Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association

Newsletter #284 Jan. 2013 Volume 28, Number 1

Fresh Facts

Inside this issue:

Membership News 2

OFFMA Summit at the OFVC

4

The Art of Giving Great Service Work-shop

5

The 3 Word Concept

6

Direct Farm Market-ing Profit Margin Calculators

7

Upcoming Events 8

Providing knowledge and leadership to grow the farm fresh experience.

President’s Message… Happy New Year! This, my friends, is the most wonderful time of the year. The holiday season is behind us and we've got another full season ahead. Here at Springridge Farm we're taking a few weeks to rest, reset, and recharge before we dive into 2013. Like you, we're making plans and going over what worked and what didn't work last year - deciding what to keep, what to change, what to eliminate, and (most interestingly) what to add as we move forward. For me, the opportunity to start fresh every year is perhaps the most exciting aspect of this business. January seems to encourage our creativity and our optimism - no idea or project sounds too big or too impossible. This past Saturday, we took advantage of being closed to the public and decided to head out for a drive (crazy, I know). Driving through Norval, we passed a beautiful farm with a road sign inviting us into Carter Farm Market. Naturally, we pulled in. (I'll admit that pulling in was an easy decision once I caught sight of their OFFMA membership sign at the road.) And I'm so glad that we did. What a great place - fantastic signage, beautifully kept, clean, amazingly friendly staff, and great looking products. I especially loved seeing the OFFMA/Foodland Ontario recipe brochures and OFFMA's Children's Activity Booklets set out for their customers - yes! I chatted with a super friendly staff person who told me about the farm and how much she was enjoying working there in their first year. Congratulations Carter Farm Market! We're looking forward to seeing you again soon. All this talk of starting fresh for 2013 and meeting new OFFMA members has me think-ing about the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention next month. Building on the suc-cess of last year's convention overhaul, this year's events look to be some of our best yet. OFFMA's pre-convention Customer Service Workshop with presenters from Zinger-man's (February 19) is going to have people talking for sure. Their approach to Custom-er Service is inspired and I'm so looking forward to being there. That evening the place to go is OFFMA's Annual Banquet. This year's ‘Gala’ celebrates OFFMA's 40th year (that's right - 40!) and will honour OFFMA's best and brightest in style - can't wait! The Convention itself (February 20-21) features a wide variety of the best and most relevant speakers - what a great way to kick off our 2013 season. New this year is a one day bus tour on February 22 to visit some ag. businesses in the area. No doubt the best part of every year's OFVC is the chance to connect and visit with OFFMA friends - see you there! Jesse Lauzon OFFMA President

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

Page 2 Fresh Facts

New Members Welcome to these new members. Thanks for coming on board. Looking forward to meeting you in person at an upcoming event. Tom & Brenda Snyder Snyder’s Sweet Corn Caledonia, ON 905-765-0072 Edward & Susan Dolan Trembling Aspens Herb Farm Caistor Centre, ON 905-957-3812 Sophie & Christian Burdan Red Cat Farm – Burdan’s Passion Bread Goderich, ON 519-524-1283 Joanne VanTol Vantol Country Market Stand Fergus, ON 519-787-1062 Brenda Daniel From the Meadow Belmont, ON 519-269-3961 Dan Debackere Debackere Farms Inc. Union, ON 519-476-4623 Bert & Ellen Binnendyk Binnendyk Orchard Tillsonburg, ON 519-688-9091 Joy Magwood Torry Lane Farm “Mille de Fleurs” Puslinch, ON 905-659-3219 Marci Lipman Marci Lipman Country Shelburne, ON 416-346-5511

December 19th was a doubly special day. Congratulations to the Bering Family, Nana and Grandpa (Ann and Murray) Bering as they welcome granddaughter #2, Carlee Athena Bering was born at 3:05am, 7lbs 9oz and 20.5inches. Proud parents are Richard and Amanda. Brooks Family is very excited to announce the newest member of the Brooks Farms staff. Little farm girl arrived - Penny Autumn Brooks. Parents Paul and Kelly are thrilled and Charlie is looking forward to a playmate. All the best!

