Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association

Fresh Facts

Providing knowledge and leadership to grow the farm fresh experience.

Marketing Ideas from the Scouting Tour

Newsletter #314
July 2016

by Cathy Bartolic

Volume 32, Number 5

Gary and I spent 5 days at the end of June, driving around the Eastern Townships of Quebec
and exploring Vermont to find some outstanding on-farm markets that we can visit as a group in
November. To be honest I was not really looking forward to the trip. It was going to be a lot of
driving and I didnt feel my high school French would be much use to me so many decades later. Well, I came back energized and excited about the places we have found and the people we
met. There will be more details of the tour in the next newsletter but until then I would like to
share some interesting marketing ideas that we saw during our travels.
Solmate Socks kids pair with a spare
These colourful socks are sold in groups of three.
The design is unique on each sock and no two
socks actually match so a child can easily wear any
two that they fancy. My nine year old niece claims
it is bad luck to wear two sock that match so this
is a perfect gift for her and if she loses one of the
socks, she still has a pair to wear. What else can
we sell this way? Mittens obviously but there must
be other items. Essentially you are selling three
when, usually only two are bought. By the way,
these childrens socks cost more than the adult
version that only had two pieces.
Sand Sculptures at Bleu Lavande
Bleu Lavande is a lavender farm that was set up to be a
unique agri-tourism experience and they did a great job. One
of things they have added this year are sand sculptures in
different areas of the farm. Essentially they have boxed off
an area of approximately 8 x 8 and brought in the sand for a
sculptor to create some amazing pieces. Most were almost
life size. Not sure how they have kept the sand from crumbling but they did a great job. They are a unique attraction,
not permanent but easy to set up for a season.
Tasting Place in Newport, Vermont
A downtown location showcases food and drink produced in
the Northeast Kingdom region. Small producers have an opportunity to sell their products in an urban setting that focuses on local, without investing in a storefront themselves. It
had a hip setting and you could see people visiting to learn,
taste and enjoy. They were encouraging everyone to try a seasonal tasting plate with drink pairings 4 bites and 4 sips for just $9.
Continued on page 2

Inside this issue:

Membership News

OFFMAs Partnership with

LSTraining

Growing Your
Business through
Social Media

Summing Up
Labour Benchmarking

Making the Most of

Your Business
Donations

Upcoming Events
and Updates

Page 2

Fresh Facts

MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Classifieds
FOR SALE:

Bayfield Berry Farm is selling fresh

Saskatoon Berries in July. If you are
interested in getting some contact:
Marlene Beyerlein
Bayfield Berry Farm
Tel. 519-482-1666
email: berryfarm@tcc.on.ca
FOR SALE:
Delhaven Orchards Ltd.,
Blenheim, ON
Frozen, pitted sour cherries
available for wholesale and retail
Call 519-676-4475 or
e-mail delhaven@ciaccess.com
Classifieds are free for members. Send your
information to the OFFMA office and it will be
included in the next newsletter.

Do you have extra brochures?

OFFMA coordinates the Farmers Market at Nathan Phillips Square in the
heart of Toronto. OFFMA also has a
booth in that market. We can distribute
members brochures free of charges.
Just get them to the OFFMA office and
well take it from there. The market
runs until the middle of October.

Welcome to our New Members

so glad to have you aboard. Make sure
you get out to an event so we can
meet you in person.
New Members
Cindy Ryan & Steve Peters
Salt Creek Farm Market
St. Thomas, ON
519-633-1781
Facebook: Salt Creek Farm Market
Their market opened in 1995 to sell
their farm's fresh apples, homemade
pies and baked goods, and a variety of
crafts and furniture. Since then, they
have grown to carry a wide selection of
pickles, jams, salsas, and other preserves, in addition to expanding their
produce and baked good areas! Salt
Creek is open from May to December 7
days a week from 9 am to 6 pm.
Business Associate Member
Golden Loaf Bakery Inc.
Lou or Ettore Spizzirri
Caledon, ON
905-951-9995
www.goldenloafbakery.ca
Golden Loaf Bakery provides frozen
dough and bakery consulting to small
bakeries and on-farm markets with a
bakery component. They are providing
their artisan breads, bagels, croissants
and pizza doughs to those outlets that
have returned to making bread in
small batches.

