conflict management tools for market managers, vendors and employees, and accept that we've been through a lot and it's ok to be feeling it. This week's episode is made possible by support from our sponsors including Square, MarketWurks, Farmers Market Coalition, The Food Corridor, American Farmland Trust and more!

This week on Tent Talk we're sharing another live recording from the 2022 InTents Conference! In his presentation "The State of the Market: Claiming our Place in the World," you'll hear farmers market advocate and practitioner, Richard McCarthy, share some surprisingly good news from the world of farmers markets. You'll learn about new market awareness, new models and new infrastructure linking rural to urban opportunities, and recent Market Cities and World Farmers Market Coalition developments to support markets worldwide. This week's episode is made possible by support from our sponsors including Square, Market Wurks, Farmers Market Coalition, The Food Corridor, and others!

Earlier this month we hosted hundreds of farmers market managers and participants at our 6th annual InTents: the Farmers Market Conference. Over the course of the conference, we invited our attendees to share their "why". Why do they do what they do? Why do they get up at 4 am to make farmers market magic happen week after week? Why do they keep going when they feel like they can't? And this week on Tent Talk, we're sharing those whys. Grab some tissues folks, this is a good one! This week's episode is made possible by support from our sponsors including Square, Market Wurks, Farmers Market Coalition, The Food Corridor, American Farmland Trust and more!