CLASSIFIEDS FOR SALE - Wic Straw Mulcher Single row small bale mulcher for strawber-ries. 3PH 2000.00. We haven't used this for many years as we switched to using large round bales. It does a very good job of plac-ing the straw directly on the rows. Contact Ben McLean at Buckhorn Berry Farm 705-657-8888, farmerben2000@msn.com or Sam McLean at 705-657-1630, smclean@mcleanberryfarm.com FOR SALE - Almost New! 30 qt SPAR Stand Mixer Spar Mixer Model SP30-HI, with attach-ments (dough hook, beater paddle, whisk). 3-speed, powerful motor, bowl guard, low us-age. $2500 (valued at over $4,000). Contact Marita Waddell, Waddell Apples, waddell.apples@gmail.com or 613-546-1690 Jakeman’s Maple Farm have products for you. Choose from an array of fast mov-ing proven sellers. Choose from our famous maple cream cookies, maple icewine syrup, maple popcorn, tea, coffee and 75 other products presented with retailers in mind. Ph: 1(800)382-9795 or fax (519)421-2469 or email info@themaplestore.com www.themaplestore.com The Classifieds are for OFFMA 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 for inclusion in the next newsletter.

Membership fees are now due Invoices were sent out earlier in January. Take advantage of the

early bird rate, save $30 and renew your

membership before February 21, 2013.

Page 3 Newsletter #284

Innovative Product Ideas for the New Year Cathy and I have been visiting some gourmet food stores lately in prep for the Toronto Foodie Bus Tour. We came across an apple sauce product made by Vermont Village Apple Sauce www.vermontvillageapplesauce.com They’ve blended maple syrup with apple sauce and charge a pre-mium price for it. We thought this might be an ideal niche product for apple growers/maple syrup producers to produce and offer locally to help offset the ups and downs of extreme weather. We discovered another great value-added product that takes kale to an all new level. Brad’s Raw Food www.bradsrawchips.com has created a line of products at a premium price based on kale – Brad’s Raw Chips, and dried crunchy products such as Naked-Leafy Kale, Vampire Killer-Leafy Kale, and Nasty Hot-Leafy Kale. If you are growing kale, here’s another way of doing something with it. There’s been a strong trend in recent years by the public in looking for artisan breads and willing to pay a premium price for it. If your farm market has a certified kitchen or a bakery set-up, you really should consider selling freshly baked breads. People will drive for miles to buy this kind of bread.

-Gary Johnson

OFFMA’s First Foodie Tour to T.O. Visit food retailers in Toronto.

Check out the latest trends, pick up ideas that you can implement at

your own business. Leave the driving and the parking to

us….we’ve got Wayne, bus driver extraordinaire, to get us into and

out of every situation. Wednesday,

January 16, 2013

Details on the OFFMA website www.OntarioFarmFresh.com

ACT FAST! we only have a few seats left.

OFFMA Board Vacancies The OFFMA Board consists of 10 Direc-tors: 8 full members 1 associate member Past president Plus 2 appointed, non-voting members: Executive Secretary OMAFRA Representative Geri Rounds and Jay Howell are com-pleting their second, three year terms and will be stepping down. Jesse’s term as president will also be coming to a close which means that Amy Strom, Past President will be leaving the Board, as Jesse moves in the Past Pres-ident position. That leaves 3 farm membership posi-tions vacant with a need to be filled this year. One specifically needs to be from Western Ontario. The time commitment for these posi-tions includes attending 5-6 Board meetings per year, participating in one of the Board’s Committees, and a will-ingness to contribute and make a dif-ference to the direct farm marketing industry. If you are interested in making this commitment, contact Amy Strom, Chair of the Nominations Committee at 519-822-1070. Additional nominations will be accepted from the general member-ship at the AGM.