Marketing Ideascont from page 1

Salad in a Jar
I had seen these before in magazines but never really experienced eating one. When you build one of these salads, you start with the dressing at the bottom of the jar and the greens etc. on top of that. They
had several prepped ahead of time and sitting in the cooler. The server brought the jar to the table, shook it up and placed the jar contents
on a plate infront of me. Im sure that the little bit of theatre made the
salad taste much better! In May, OFFMA had a well attended Farm 2
Fork Workshop at Springridge. The topic was Farm Lunches. Salad in a
Jar would be something to explore and perhaps add to the menu.
These ideas are meant to get you thinking outside of the box. Not all or
even any of them may work on your farm but it gives you an idea of
how others are using different techniques to sell their products. This list
is only the tip of the iceberg for more, make sure you sign up for the
November Bus Tour, details will be in the August newsletter.

Newsletter #314

Consulting with Erin Pirro, Financial Wizard

You may have seen her at the Fruit &
Vegetable Convention, you may have
attended her Labour Benchmarking
Workshop in March, now you have the
opportunity to work with her on a oneon-one basis. Just you, Erin and your
financial records.
Erin has the unique talent of making
numbers interesting and relevant. Most
of us didnt get into this business to
study numbers but it is amazing what
you can learn from them if you know
how to review them.
OFFMA is working with Erin Pirro from
East Farm Credit in Connecticutt to offer consulting services to OFFMA
members. Erin will be in Ontario November 28 to December 2. We have 10
spots available for a half day consultation opportunity. The spots are first
come, first served. Dont delay if you

are interested, contact the OFFMA

office. The investment cost is $500 +
HST.
Once you sign up, a pre-visit survey
will be sent out for you to complete.
This allows you to gather your
thoughts and focus on priorities. It also gives Erin a bit of background
about your business and some of the
financial issues you may be having. If
you want to make more efficient use
of the time available with Erin, you can
also send some of your financial data
to her ahead of time for an initial review.
OFFMA has labour benchmark results
from the survey that was done earlier
this year so you will be able to compare your labour costs to that information.

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Fresh Facts

Heatherlea Farm Shoppe: The addition of a butcher shop,

aging room, and caf completes a true farm-to-fork experience
of meat
By Melinda McArthur, Heatherlea Farm Shoppe
We are finally in our new shop! Construction began in August 2015 and
opening day was January 23, 2016. A
major part of this new 5000 ft2 construction was having the capability of aging
and butchering meat onsite as well as
adding a caf.
The response from customers, fellow
farmers and associations has been overwhelming and so supportive! The new
building has been a game-changer for
us. There has been a dramatic increase
in customer traffic because we are more
visible to the road. It seems we have removed the hesitation that customers
used to have (over coming into the
farmhouse up the long, daunting laneway). Its amazing how many commuters/locals comment that they didnt
know we existed or didnt know what we
were. What!? Didnt know we existed?
#ShockedButNotSurprised
Opening the new shop in January turned
out to be great timing. It is allowed us
to get used to the new normal before
we hit busier times. Two major additions to the business are the butcher
shop and the caf. The fresh meat has
opened the doors to new clientele customers that only ever buy fresh meat.
Our head butcher, Jason, has been a
wonderful addition to the team. He has
done an amazing job of taking care of
the backroom, displaying the meat, creating new sausages and chatting with
customers about meat. The fresh meat
has also brought new challenges that we are figuring out as
we go. Thankfully we have a
wonderful family (farm/butcher
shop) in Simcoe that has been
a tremendous resource. Surprisingly, the frozen meats are
still selling really well. These
sales are likely from GTA customers who stock up but also
from locals that perhaps havent broken their habits from the

frozen items. The caf is slowly catching on as we are noticing we have

some regulars now, which is fantastic.
We are thinking towards the Summer/
Fall and how to target the tourists and
many cyclists in the area who like to
stop for coffee and a treat.
And since we thought we didnt have
enough going on we decided to get
some cooking classes and demos rolling. We had dabbled in classes in the
past but always ran into space issues
and needed to rely on good weather.
We just launched our first series of
classes that explore butchery or cooking/baking.
The store has fine foods and produce
but perhaps looks a bit sparse as we
work on filling the new space. Customers ask are you going to bring in more
produce? more cheese?, more
meats?etc. We laugh because these
questions always come at a time when
our knees are about to buckle! But truly
this is a good sign that we are grateful
for. It means we are on the right track
to keep growing, which always seems
to lead to needing more fridges and
freezers
A huge thank you to all the OFFMA
members that have been a resource to
us. Your support and feedback has really helped execute a well-thought out
plan for the building. If you have
questions about our adventure we
would be happy to chat!

