Set up Logistics for Registered Vendors

Confirmation:
We will mail a confirmation of your registration, table location, table description, plus a map of the venue location by March 24. You will then have until March 31 make revisions and updates. Meanwhile, please call if you have questions not answered on this website. Contact Deb Jones, 802/291-9100 x104, deb@vitalcommunities.org

Set-Up Time:
Set-up time for the event is from noon–1:30 p.m. Please be prompt! We’ve moved the entire event (start and end) one hour earlier this year. The doors open to the public at 2:00 PM. Vendors who arrive after the event has already started greatly detract from the event. Once your table is set up, feel free to chat and do business with other vendors until 2:00.

Unloading & Parking:
Click here for a map and directions. You may drive your vehicle up to the back doors of the gym, unload your display materials, and then park your vehicle. The unloading area and the gym are at ground level. Volunteers will be available to direct you to your table. School is not in session the week of the event, so you may park anywhere at the school.

Table Set Up:
All tables used at the event are 8-ft in length. If you registered for a 4-ft. table, you will share it with another vendor. There is minimal or no space between tables. Two name tags with your business name will be placed at your table. We will have available for your use our “default” white paper tablecloths (NOT linen “pipe and drape”). We encourage you to bring your own table covering, and if you will have ANYTHING WET at your table, we strongly advise you to bring your own cloth or plastic table covering. We will provide two folding chairs and we will hang a simple 11x17 sign with your business name above your table. Please bring your own signage if you have it. You will have electric outlets nearby ONLY IF you have registered for electrical access. Please bring your own 25-ft. extension cord and power strip for multiple plug-ins as back-up. All freezers must be on wheels to protect the gym floor.

State Food Regulations & Food Safety:

• All vendors are responsible for ensuring that their business meets all applicable state food regulations. Any meat that is sold or sampled at the event must be VT or USDA inspected.
• Hand washing facilities are available in bathrooms on the same floor as the event. There are no kitchen facilities.
• Please no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. Please bring your own serving gloves.

Crowd Size:
Last year’s event attracted 1,500 people. We expect a similar crowd this year.

Waste Reduction:
To increase our waste reduction efforts, we are asking attendees to bring their own small plate, fork or spoon, and napkin. We know many people will come empty-handed, but we know that the low-waste component of this type of event takes a while to cultivate. In that spirit, please help us all by being creative in minimizing the amount of paper and plastic food service items that you use for your samples---while still letting attendees enjoy your wonderful offerings without making a mess! We strongly urge you to plan your food samples with no/low waste logistics in mind. Edible platforms/finger foods are highly recommended. We will also hand out small disposable plates and forks to attendees and ask that they reuse them throughout the event. We realize not all of your products and food samples will neatly conform to these guidelines, so please do supply your own service ware as you see fit. Please pass along any ideas you may have, including ones that occur to you after the event.

Food Sampling:
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 other vendors are encouraged to provide samples. Samples must include farm products grown within the Valley Farm & Food service area. See map of 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.

Sampling Advice: Surveys of last year’s vendors showed they served anywhere from 100 – 1200+ samples. Vendors who brought the fewest samples ran out quickly. We expect 1500 people again this year, so plan on bringing at least enough for 800-1200 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 conspicuous holes under their business signs.

Last year’s vendors provided this advice on food samples:

• “Bring more than you would expect.”
• “I tried self-serve samples, but went back to controlled-portion samples.”
• “Provide very small samples––it’s all you need to impress customers and control your costs.”
• “We switched from one dish to another throughout the evening.”
• “Edible platforms are the way to go to minimize trash. I saw vendors offering chicken salad on crackers, mini ice cream cones, honey sampled on pretzel sticks, cheese cubes.”
• “If you run out, be prepared to rearrange your display to focus on your literature or other enticement.”
• “I learned two years ago that, as a nonprofit vendor, it was going to be a long, slow evening unless I brought samples.”

Cooking and Keeping Food Hot:
The following cooking appliances are acceptable to use on site: warming trays, sterno flames, crock pots, griddles, toaster ovens, convection ovens, and propane stoves. If you will be cooking something that may splatter oil or grease on the gym floor, please bring a floor tarp to lay under your table to protect the gym floor. Please note that kitchen facilities are not available, so many vendors prefer to come with ready-to-serve dishes.

No Concession Sales:
Vendors may not sell prepared foods for consumption at the event. This is not a food concessions 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, books, etc. All food items sold by farm vendors must be grown on your farm.

No Alcohol:
Due to Hartford High School’s drug-free school policy, no alcohol is allowed on site, even in display bottles. However, alcoholic beverages prepared in cooked foods to be sampled are acceptable.

Your Table Display:
Feedback from vendors indicates that the following items are helpful to have at your table:

• A colorful, eye-catching display, including a sign with your business name
• Your own cloth or plastic table covering
• Photos of your farm/business
• Take home pamphlets, brochures, and business cards explaining where consumers can purchase your products
• Sample products for display, tasting, and/or for sale
• Signage that clearly lists products and prices, including wholesale prices if applicable
• Gift certificates or coupons for your products, if appropriate
• If you are a restaurant/caterer, a list of local farms from whom you buy products, including clear labeling of local products used in the samples at your table.

Signage At Your Table:
If your table is around the perimeter of the room, there will be folded blue bleachers behind you. You may tape posters or signs or hang a drape covering from the bleachers. If your table is in the middle of the room, there will be an 8 ft. white fabric drape behind you, separating the back-to-back tables. You will need to provide your own free-standing easels or sign boards, or you may hang a banner, etc. from the top frame of the fabric drape. We will provide some short wire hooks for hanging signs. Vendors may not attach anything directly to the fabric drape. We will provide a simple 11x17 black-and-white sign with your business name on it as a default sign.

Photo Permission:
Valley Food & Farm will be taking photos at the event. Your participation in the event signifies your permission to use any photos that we take of you and your display table.

Professional Buyers:
We are inviting professional buyers to come during the early hours of the event. If you are interested in talking to wholesale buyers, please let us know so we make sure to send them to your table.

Workshops at the Event:
We will offer educational workshops to the event again this year. They will be held in classrooms closest to the gym, and the schedule will be publicized with event promotion materials.

Event Admission Cost:
This event is designed to break-even from income from vendor fees and door admission from attendees. Admission will be $7, with a family max of $25. Children ages 6 and under get in free.

Take Care of Yourself:
Last, but not least! If you are not used to being a vendor at special events, please remember to provision yourself with whatever food and beverages you may need for the day. It’s a long day, especially if you staff your table by yourself. We will have more water available at the event this year.

For more information contact Deb Jones at Vital Communities, (802) 291-9100 x104 or deb@vitalcommunities.org

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