OFFMA’s Annual General Meeting

will take place on Wed. February 20, 2013

11:00—11:30 Held during the OFFMA Summit

in conjunction with the Ont. Fruit & Veg. Convention Join us to get an update on

OFFMA’s activities.

Page 4 Fresh Facts

Get Inspired Learn * Explore * Meet February 20 to 22, 2013 Scotia Bank Convention Centre, Niagara Falls www.ofvc.ca

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 9:30 - 10:30 Fun, Flavorful Finance: Open Book Management at Zingerman’s

(Or Why Our Dishwashers Know our Net Operating Profit) Ann Lofgren and Elnian Gilbert, Zingtrain

10:30 – 11:00 Healthy Food Options for Your Agri-tourism Operation Angela Grant, Saunders Farm 11:00 – 11:30 OFFMA’s AGM 2:00 – 3:00 Bakery Throw Down Hollis English, Murphy’s Farmstead Leslie Forsythe, Forsythe Family Farms 3:00 – 3:30 Creating Brands that Work Cara Epp, Edana Integrated Marketing 3:30 – 4:00 Round Table Talks Amy Strom, Strom’s Farm Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:30 – 10:00 OFFMA’s Bus Tour 2012 – The Inspiration Tour. Laura Wegryzn, Peach Country 10:00 - 10:30 The Best Employee Handbook Ever

Cindy Ashton, Ashton Consulting 10:30 – 11:00 Trends and changes to direct farm marketing John Hughes, Springridge Farm 11:00 – 11:30 The Power of Email Marketing Ildi Wiley, Results Continuum 2:00 – 2:30 Refining Your CSA for the Next Decade Kate Zurschmeide, Great Country Farm 2:30 – 3:00 Beware – You too can be on YouTube Heather Hargrave, Farm & Food Care Ontario 3:00 – 3:30 The Changing Face of Ontario: Getting to Know Your Customers Milind Shirke, Ethos Communications 3:30 – 4:00 Extending the $eason with Christmas Trees Phil Quinn, La Ferme Quinn Friday, February 22, 2013 A Glimpse of Niagara Bus Tour—new this year!

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The Art of Giving Great Service How Zingerman’s Treats Customers Like Royalty Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:00 am to 5:00pm Marriott - Gateway on the Falls, 6755 Fallsview Blvd. Workshop Objectives By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Understand Zingerman’s approach to customer service and how it can be customized to work within their organization. 2. Use new tools and techniques to support in-house customer service improvement initiatives. 3. Develop a draft Vision of Great Service for their organization. 4. Call upon a network of peers to help get past roadblocks. Note: The November 2012 bus tour stopped to visit the Zingerman’s Community of busi-nesses in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Everyone was thoroughly impressed with the attitude of the staff, the customer service they received and profits that were made in these rela-tively small businesses. Bring your staff—DO NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY. For more info about Zingerman’s go to www.Zingermans.com

You are invited to the

40th Anniversary Awards Gala

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 Marriott—Gateway to the Falls

Appetizers 6:15 pm Dinner 6:45 pm

Cost: $45 + HST per person Call the OFFMA Office for tickets, 905-841-9278

BOOK YOUR ROOMS NOW! Embassy Suites by Hilton Fallsview Hotel, official convention hotel Convention rate of $125 + taxes

per night Fallsview suite Daily hot breakfast included Complimentary drink tickets in-

cluded Free Valet parking Call 1-800-420-6980 Go to www.ofvc.ca and book online.

3rd Annual Ontario Sweet Cider Competition

held at the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention

February 20, 2013

Open to all Ontario cider makers, including those who use a custom press. Both fresh and previously frozen entries are welcome to be judged. Two, 2 litre jugs of cider need to be submitted for judging on February 20th.

