MarketReady Workshops Offer Producers Tips to Improve Profitability, Expand Sales

PIKETON, Ohio -- Ohio food producers wanting to learn how to increase their markets, develop better relationships with buyers or improve profitability can learn strategies and tips on how to do so and more during two MarketReady training workshops March 19 in Columbus and March 26 in Peninsula, Ohio.

The MarketReady program is designed to help food producers learn what is needed to enter various direct marketing channels, how producers can capitalize on emerging trends and how producers can manage market development risks, said Julie Fox, direct marketing specialist with OSU Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).

OSU Extension and OARDC are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

“These workshops are valuable because they offer producers detailed information on what is expected to sell to their market,” she said. “Participants leave knowing what is required to sell to grocers, restaurants and other wholesale buyers, as well as directly to consumers."

Topics to be addressed during the daylong workshops include:

• Product Selection and Supply
• Packaging, Labeling and Merchandising
• Pricing, Invoicing and Payments
• Delivery, Storage and Temperature Control
• Marketing, Communication and Relationship Building
• Regulations, Certifications and Audits
• Insurance and Quality Assurance
• Resource and Risk Management

The March 19 workshop will be held at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. Registration deadline for the March 19 workshop is March 15.

The March 26 workshop will be held at the Hines Hill Conference Center, 1403 W. Hines Hill Road, in Peninsula. The registration deadline for the March 26 workshop is March 19.

Both workshops run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $75 per person and $25 for each additional person from the same business. Registration includes materials, morning refreshments and lunch.

The MarketReady program was initially developed by the University of Kentucky and piloted in cooperation with OSU Extension and the Ohio Direct Marketing Team, said Fox.

“We’re collaborating with a multi-state team to continue bringing timely marketing education to Ohio producers,” she said.

For more information on the workshops or to register, contact Julie Moose at 740-289-2071, ext. 223, or e-mail moose.14@osu.edu. To find out more about the MarketReady program, go to http://go.osu.edu/MarketReady .