Information for Vendors
For more information email us or call (802) 291-9100 x114
Flavors of the Valley, Sunday April 15, 2012 at Hartford High School
Flavors of the Valley is a promotional event organized by Valley Food & Farm (VF&F), a program of Vital Communities for the greater Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. Flavors showcases local food and farm products in a gathering of farmers who grow our food, restaurants that prepare it, grocers who sell local farm products, and nonprofit organizations that support local agriculture.
The event features approximately 60 farm, restaurant, retail, and nonprofit vendors. Last year we had a crowd of over 1000 people. The event provides a vibrant forum for building consumer awareness of your products and services. We make changes to this event every year in response to feedback from vendors and attendees. See photos and a list of participating vendors from 2011.
Benefits of Being a Vendor:
Here’s how past vendors replied to the question: How does your participation at this event benefit your business?
- "Gets the word out about how we've changed, we see a jump in business right after the event every year"
- " We do very few demos and promotion in the upper valley but depend on this event for a lot of exposure."
- "It gave us food exposure with the local media outlets, as well as food interface time with potential customers"
- "People get to sample our product plus learn where they can purchase it"
Event Venue:
Hartford High School is located off I-91 Exit 12, just one block off Route 5. The gym has easy access for vendor off-loading. There is no school the week of the event, so there is ample parking for vendors. Detailed directions will be sent with your confirmation packet.
Event Schedule:
General public hours are 11:00AM-3:30 PM (admission will close at 3:00) Vendors are expected to stay 3:30. Set-up time is 9:00-10:30 AM. All vendors need to be off-loaded and set up by 10:30 AM.
| Registration Fees:
|
Deadline |
|---|---|
| Includes 8 ft table(**) and two free admissions (*) |
March 31 |
Farms and Nonprofits |
$175 |
Non-farm Businesses |
$250 |
Most vendor tables abut other tables on at least one side. Your total allotted space is your 8-ft table and standing room behind the table. Electricity is available if requested on registration form. Table space is reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.
(*)Vendors will have two (2) persons admitted at no extra charge to work at their table. Others must pay admission.
(People interested in volunteering for Flavors of the Valley overall can email us )
(**)All tables are 8 feet long. In unusual circumstances, farms or non-profits may arrange to register for half a table – please contact Valley Food & Farm directly.
Valley Food & Farm is also selling sponsorship packages for combinations of VF&F projects–– please let us know if you are interested in one.
Criteria for Vendors
All vendors must be located within the Valley Food & Farm service area of 121 towns in Vermont and New Hampshire. (A few exceptions may apply.)
Farm/Farm Product Vendors
- Raise food or farm products on land you lease or own.
- Offer your products for sale in our service area.
- Food sampling is not required, but we encourage you to do so. One option is to partner with a participating restaurant/grocer vendor. See details about forming Vendor Partnerships
Restaurant/Grocers/Caterer/Processed Food Vendors
- Purchase and use local food and farm products; or use local foods as key ingredients in your processed foods.
- Display at your table a list of local farms and farm products that you use throughout the year.
- Provide free food samples for event attendees. One option is to partner with a participating farm vendor. See details about forming Vendor Partnerships.
Note: If you are not yet sourcing from locally produced foods, you should attend the event to meet local producers rather than participate as a vendor.
Fiber Vendors & Farm Related Vendors
- Produce fiber or have a product integrally connected to local farms or food systems (e.g. wool, compost, agricultural books)
- Food sampling is not required, but is encouraged you. One option is to partner with a participating farm vendor. See details about forming Vendor Partnerships.
Nonprofit Vendors
- Support local agriculture in your organization’s mission and programs, and
- Work with farmers or food retailers in the Valley Food & Farm service area, and
- Food sampling is not required, but we encourage you to do so. One option is to partner with a participating farm vendor. See details about forming Vendor Partnerships.
