Produce Still Fresh, But Business Wilts

By Arianne Aryanpur (Contact)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

At the Purcellville farmers market last week, customers strolled by baskets of fresh blueberries, bottles of salsa and soaps made from homegrown lavender. A Good Humor truck played its distinctive jingle in a nearby parking lot, enticing passersby with warm-weather treats.

Debbie Roundy of Purcellville and her son Ryan, 4, cooled off under a vendor's tent.

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Purcellville Farmers Market

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Ryan Roundy, 4, and the sunflower his mother just bought the Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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Anne Russell as she looks over the sample bottles of wine from Fabbioli Vineyards at the Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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A wide variety of produce displayed for sale at Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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Boxes of fresh cherry tomatoes at the Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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Sandy Simpson and her hydroponic lettuce at Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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Becky Makaritt (left) and Liz Zurn inspect the fresh peaches at Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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Shoppers gather at the Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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Terri Core as she weighs some vegetables at Purcellville Farmers' Market. (Gerald Martineau)

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"In the summer, we get all our vegetables and fruits here," said Roundy, who had finished buying a bag of fresh tomatoes, onions and cucumbers — ingredients she planned on using for a refreshing gazpacho.

Vendors at the stands in Purcellville and at several other Loudoun County farmers markets said they wish more residents had Roundy's shopping habits. Many of them, especially those selling at the markets in Purcellville and South Riding, said their sales have dropped this year.

"I think all of us have seen a decline in sales," said Sandra Stickovitch of Chef Eloy's Kickin' Salsa, who estimated that her profits at the Purcellville market, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, are down 15 percent from the same period last year. She wasn't sure why.

"In 2004, I was selling out like crazy. In 2006, it dropped. . . . Are [consumers] not spending as much as they would in the past? I don't know," Stickovitch said.

Officials with the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development said they do not keep statistics on farmers market sales. Neither does the Loudoun Valley Homegrown Markets Association, which sponsors the farmers markets in Purcellville, Cascades, Leesburg, Lovettsville, Middleburg, South Riding and Sterling.

Officials at both agencies said they have heard the same reports from vendors this year: Business is generally down.

Warren Howell, manager of innovative economic development for Loudoun County, said part of the problem might be that the markets aren't getting enough publicity. He noted that the Homegrown Markets Association didn't renew a contract this year of a group of publicists hired last year to promote the Purcellville market.

Mary Ellen Taylor, vice president of the association, said she started working there only recently and was not sure why the contract was terminated. She agreed it might have hurt some vendors' bottom lines.

Taylor said Loudoun needs to do a better job of reaching out to its new residents and promoting buying fresh produce and supporting local farmers.

"What Loudoun County needs to do is tell all these people that move to our community that there is this diversity of great farmers who have specialty niche products. We have just not communicated that," Taylor said.

She said the association needs to get across that message through newsletters and a revamped Web site and might consider such experiments as offering cooking demonstrations at the markets.

Melissa Piper Nelson, the county's new agricultural marketing manager, said her department recently purchased promotional signs for the markets and is planning to introduce musical entertainment at some. "We think it will lend a festival air to it," Nelson said.

The South Riding market moved from Wednesdays to Saturdays two years ago to increase customer traffic. But the decision seems to have backfired, several officials and vendors said.

"The problem is that Saturday morning is the most popular time for farmers markets. It spreads the vendors too thin," Howell said.

Osman Soysalan, owner of European Gourmet Bakery in Leesburg, said that was the problem he faced. His business sold food at the South Riding market, as well as at the Saturday morning markets in Leesburg, Middleburg and Silver Spring.

Soysalan said it was a classic case of "the chicken and the egg." He would skip the South Riding market some Saturdays because it was the least profitable, only to find that the periodic absences would cause his customer base in South Riding to shrink further. Finally, he stopped going to South Riding.

He said his sales in Leesburg were three times as profitable as his sales in South Riding.

Chester Hess, from C. Hess Orchard and Produce in Martinsburg, W.Va., said the South Riding market's move to Saturdays was not well-publicized. "People are telling me that they didn't know when to come or they thought it was still on Wednesdays," he said.

Hess said he makes about $400 a day at South Riding, compared with $800 in Middleburg.

Kim Allison of Purcellville said she tries to go to the local market every week despite the demands of work and her three young children.

"I just like everything they have," said Allison, who was holding several bags filled with eggplants, lamb chops and pork.

"Our philosophy is: buy local. It's expensive, but it's really good."

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