Stratford upon Avon Farmers' Market
Sketts, the local market and event operator, has always been extremely proud to be a farmers’ market pioneer with Stratford upon Avon being one of the first in the country, opening in June 1999. Sketts work closely with farmers and local authorities to ensure that Stratford farmers’ market remains authentic and true to its original ethos. Local farmers have risen to the challenge – they offer customers their expert knowledge of the produce, how it is grown, how it is best cooked and even recipes are on hand.
We operate one of the most stringent accreditation systems. All stallholders have a current accreditation certificate which is displayed on their stall. This process includes a visit to the producer’s premises and is valid for three years. A “guest stall” is occasionally offered to unusual produce for a limited period. We are rightly proud of the quality of our traders which include the winners of the 2011 FARMA best stall holder award, Chris and Mike Wilkes.
The market operates on the first and third Saturday of the month at Rother Street and more information can be obtained from www.skettsfarmersmarket.co.uk.
We have worked hard in recent years to improve our marketing of farmers’ markets to the public. We know our product is good and that our customers trust and value fresh food produced locally and enjoy supporting local farmers. Competitions have created interest as well as trapping data for marketing. Dominique, our recent French raffle winner, told us he thought the market was just like those in France – local produce at its best.
Use of social media has offered a great opportunity to get the message across and engage our various audiences be it farmer, customer, neighbouring shop keeper or local authority. We operate a dedicated website www.skettsfarmersmarket.co.uk which has a blog (market chatter) as well as links to twitter (lovelocalfood) and facebook. Customer e-newsletters are sent out regularly with market information on special markets, new seasonal produce, news from stallholders and recipes.
We are constantly looking at new ways of working with partners to promote the value of the markets and opening them up to new audiences including being part of Stratford Food Festival in September.
For more information, please contact Aby or Jayne at 01789 267000 or info@sketts.co.uk
