The Barrie Farmers' Market is always looking for new vendors. More vendors give customers more selection within each of our categories, and more categories.
Perhaps there is no better example of free-enterprise at work than a Farmers' Market. Farmers' Markets are also business incubators. Our Market, like most, have seen vendors come in to try something new. Normally our Weekly membership is used as this "toe-in-the-water" to determine market acceptance. Some vendors had hot ideas at the right time, and quickly moved to book in longer memberships. Some went directly from their Market stalls to their own store-front operations.
Our Market like most, is also a real-world training ground to develop and hone sales and promotion skills.
Our Market primarily serves customers living within a fifteen minute drive to Barrie. In a customer study conducted by the Barrie Farmers' Market in 1998, over 65 percent of our local customers said they attend over 45 times each year. Farmers' Markets tend to build very loyal customer bases.
The tourist trade to Barrie has resulted in sales to customers from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Russia, the Middle East, China, Japan and many other countries including Australia and New Zealand. Some crafts available only at our market have gained international acclaim.
If you are a grower of vegetables, fruit, or a breeder of livestock, poultry or fish, there is an excellent chance we have a stall for you.
Producers of eggs, cheese, milk, other dairy products, honey, grains and flours, bedding plants, house plants, herbs and flowers should also consider our Market.
Gardeners with large home gardens in urban and suburban areas are also welcome, as many are excellent providers of niche-market and ethnic fruits and vegetables.
The Barrie Farmers' Market works on a system of ratios based on the number of Growers and Producers. The more Growers and Producers, the more Baked Goods and Craft Class vendors that are permitted. We think that you will find no better selection of home-made tasty baked goods or crafts anywhere in the County.
The Barrie Farmers' Market is open to vendors who live or operate their business in Simcoe County. A few exceptions are permitted on a case by case basis to offer customers Ontario grown vegetables, fruit and other produce that cannot be grown in the County.
You should live in Simcoe County (see map below), to keep your travel times down and to ensure that you will arrive for the vendor set-up times of 6:30 to 7:45 am each Saturday.
The Barrie Farmer's Market is IN side the Rotunda of Barrie City Hall from the first trading session of November to the last trading session of April the following year. After harvest time, the number of growers and producers is reduced, although hot-house and cold storage vegetables continue to be available throughout our inside sessions. Most meats are available year-round. Also available are eggs, and apples. Our inside sessions are when our crafters gear up for the Christmas season. The selection is very diverse, making Christmas shopping at our Market a must for those who are hard to please.
The Market moves OUT side the first trading session of May, and remains outside until the last trading session of October, weather permitting. The location is the grounds of Barrie City along Collier and Mulcaster Streets. Some craft vendors remain inside the Rotunda.
All applicants must obtain a copy of our Application Form and the Barrie Farmers' Market Rules & Regulations. Signing the application form means you have read, and agree to abide by the Rules & Regulations of our Market.
Copies can be obtained from the Market Manager any Saturday Morning at the Market between the hours of 8:00 am and 12:30. Or you can ask to receive the application package by writing to:
Barrie Farmers' Market,
Barrie City Hall,
P.O. Box 400,
Barrie, Ontario
L4M 4T5
You may also request the application package by talking to our Market Manager at (705) 737-0125. You may email him at starzbriter2003@yahoo.ca or leave a message for him on this web site.
Once your properly completed application is in the hands of our Market Manager, the application goes to our Board of Directors for approval. Bonafide growers and producers can get on-the-floor approval from the Market Manager and Directors at the Market that trading session. All other applications must be approved by a quorum of the Directors at the regular monthly meeting of Directors.
You are notified of the outcome of your application. If you are accepted, you may set up the following trading session. In some cases covering baked goods and craft class applicants, applications may be put on hold until the ratios permit future re-evaluation.
The fee structure is outlined in our Rules & Regulations. The Annual stall option is available only from April to May, and expires the first trading session of April the following year.
The Seasonal stall runs for twenty consecutive trading sessions, starting the day you first start trading.
The Weekly stall covers one session only, and is payable each time you set up for trading.
All stall options are subject to a Barrie Farmers' Market Membership, paid once each year and expiring on the first trading session of April the following year.
Not all stalls have vehicle access. Check with the Market Manager to see if any are available, but plan on moving your stall and products with a hand truck. During our inside sessions, all stalls and contents must be moved on hand trucks.
Electricity is available for some, but not all stalls. Vendors needing electricity are advised to apply well in advance of their first trading session so power requirements can be worked out. Not all requests for power can be accommodated, so alternatives such as coolers, refrigerators and freezers that run off your vehicle would make good options for our outdoors sessions.
o a folding table
o a table cloth
o a folding chair
o a sign or banner with your name or the name of your business
o an umbrella, tarpaulin or pavilion tent for weather protection
o a rain coat
At various times, mostly during our indoor sessions, the Barrie Farmers' Market holds draws for vendor- donated prizes of produce, meats, baked goods and crafts. The customer entry ballots then become our "Thank You Customers" list which is displayed from time to time during our inside sessions. The list is four foot tall and close to sixty feet in length. We have found it to be a major drawing card and a way to thank our customers publicly.
You will be asked to pledge a prize a couple of trading sessions prior to each event. Pledging of vendor grown/made prizes is voluntary.
So if we have described you in this article, come on down and check out the Barrie Farmers' Market.