Newsletter #314

Page 5

Nine Things to Consider Before Enlarging Your On-Farm Market

Its been quite a ride to get to this point. It took a
lot of planning so we thought we would leave you
with some points to think about if you wish to pursue growth for your own farm-gate market.
1.
Signs that it is time to grow!
Are customers demanding more? Is there no
space for new products or the capability of new
value-added products? We began to see a plateau
in yearly revenues, (we believe) because we were
physically limited to grow the business any further.
We were eager to do more! For us this meant we
wanted to offer more selection of products, more
produce, fresh meats, custom aging and butchering. Hosting events is important but we lacked
space and proper facilities for cooking classes/
workshops.
2. Succession
Does growth make sense in your situation? Is
there someone that would commit to continuing
the journey of your business?
3. Market Research
Understand your clienteles demographics
(average income, age, travel distance to your farm
-gate), research population and projected growth
of the population in your area. Do you have the
clientele to support your project? Research your
competitors and compare to your business.
4.
Location and Size of Expansion
Research all your options to determine if an expansion, renovation, or new construction would be
best suited. What we thought might be the
cheaper option of renovating turned out to be not
a good option due to the cost of upgrades and the
awkward entrance it would create. Our new construction is much closer to the road (and in your
face, in a good way we hope), which has increased the traffic coming in the store. Had we
pursued the renovation option further back from
the road we dont think we would have had the
same customer traffic as we do now.
5.
Money
Meet with an accountant to review your financials.
Research costs of the project including equipment,
staff, training, etc. You will want to have sufficient
money for at least the major portion of the project. You may have to let go of some small items
just to get the major project done and add those
remaining items throughout the year. If you need
to borrow money, shop around for the best options and a good working relationship. Look into
grants - and hope the timing works out if you receive a grant. Grants have a deadline for using the

money - if your project is delayed you risk losing

the grant money.
6.
Plan for Lots of Unknowns!
Meet with regulatory bodies to determine the fee
schedule and if timelines are suitable. Establishing a good relationship with your local Mayor and
Councillors to advocate for you can be very helpful. Our project took a long time to finish - roughly 3 years! Our specific area had not updated their
town policies to reflect the Local Food Act. Thus,
we felt like we didnt fit into any of their policies.
Our store was zoned commercial because we resell goods from other farms. Unfortunately, being
zoned commercial comes with astronomical fees
and costly/unnecessary requirements. Many of
these costs and requirements sprang up unexpectedly - it would have been useful if the town/
city could provide a fee schedule to plan for these
costs. For more information about our journey
through red-tape please see a recent article in In
the Hills Magazine 2016 summer edition http://
www.inthehills.ca/2016/06/current/heatherleafarm-shoppe/
7.
Use Mentors!
This was super important for our project and possibly yours too. OFFMA members can be an
amazing resource and so encouraging when you
need a little boost when you are feeling discouraged. We also met with the owners of larger food
retail operations they can have a lot of experience to share and remind you to plan for volume,
efficiency, and good workflow. Show them your
plans for some honest feedback and suggestions
for layout of your new interior.
8.
Health Unit
Be sure to share your plans with the local health
unit to save the headache of modifying your plans
later on.
9.
Business Plan
A good wintertime project! It takes a lot of time
but you learn a lot about your business and your
proposed project. The Business Plan was valuable
when borrowing money and gives you an edge
when applying for grants. It makes you look like
you have your stuff together (even if you dont
feel like you do!) it goes a long way to show
that you are professional and serious about your
project. It may open your own eyes as to the
feasibility of your dream.
Editors Note: Congrats to the Heatherlea team on a
great job. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and
have a look.