Page 6 Fresh Facts

The 3 Word Concept by Cathy Bartolic

Some of you may know Sue Murphy. OFFMA has worked with her company, Jester Creative, in the past and I am fol-lowing her blog. Sue introduced me to the three word concept that was originat-

ed by Chris Brogan, President and CEO of Human Business Works. I’ll let him explain the theory behind the idea…… Every year, I choose three words to help focus my goals and efforts. In an effort to tell bigger sto-ries, I’ve found that the con-cept of three words allows me to think in more dimensions about what I want to do with

my life and it lets me apply lots of tangi-ble goals instead of what most people do when they focus on just a finite task. It’s a bit like turbo-charged goal planning. I’ll explain the process. How 3 Words Fits Into Your Plan-ning If there were a hierarchy to planning out your year, it would look like this: ■ The big story. ■ Vision. ■ Goals. ■ Plans and Milestones. ■ The daily calendar. You could argue which goes first, a vision or a big story. I’d accept either. But to me, a vision is a story told in goals, so I put it below the big story. The big story is that which we want to believe about our life and our goals and our plan. The vi-sion is how you lay that out into some-thing you can do. Goals are a way of knowing that you’re headed in the direc-tion of your vision and your story. Plans and milestones are what make up goals, and if this doesn’t land on the calendar, you don’t have anything. The three words are a shorthand repre-sentation of your bigger story. Similarly, an icon isn’t the software program. It’s

just a way for you to mentally access all the work you’re doing. Make sense? How to Use the Three Words Concept Think of three words that sum up what you want to work actionably on changing/improving in the coming year. It works best when the words are positive in spirit and not negative. For instance: “Fat” isn’t exactly a great word, but “Fit” would be better. The idea is to look deeper than a single goal and try to give you an entire mindset to contem-plate. My Three Words for 2013 Walt – as in Walt Disney. The concept I’m going to remember with this is multi-faceted. Walt believed in himself instead of worrying what others were saying. He was turned down for money to build Disney World around 500 times (all you Disney fans prob-ably know the number by heart). But what I’m also going to remember with Walt was that he held tight to his vision, and he de-fined it so well that others were able to carry it on after his death. Legacy. Ender – as in Ender Wiggin. The concepts tied into this is that Ender was a soldier, but a reluctant one. He had to learn how to be mentally tough, that complaining wasn’t all that effective, and that new ideas would face great resistance, even if they were correct. There’s a lot in this one, too. I seemed to go with multi-faceted words this year. Monchu – it’s an Okinawan word that means something like “one family.” The idea is that you treat more people outside of your blood-line or your tribe as if they are family. This concept will remind me to work even harder on my connecting with value, my relation-ship-building, and my attention to people who matter to me. It’s probably the hardest one to put down simply, but that’s what I’ll be focusing on. Instead of a list of resolution I decided to pick three words this year. Check out OFF-MA’s Facebook Page to see my 3 words and to share yours.

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Direct Farm Marketing Profit Margin Calculators by Carl Fletcher, OMAFRA Strategic Business Planning Lead Do you make more money at the on-farm retail store? The CSA? or the Farmers’ Market? Are you making enough on the further processed products like baked goods, or meat dish-es? Are your sale prices for meat cuts returning more than your costs? This January three free downloadable excel based spreadsheet calculators will be availa-ble on the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) website at http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/directfarmmkt/index.html Performance Analysis by Marketing Channel The Performance Analysis by Marketing Channel spreadsheet allows you to calculate or compare margins across six distinct market channels: Roadside stand, On-farm market, Pick your own/U-pick, Farmers’ Market, Community Supported Agriculture, Online store/delivery service. On-Farm Processing Recipe Based Costing Tool The On-Farm Processing Recipe Based Costing Tool allows you to analyze the impact of changes in recipe, ingredient costs or packaging size on product margin. Use this tool to calculate the costs of your value-added processed products or see how changing ingredi-ents or packaging impacts the product profit margin. Cost of Meat Processing This calculator helps you identify and assign all costs such as transporta-tion, abattoir costs and storage to your meat products. These calculators have been devel-oped by OMAFRA and the University of Guelph, Department of Food, Agri-culture and Resource Economics in response to needs identified by direct farm marketers. This project was funded by Growing Forward, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

