Educational Resources to Develop Value-added Products from Farmers Market Surplus

Results and Discussion for Objective 1: Evaluate farmer’s market produce item type, availability, and price to identify potential value-added products that could be created from surplus produce

From the 2018 farmers market surplus produce, 600 one-quart jars of tomato sauce were produced with an anticipated value of $3,600 ($6.00/jar) (Figures 1 and 2). The analysis of economic feasibility estimated $133 in net returns for year 1 and $363 for year 2 from production and sales of the tomato sauce. The top three costs for the tomato sauce production were labor, facility rental, and jars/labels.  Opportunities to improve the economic feasibility of this model include using different production facilities with lower costs, reducing labor costs, creating different products to reduce production costs, or implementing at a larger farmers market with more surplus and varied produce. 

In terms of produce availability during 2019 market season, vendors sold 66 different produce items. Five produce items (squash, cucumber, zucchini, tomato, and potato) were the most highly available (59-72%) throughout the season (Table 1).  Squash was most available (71.59%). 

The percent of vendors with produce items for sale (Figure 3) included the following:

• 75% had squash June 15-July 10
• 100% had cucumbers July 3-10
• 80% had zucchini June 19-22
• 80-100% had tomatoes July 10-August 31
• 100% had potatoes May 25 and September 11

The seasonal low prices for the five most available produce items (Figure 4) were as follows:

• Squash: July 20 at $2.06/lb
• Cucumber: July 6 at $1.64/lb
• Zucchini: July 17-20 and August 7-10 at $2.06/lb
• Tomato: June 29-July 6 at $2.05/lb
• Potato: July 27 at $4.80/lb

High produce availability on a given date resulted in a lower average price for that item, which demonstrated basic rules of supply and demand. Using this data, the optimal date for high produce availability and low price at “The Original Rogers Farmers Market” for the top five most available produce items were June 29-July 10 for squash, zucchini, cucumber, and potato and July 13-20 for tomatoes. It was recommended to develop products that contain large quantities of the produce items that were consistently highly available because of the significant discount produce vendors are willing provide when they have surplus. Examples of products that could be made from this surplus include tomato sauce, salsa, and pickles.  Data from this research will help farmers and farmers markets to evaluate the economic potential of value-added products created from surplus produce at farmers markets.

Results and Discussion for Objective 2: Develop educational resources to create value-added products from farmer’s market surplus

The infographic, factsheets and other digital content were created and used as educational resources. The “Steps for Value-added Food Production” infographic was used as a tool to encourage audiences to pursue value-added production, but also used in other presentations and a factsheet (Figure 5). 

Two factsheets were created using knowledge gained during this project.  The infographic was used in the factsheet designed to demonstrate how the availability of produce at a farmer’s market varies and to emphasize the key steps of creating value-added products from surplus produce. The factsheet entitled “Producing Value-added Food Products from Surplus Farm Produce” (https://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/FSA56.pdf ) detailed steps outlining how to create value-added products from farm surplus, rules and regulations for production, and tools to evaluate personal economic potential with the implementation of a value-added systems as part of a business model.  The second factsheet entitled “Cost of Developing Value-added Food Products from Surplus Produce” (https://www.uaex.uada.edu/publications/pdf/FSA55.pdf) presented a cost analysis for producing value-added food products from surplus produce at a food manufacturing facility to evaluate economic potential with the implementation of a value-added systems as part of a business model.   

Results and Discussion for Objective 3: Disseminate content on value-added products created from farmer’s market surplus

A one-hour webinar entitled “Producing Value Added Foods in Arkansas” was held April 21, 2020.  The webinar was hosted by McWhirt.  Threlfall presented on the basics of value-added food production and Gramlich presented on producing value-added food from farmers market surplus. The webinar had 45 people that attended live and 1,123 views as of August 2021. The webinar content can be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs8WSjmcoHZcHD50WZ9-ad3ZkpRDyyPvC. The educational recourses from this project are still being utilized for other programs on value-added food production. Dissemination of the factsheets and webinar content enabled farmers and farmers markets to move profitably towards more sustainable production systems through reduction of food waste.