Wednesday 4th February 2015

Here at the market office we are preparing the annual mail-out for stallholders’ re-registration. In order to renew our FARMA certification for the farmers’ markets we organise, we need every stallholder who trades at the markets anytime during the year to provide up to date paperwork for their business. The inspector visits our office after going round the markets and checks that the records we hold are up to date.

We are required to have a paper records of: valid public and product liability insurance policies, up to date electrical PAT testing certificate (annual), up to date Gas Safety certificates (annual), details of EHO inspections, up to date certification documents for Organic, EBBLEX, Red Tractor etc and a newly completed application form, essentially meaning stalls re apply every year. The details contained within the application form include an updated product list, details of the sourcing of local produce for secondary producers, seasonality of produce and so on. Essentially we are checking the stalls still fit within the strict regulations for farmers’ markets on an annual basis.

Also included in the mail-out will be the stallholder survey which we will use to review the performance of the market in terms of trader sales and experience. Stallholders will be asked to give details of their trade and asked to make suggestions to improve any aspect of the market. It is always very interesting to see the feedback from stallholders and we will be comparing this year’s results with those from the previous surveys. Look out for the results in the spring.

Finally we include a copy of the stallholder’s page from the www.fresh-n-local.co.uk website where each stallholder registered with us has their own page. We ask them to send updated text/contact details/photos/other events they attend etc. the pages on the website provide a useful link between the market customers and the traders and are regularly used by those looking to place orders ahead of market day, checking availability of certain produce or checking stallholders’ attendance.