Fresh Facts

Page 6

You make it happen, celebrate it!

by Erica Pate, Direct Farm Marketing Lead, OMAFRA

Ontarios third annual Local Food

Week took place June 6 to 12, celebrating fresh, local food and beverages across the province. Established under the Local Food Act,
2013, Local Food Week presents an
opportunity for farmers, farm organizations, agribusinesses, government partners and consumers to
come together and promote all of
the good things that are grown,
made and harvested right here in
Ontario.
As OFFMA members, you are an
important part of our agri-food sectors success, providing Ontarians
with fresh, locally produced foods at
grocery stores, farmers markets,
restaurants and farm retailers
throughout the year. Hopefully you
were able to participate in one of the
many exciting Local Food Week
events which took place during the
week, including:

During Local Food Week, the Ontario government also released their
2015/2016 Local Food Report (http://
www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/
about/local_food_rpt16.htm), which
showcases the great successes
achieved within our agri-food sector,
as well as the amazing local food
champions behind them. A few key
highlights from the report include:

A Breakfast on the Farm event

at Veldale Farms in London.
The Evergreen Brick Works
food courts Feast On designation celebration.

Various farmers market celebrations across the province,

including OMAFRAs 9th annual Queens Park Farmers Market where 22 stakeholder vendors shared their delicious
products.

Ontarios agri-food industrys

strength, which generates more
than $35 million in GDP and
provides more than 781,000
jobs.
The growth of the sector over
the past two years, with $1.3
billion added to the GDP and
more than 34,000 jobs created.
Ontarios abundance of locally
produced commodities, with

Newsletter #314

200 different commodities

grown on almost 52,000 farms
across the province.
81 per cent of Ontario shoppers being able to identify Ontario-grown fruits and vegetables in grocery stores and 94
per cent of shoppers able to
recognize the Foodland Ontario logo. 52 per cent of principal
grocery shoppers in Ontario
include locally grown food in at
least one meal per day, while
78 per cent eat local food at
least once per week.
New opportunities for wine,
cider and craft beer, including
the Alcohol and Gaming Commissions two-year pilot project
allowing VQA wine to be sold
at farmers markets - a list of
farmers markets selling VQA
and fruit wine is available on

the AGCOs website http://

www.agco.on.ca/pdfs/en/
vqa_wine_farmers_mkt_notic
e.pdft - and the expansion of
the program in 2015 to include the sale of fruit wines
and craft cider.
Local Food Week is an opportunity
to showcase all of the great foods
and beverages that Ontario has to
offer, but we should be celebrating
year-round. Become a local food
champion and spread the word.
Promote and celebrate the good
things grown, harvested and made
in Ontario. Get inspired, and inspire
others in your community.
Continue to celebrate agriculture
and food the week before Thanksgiving during Agriculture week, and
mark your calendars for Local Food
Week 2017 the first full week of
June.

Page 7

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Fresh Facts

Love Local? Make it a Strategy, Not an Idea.

By John Stanley, John Stanley Associates
Nine out of ten Australians prefer to buy
locally made products (Ref: Eloise Keating
Smart Company 06/1/2016)
According to all the surveys coming out,
locally made, is increasing in popularity.
Local is very much being used more in
conversation, but what is local? According to the dictionary, local means existing
in or belonging to the area where you live,
or to the area that you are talking about.
The definition of local is as confusing as
ever and as a result as a business you need
decide on your definition of local and
communicate this to the consumer.
Placing a sign on a product or outside the
store telling people you are local and expecting sales to increase is not that simple.
I was recently working with a small business that promoted Buy Local and I
asked one of the team why I, as a consumer, should support local products and businesses. I got a blank look and an eventual
I dont know.
I am an advocate of supporting local businesses and local products, but it is more
than telling people you are local on a sign
Research indicates that if we buy from local suppliers and retailers $73 in every
$100 stays in the community compared
with $43 in every $100 staying in the community if we purchase non local or shop at
a chain. One of the keys to shopping local
is to ensure money keeps circulating in the
community.
Local is not only an Australian trend, it is a
global trend with many communities developing local campaigns, the key is to
develop a strategy that really works for
your business.
The key is to work with your team to engage them in building a local strategy.
When developing
a strategy, the
following ideas
may help you get
the message
across.
1. Blackboards/
Sandwich Boards
Give The Right
Image

