What a month! It was exciting to embark on the farmers' market adventure again.
January 7th was Dolce's SFC Farmer's Market debut and the first farmers' market since 2019. It was great to meet some of the team behind the market. They are all incredibly nice, in the most genuine kind of way.
My goal is to write a market chronicle blog post to reflect on each month of the market, document the journey, share what's working and what's not, and give a little spotlight to the time.
I'm saying February 11th wraps up our first month at the market. Dolce missed two markets (January 14th and February 4th), so the 11th was our 4th market day. We'll call March month two.
I was talking to another market vendor and shared that it calls for a celebration to just get to the market and get set up, with the accomplishment of being there to do our thing. It's so true, though; no matter how the market goes, it's a feat to be there, and we should be proud. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes; it can be exhausting, and aspects can cause anxiety or stress. Like so many other things, it's also rewarding, energy-giving, and another step closer to a goal. It's a privilege to be able to live out a dream.
Let's talk about some of the items that I took to the market.
I was super excited to continue the miniCake adventure at the farmers' market; they did really well at the specialty markets I joined in December. I learned this first month that they don't sell as well at the farmers' market. I know that's pretty limited experience at the farmers' market with them, but I'm going to not take them for March and try other items. Once I'm more established at the farmers' market, I might pivot and try them again.
I get asked often if I do the miniCakes for events or weddings, which is great! I get the impression that they aren't seen as much as an everyday type of treat. This is actually the opposite of what I had envisioned for them. My thought was let's make an indulgent, flower-glammed cake more accessible, not just for a special occasion. Typically it's weddings, birthdays, or baby shower type of events that one would be interested in a flower-dawned cake for.
The baby onesies have done really well and are the top item that people have stopped in for so far.
The dried flower arrangements draw interest. I want to make them more ready to display by offering vases available to purchase at the market. If a Dolce-goer is like me and can easily procrastinate, a vase available to buy right there would be so convenient and help the arrangement not sit somewhere in the house waiting for the right vase to be found. For next month, I also plan to have some smaller arrangements to expand the price point range.
Now, what's in store for March? Dolce's month two. Cake tacos! Ahh, these will be so fun! I made the first Dolce cake taco the week before last, it was delicious! And such a fun way to eat dessert. I'm hoping you all love these.
Also, for March, Dolce will be getting back to some of the more healthful options of its earlier market days - grain-free granola, refined sugar-free doughnuts, and we'll see what else. I have other ideas, but I don't want to overload myself. I work full-time, so there's limited time for market prep because I love my family and pup time, too.
March will also bring more Dolce Shop items, think kitchen wares.
The last big update for next month is samples! You can indulge in select Dolce desserts without paying one penny. Samples take the risk out of investing in what one might feel is a pricey baked good. With the desserts being more accessible the aim is that this will increase the amount of baked goods purchased. We'll see how this goes.
Month One Successes: market setup and displays, creating market prep checklists, a paper e-mail list, progress in streamlining the miniCake process, and learning more about market go-er interest.
Month One Opportunity Takeaways: creating a menu in advance and sticking to it (my whimsy heart struggles with this), marketing, restocking the online shop, taking more of a variety of baked goods, and having separate baked goods and shop items tables.
Dolce has two weeks to reset and energize while we celebrate family birthdays the next two weekends. My grandpa has his birthday party this weekend and then my husband, Jorge, turns another year wonderful on the 25th. And then, March, let's go!
Thank you all for all of your support, in whatever form that is. I so appreciate it!
Gina
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