Wholesale Database OFFMA will be working on put-ting together a database that will list all the products OFFMA mem-bers have for sale on a wholesale basis. Some members have con-tacted the office looking for On-tario products that they can sell at their on-farm markets. It is dif-ficult for every farm to be equipped to make jam, bake bread and produce their own ice cream but they still want to be able to carry unique products made by other Ontario farmers. The database will help make that a reality. Stay tuned for details.

Upcoming Events for 2013 January 16 OFFMA’s FIRST Foodie Bus Tour to Toronto, call the OFFMA office to regis-ter, 905-841-9278 Jan. 31–Feb. 3 32nd Annual Guelph Organic Conference & Expo, University of Guelph For further info visit www.guelphorganicconf.ca or have a look at the enclosed postcard with this newsletter. February 1-6 28th Annual NAFDMA Convention – Blaze Trails Pacific Northwest 2013 Convention includes a 3-day bus tour and 3-day conference and trade show in Portland, Oregon. For details see www.nafdma.com/PNW2013. February 6-12 The Best of the Best Retail Tour of the UK with John Stanley and Associates, visit www.johnstanley.com.au for further details February 19 Zingerman’s The Art of Giving Great Service Workshop, Niagara Falls, Contact the OFFMA office for additional info, 905-841-9278 February 19 OFFMA’s 40th Anniversary Awards Gala, Niagara Falls, Contact Cathy at 905-841-9278 for tickets. Feb. 20 & 21 OFFMA ‘s Summit in conjunction with the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention, Scotia Conference Centre, Niagara Falls www.ofvc.org Information flyer included with this newsletter. Don’t forget to book your hotel rooms soon to avoid disappointment. February 22 OFVC First Annual Bus Tour—A Glimpse of Niagara, SAVE THE DATE, more info in the next newsletter.

Page 8 Fresh Facts

Ontario Farm Fresh Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director 2002 Vandorf Rd. Aurora, ON L4G 7B9 Phone: 905-841-9278 Fax: 905-726-3369 E-mail: info@ontariofarmfresh.com www.ontariofarmfresh.com

2012-13 OFFMA Board of Directors Jesse Lauzon, President Springridge Farm Brian Hugli, Vice President HugIi’s Blueberry Ranch Amy Strom, Past President Strom’s Farm Cara Epp, Associate Member Cara Epp Marketing Leslie Forsythe, Forsythe Family Farms Jay Howell, Brantview Apples & Cider Hollis English, Murphy’s Farmstead Colleen Pingle, Pingle’s Farm Market Geri Rounds, Rounds Ranch Steve Smith, Smith’s Apples Carl Fletcher, OMAFRA (Acting Advisor to the Board)

If you are interested in getting this newsletter electronically, let the OFFMA office know. It can be arranged. You can also view the news-letter on the website in the ‘Members Only’ section.

Dear OFFMA friends, Thank you for your prayers and support since our daughter, Lydia, was tragically hit by a recycling truck when she was getting off her school bus last May. Although her injuries were significant, most notably a traumatic brain injury, she has emerged from her coma and made steady progress along a long path of healing. She has been out of hospital since October, and doing therapy, and limited school work, from home. We are so grateful to have her with us, and to have celebrated a quiet Christmas together. The new year holds much hope. We pray that 2013 will see Lydia running, dancing, singing, playing piano and flute, and able to return to school with her peers. These are bold hopes, but they are strengthened in faith. Thank you for the many expressions of support we have received from our OFFMA friends. They have touched us deeply. With appreciation, James and Michelle www.prayforlydia2012.com