Tasting, Cooking & Sales at Event:
Tasting of locally grown products is a central part of this event. Vendors providing food samples attract more people to their tables. All restaurant/grocer/caterer vendors are required to provide food samples, and all others are encouraged to provide samples. Samples must include farm products grown within the Valley Farm & Food service area. Samples for event attendees should be bite-sized—not meal portions. Let us know if we can help you source additional local ingredients. Sorry, due to school policy, alcohol may not be served or sold (may be used in cooking).
Sampling Advice: Last year’s vendors served anywhere from 500-2500+ samples. The fewer samples they brought, the earlier they ran out. Please plan on bringing enough for 1000-1500 samples. Even if you run out of samples, we want you to stay for the duration of the event to talk to attendees about your business. Both vendors and event attendees have commented that departed vendors leave big, ugly holes under their business signs.
All food samples must include some locally grown food––not just locally prepared food––although samples do not have to be made exclusively of locally grown foods. All locally grown ingredients should be clearly identified at your table.
To increase our waste reduction efforts, we ask attendees to bring their own small plate, fork, and napkin. We urge you to plan your food samples with this in mind. Edible platforms/finger foods are highly recommended.
Here is advice on food samples from past vendors:
- "My advice would be to bring LOTS!”
- "Go small with the size of the samples and make it something that can be done quickly. You can fall behind quickly and it fast becomes no fun."
- "Be prepared for 1000 samples, but not lots of sales. Most people wanted to know where to buy our products."
- "Keep it simple, and if you are also selling at your table, have one person to sell/chat and one to serve samples"
- "Edible platforms are the way to minimize trash. I saw vendors offering chicken salad on crackers, mini ice cream cones, honey sampled on pretzel sticks, cheese cubes."
- "I learned two years ago that, as a nonprofit vendor, it was going to be a long, slow evening unless I brought samples"
Vendors have many options for cooking on site: toaster ovens, convection ovens, propane stoves, griddles, crock-pots, warming trays, and sterno flames are all allowed. Please note that kitchen facilities are not available, however.
Vendors may not sell prepared foods for consumption at the event. The event provides free tasting for attendees––not “dinner out.” Vendors are, however, strongly encouraged to sell gift certificates, CSA shares, frozen meats, preserved foods, bagged produce, etc. All food items sold by farm vendors must be grown on their farm.
Vendor Partnerships:
A farmer or food producer pairs up with a restaurant, caterer, or grocer to showcase locally grown food. The restaurant uses one or more products from the farm in their food samples. The partnership displays the quality and diversity of locally grown food, the skills of the chef, and the restaurant’s commitment to purchasing locally grown food. Such partnerships help consumers understand how locally grown food is currently being used in the economy. They can also help establish future business relationships among vendors.
- Choose a farm or restaurant located in the Valley Food & Farm service area with which you already have an established business relationship. OR,
- Ask the Flavors of the Valley staff to help you make a new connection. At your request we will provide you with a list of registered vendors who would like to be partnered for the event. The partners then work out the details. See checklist below. OR,
- If you are a restaurant vendor and want to use food produced by a farm not participating in the event this year, just remember that the farm must be located within our service area. (A few exceptions may apply.)
Vendors are encouraged to develop as many partnerships as they wish for this event. For example, a chef may use ingredients from several different farms in their samples.
When any two businesses form a partnership for this event, they have full responsibility for the details of their partnership. Listed below are typical questions the partners should answer together before finalizing the partnership. Different arrangements work for different partnerships––make an arrangement that makes sense for the two of you!
Checklist for partners:
- What products are being provided by the farmer?
- What recipe/s will the chef/grocer prepare for sampling?
- Will the farmer/producer also be providing samples of their own product? E.g., will the producer sample plain cheese cubes, while the partner chef samples cheese quiche?
- Is the restaurant purchasing the farm products or is the farm providing them at no charge?
- What types of signage will you each display to showcase your partnership for event attendees? If you will be using products from a farm not present at the event, please make arrangements to get their promotional materials for your table.
- Will you each have your own table at the event? Do you want your tables adjacent to each other? If you are sharing a table, how will you divide the space and the registration fees?