We live in a world of social media and getting the message across via social media is
important, but do not forget that traditional
methods are still important. Blackboards in
store promoting the product can allow you
to be topical and provide the right image.
A message on a blackboard can put a smile
on the customers face and generate sales. I
love a sandwich board placed outside of a
pub in London after a robbery overnight, it
read This pub is so good that someone
tried to get in eight hours before we open!
Sandwich boards can humanize the business. If you are a local business place pictures up of yourselves, it means the business has a face.
2. Provide A Map Instore Showing Where
The Product Comes From
Consumers are becoming more aware of
where produce comes from. Have a picture
of the producer and a map showing where
they are located. This help with getting the
message across. The shorter the field to
fork journey the better for all concerned.
3. Support Local Community Groups And
Show Who You Support
It is more than selling local, it is about engaging with the local community. Select
which community groups your business
should engage with and use this as a promotional tool in the community.
4. Train The Team On Why Local Is Important
People buy from people, and the more your
team can engage with the consumer and
explain why local is important, the more
credibility the business has in the customers eyes. Not only train them on the merits
of local, but make sure they engage with
the consumer, especially non-local issues.
Local gives local businesses an opportunity
to be entrepreneurs in their community.
Large organisations need time to make
changes, local business can do it tomorrow.
Editors Note: John will be in Ontario at the
end of August. If you are looking to hire
him for some consulting services, contact
John directly at john@johnstanley.com.au

Newsletter #314

OFFMA Membership Benefit

Become a member of E-LearningU
Central Counties Tourism (CCT) members now have access to 150+
recorded tourism marketing webinars - all complimentary as a member
of Central Counties Tourism. Cathy Bartolic is on the Board of Central
Counties Tourism and as such is able to extend this offer to all OFFMA
members.
Set aside 1 hour a week, a month, or whenever it's best for you and your
staff to learn online from the convenience of your own location. Some of
the webinar topics you will find are:

Taming the E-mail BeastManaging the Insanity

Growing Your Tourism Business on Instagram
Developing a Reality-Based Tourism Marketing Roadmap

Some of you may remember Susan Sweeney who did a workshop at the
Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention when it was still located at Brock
University. This program is tapping into her E-learning University. The
webinars generally cost $49.95 each so this has great value. Dont wait
to take advantage of it. Use Coupon Code CCT to get the webinars free.
Register as a user now and check out all the pre-recorded webinars,
start by going to http://centralcounties.ca/b2b-opportunities/e-learning/#

10 Reasons to Love Failure

Long term, you get more out of life from your failures than from your
successes.
The list below is based on a conversation with motivational speaker, Art
Mortell, author of The Courage to Fail:
1. Failure teaches you more than successes, especially about yourself.
2. Failure renews your humility and sharpens your objectivity.
3. Failure creates the perfect opportunity to try out new ideas.
4. Failure helps you make corrections so that you can stay on target.
5. Failure makes you more mature and more resilient.
6. Failure reminds you to be kinder to yourself and those around you.
7. Failure is a badge of courage because you dared to take the risk.
8. Failure develops the all-important emotion of patience.
9. Failure warns you to not take things so personally (or so seriously).
10. Failure grounds your self-esteem on who you are, not what you do.

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Fresh Facts

Are the very qualities that got you where you are today preventing you from getting where you need to be tomorrow?
by Donald Cooper

The people who start and grow

businesses from the ground up are
generally fearless initiative takers.
Nothing stops them. They do it all,
and if theyre good at it, they succeedfor a while.
Eventually, the business grows to
the point where it hires managers
to look after specific areas and responsibilities. But, typically, the
boss keeps taking the initiative,
keeps giving people a job and then
taking it away from them a little bit
at a time and the very initiativetaking that
built the business, now limits its growth
and drives
good people
away.
Heres the
thing.
Initiative
doesnt exist
in the air. It
exists in people. And when we take
it, we take it away from people.
Good people leave in frustration
and the rest stay and take I dont
give a damn pills. Then, the boss
whines and complains, You cant
get good people anymore. I see
this happening all the time.
One of the biggest challenges as
any business grows is for the
founder to make that important
transition from being a player to
being a coach. Players take initiativecoaches give initiative. Thats
how it works.

Give your people specific tasks and

projects. Make sure they have the
training and resources to succeed
and that they understand why the
task or project is important. Ask
them, By when can we agree that
this will be completed? Document
the completion commitment and follow up. The world is run by those
who follow up. Let them know that
youre there to help and guide them,
but at all times they will they keep
ownership of the task or project.
In addition to tasks or projects with
specific deadlines, give them
ongoing responsibilities and then
let them do their
job. Every once in
a while ask,
Hows it going?
Look for opportunities to praise
and thankand
look for opportunities to coach,
without taking the initiative away.
Thats the trick. And remember, your
way isnt the only way.
Youll be amazed at how your good
people will become great, and how
non-performers will become obvious. So, what will you do to make
the important transition from player
to coach? Remember, if there is a
heaven, theres an express lane for
coaches. They build their businesses by growing people and encouraging them to be the best they can
beand thats a wonderful thing.

