The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 58AgriTech
Horticultural sites offer marketing ideas
By Janice Becker
Despite the rain, pouring down and
intermittent days of warm sunshine, it
is now the season when fresh Ontario
vegetables begin to hit the market.
As the internet continues to make
in -roads in the field of marketing, I
thought it would be interesting to
look at a few sites which promote
their vegetable and fruit businesses
on-line.
For anyone searching out ideas to
promote their own market gardening
endeavour, I located two sites which
were excellent in terms of modeling a
site, promoting the product and giv-
ing customers easy access to the
goods.
Though both are based in British
Columbia, the sites are informative,
providing just the material surfers of
produce sites might be looking for.
The first, Green Earth Organics at
www.greenearthorganics.com/, was
very easy to use, putting all the
important information up front.
As marketers of organic fruits and
vegetables that offer home delivery,
the listing of packages available,
costs and delivery dates are given pri-
ority placement on the site.
Each package listed the items
included, offers substitution prefer-
ences and allows registered cus-
tomers to order on-line.
This site is definitely one to be
studied if producers are considering
developing their own customer base
and distribution service. I sincerely
hope this is a step southern Ontario
farmers will be contemplating.
A second site, Organic Heaven,
http://organicheaven.bc.ca/, does not
offer on-line order, but does accept
fax, email and phone orders for deliv-
ery of their product.
While these sites actually run on-
line businesses, many horticultural
operations use the web to promote
their products and brand names.
Just two of the many which could
be tracked down were Sunset
Hydroponics, www.sunsethydropon-
ics.com/, from Pelee Island, which
emphasizes the environmental bene-
fits of the herbicide -free methods
ontrol Valve
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IMIDIEREZIE
Hoses
Bearings
Hydraulic Pumps
Cylinders
THE THREE "B's" and MORE
A large in -stock supply of
Belts Bearings Bolts
BELTS: Most popular sizes of A, B, C. 3L, & 3V belts and
pulleys. Specializing in Goodyear belts - cross references
to most manufacturer's numbers.
BEARINGS: A wide range of tapers, ball, thrust, flange and pillow
blocks - metric & inch sizes available.
BOLTS: Machine, cap & plow bolts - set and Allen screws
• 1/4" to 10" • Grade 8 • English & Metric sizes
Non -stock items usually available 'overnight'
Machine Shop
Services: Rebuilding & machining castings, gears & gear boxes
Equipment
& Parts:
Hydraulic pumps, motors, valves, hose, cylinders - new,
rebuilt & exchange.
B
BARFOOT'S
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WELDING AND MACHINE INC.
517 Brown St., Wiarton (519) 534-1200 1-800-265-6224
54 THE RURAL VOICE
used by the company as well as
putting the product label in the minds
of surfers.
Spuds n Stuff from PEI.
www.spudsnstuff.com/, similarly
uses the site to cultivate consumer
awareness of a product.
Strubs pickle company even sells
brine -on-line so consumers can
attempt to make homemade pickles
just like their favourite brand.
Many family -run operations'use
their website to not only advertise
their commodity, but detail the spe-
cial care they take to ensure quality
— adherence to HAACP protocols,
research, farming practices and mis-
sion statements.
For larger scale operators who deal
with established distribution services,
one very good site is the Ontario
Processing Vegetable Growers
Marketing Board, www.ovgmb.org.
The association negotiates prices
for 13 vegetables, on behalf of pro-
ducers, then processors are able to
contract with individual growers.
Working for 875 growers across 19
counties and regions in southern
Ontario, the association's site pro-
vides crop statistics for the past five
growing seasons, indicating number
of producers, tons contracted and har-
vested and gross farm value. This
allows growers to monitor trends
over time.
A list of 26 food processors and the
vegetables purchased connects new-
comers to potential buyers.
Newsletters, research projects and
contact names for board members
helps keep clients informed.
While I found this site good for
those in the business, the Ontario
Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Association site, www.ofvga.org/ was
no comparison. Not updated since
last December, there was little useful
information other than to request a
buyers' guide and as a teacher's
resource.
If you have located a great site that
others may be interested in hearing
about contact me at
becker@wcl.on.ca.
Janice Becker is a computer enthusi-
ast and journalist living near Walton,
ON.
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