The Rural Voice, 1986-02, Page 59ALWAYS CHANGING
Need "gimmick"
The problem is that farmers
aren't getting paid enough for their
products. In other types of
businesses, entrepreneurs who
were being insufficiently paid for
their goods or services have
developed ways of compensating.
Farmers can adapt some of these
ideas to help themselves.
Bar and restaurant owners are
examples. They too are victims of
most of the downfalls of small
business, but they have developed
some creative ways of handling
them. Night clubs, for examples
have a cover charge. This extra
charge helps pay for the entertain-
ment, usually a band. People seem
to find paying that charge less of-
fensive than when the government
periodically raises "sin taxes" and
the price of drinks go up.
Perhaps it would be less offen-
sive to food consumers if they paid
a cover charge to enter a grocery
store. The tongue-in-cheek enter-
tainment consumers receive at the
grocery store is seeing the price of
products on the shelf compared to
what the farmer gets.
Entertainment comes in other
forms in the supermarket. The
produce department, for example,
is especially pleasing to the eye.
The multiple house plants, fresh
fruit, and crisp vegetables offer a
bevy of colour and texture for the
shopper to encounter. Today,
many large companies even offer
cash prizes to the grocery store or
employee who displays their pro-
duct the best. The shopper gets all
this for free.
The entertainment doesn't stop
there. In some of the larger super-
markets, for example, grocery
shoppers can simultaneously watch
colourful videos on a small screen
demonstrating innovative recipes
and giving nutrition and cooking
tips.
It's obvious to see why grocery
stores can, and should have cover
charges for the entertainment.
And, of course, that profit should
go directly back to the primary
producer.
The idea of creating a cover
charge may be bizzare, but people
have made money with more biz-
zare ideas.
Grocery stores are already start-
ing to cash in on the concept of
user -pay in innovative ways. For
example, the Superstore in Strat-
ford charges the shopper 25 cents
for a shopping cart. The small cash
deposit is returned when the cart is
returned. This saves the store
thousands of dollars on shopping
carts previously "borrowed by
consumers," and never returned.
Restaurant owners have in-
vented other ways to improve their
profits. The gratuity or tip is a
boon to these entrepreneurs. They
can pay their employees minimum
wages and leave the public to sup-
plement their income with tips.
More than once, a farmer has been
heard to say as he begrudgingly
leaves a tip, "Nobody every gives
me tips, except to use an umbrella
when it rains." If farmers begin to
make people feel guilty for not tip-
ping them, they can supplement
their minimum income with tips.
Tradition and guilt are the secret to
conning the public into leaving
tips.
The drawback is that farmers
don't have direct contact with con-
sumers. Creating a cover charge
for driving through rural areas is a
bit unrealistic.
Maybe farmers need more
marketing gimmicks to help them
get a fair profit from their pro-
duct. Squeezable ketchup bottles
and pump toothpaste are two
marketing examples that have
given certain companies a head
start over less innovative ones.
Likewise, today, individual
farmers who have discovered uni-
que ways to market their produce
are miles ahead of the rest of the
pack. Some of the innovators
believe they are getting fair prices
for their products. ❑
Phyllis Coulter lives in Strat-
ford and is news editor for The
Rural Voice.
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FI-BRUARY 1986 57