Newsletter #314

Staff Training Resources on the OFFMA website

The OFFMA website has lots of resources that can help with staff training and well as
staff management. You will need to get into the Member Only section of the website. If
you cant remember your password, just contact the OFFMA office and we will send you
a reminder.

Staff Manual Template

Are you getting to the stage where you need to write down all the things you
tell your staff as they come through the door on their first day? Having trouble
remembering or finding bits of paper that has notes about staff training? This
template is for you. It is set up in Word so you can easily personalize it and
add or delete any topics that are not applicable to your business. Definitely
worth a look.
Webinars
A. Merchandisinga good webinar to watch with your entire marketing team. It is
led by Leslie Groves, Merchandising Guru and will spark conversation and could
lead to great ideas from your team.
B. Customer Service Trainingnew addition to the website this spring. A complete
package where you get a manual for you as the owner to review, a handout sheet
for your staff and a webinar that you can all watch together. Feedback has been
very positive. Deb McGregor from McGregor Produce sent this note, Our first staff
orientation session was this morning..I was so glad to show the Customer Service
Webinar. It says exactly what we want to say.

Page 11

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Fresh Facts

Upcoming Events
Progressive Agricultural Safety Days put on by WSPS
Teeswater
July 19
Linda Freiburger, 519-881-0549
Ridgetown
July 20
Cassi Boersma, 519-401-1948
Sept. 13-15

Outdoor Farm Show, Woodstock, Ontario

Visit outdoorfarmshow.com for further information.

Nov. 6 9 or 10

OFFMA Bus Tour to the Eastern Townships of Quebec

August newsletter will have all the details

Nov. 28Dec. 2

Consultations with Erin Pirro, contact the OFFMA office for more
information.

Ontario Farm Fresh

Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director
2002 Vandorf Rd. Aurora, ON L4G 7B9
Phone: 905-841-9278
E-mail: info@ontariofarmfresh.com
www.ontariofarmfresh.com
2016-17 OFFMA Board of Directors
Leslie Forsythe, President
Forsythe Family Farms
Nicole Judge, Vice President
Spirit Tree Estate Cidery
Brian Hugli, Past President
Huglis Blueberry Ranch
Kristin Ego MacPhail, Ego Nurseries Ltd.
Hollis English, Murphys Farm Market &
Bakery
Cara Epp, Associate Member
Edana Integrated Marketing
Steve Martin, Martins Family Fruit Farm
Dana Thatcher, Thatcher Farms
Karen Whitty, Whitty Farms
Erica Pate, OMAFRA Advisor

Smiths Apples and Farm Market is SOLD

When one door of
Posted on Smiths Apples and Farm Market Facehappiness closes,
book Page on June 19, 2016
another opens, but
Steve and Micki would like to announce an
often we look so
exciting change for Smiths' Apples and Farm
long at the closed
Market. After sixteen years of providing the
door that we do not best apples we could grow and a wholesome,
fun place for all people who visited, we have
see the one that has decided it is time to retire. The good news is
been opened for us. Smiths' will continue to operate in the hands of
new owners Katie Lutz and Jim Mondry. They
have worked alongside us for a year now learning about all things "apple". The crop looks
fantastic and Katie and Jim are bursting with
new ideas to help continue what we began
here on our family farm. We have always
strived to be the first choice in our area for
great apples and family fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best wishes to Steve and Micki as they start a
new chapter in their lives. They have become
familiar faces from the many bus tours and
workshops they had attended. Steve is a past
OFFMA Board member and someone you could
always count on Emcee the Awards Banquet or
the first ever Bull Pen at the Fruit & Vegetable
Convention in February. Steve and Micki also
won the Outstanding Farm Market of the year
award in 2008. Dont be strangers you have
made too many friends at OFFMA to disappear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratulations to Katie and Jim and welcome
to the OFFMA Family. You have a solid foundation to build as big a business as your dreams
can contain and your labours can sustain.
Wishing you great success with your first year
but also for many years to come.

Micki and Steve Smith from Smiths Apples and Farm Market hand off the
big apple and all it represents to new owners, Katie Lutz and Jim Mondry.