Steps to Become a Vendor

1. Review our Market mission to make sure you fit in with our purpose.
2. Review the selection criteria.
3. Ensure that your insurance covers operation at the market.
4. Review the important reminders of being a vendor.
5. Fill out the vendor application and send us the completed form.

---

 

Selection Criteria

Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market (LHF-FM) is committed to creating a diverse marketplace with high quality, locally produced products. LHF-FM will not be bound to apply a particular set of selection criteria in every instance and must reserve unconditional discretion in judging vendor applications. The following factors will be considered:

Product Quality and Presentation

• Consistently high quality: fresh, flavorful and ripe
• Clean, attractive and appealing displays that include educational materials
• Courteous, customer service oriented, and product knowledge
• Foster a connection between the farmer/producer and the consumer

Conduct and Compliance

• Commitment to/history of compliance with market rules and federal, state and local regulations
• Commitment to the market’s spirit of trust and collaboration
• Vendor conduct toward customers, other vendors, market staff and volunteers
• Timely submission of applications, licenses and responsiveness to Market Master requests

Education

• Willingness to engage and educate customers about your local farm product

Agriculture

• Ability to provide adequate supply for each week’s market
• Preference will be given to the “local” growers and value-added producers, assuming comparable supply volume and product quality
• Products that are grown or processed by the selling vendor
• Producers who use environmentally responsible growing, breeding, raising and harvesting methods (sustainable agriculture practices)
• Balance of farm-fresh growing methods (natural and organic)

Space Availability

• Admission to LHF-FM is subject to space availability

In addition to the factors and criteria for general vendor acceptance, processed food products (value-added processed foods) will be reviewed. Products are evaluated on the following factors:

Ingredient Sourcing (in order of priority)

• Grown by processor
• Sourced locally (from within CT)
• Not sourced locally

Market Needs

• Product complements LHF-FM mission, i.e. demonstrates our direct producer-to-consumer values and reflects seasonal availability of products
• Market product balance and space availability

Quality

• Flavor
• Aroma
• Texture

Production

• Value-added products must be processed by the vendor

Labeling/Packaging

• Legal requirements (weight, ingredients, etc.)

---

 

Insurance

LHF-FM is a certified CT-Grown market. The CT Department of Agriculture requires all vendors at a certified market to carry a minimum of $300,000 of liability insurance, with the specific farmers' market and location identified on the certificate of insurance. Market participants will be required to submit a copy of a valid (i.e., non-expired) certificate to the Market Master before participant’s first day at the Market, and agrees to maintain this insurance at all times this agreement is in effect.

The "Description of operations/locations/vehicles" needs to include the following:

Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market
Saturdays October - June
Litchfield Community Center
421 Bantam Road
Litchfield, CT 06759

BOTH the Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market AND the Litchfield Community Center must be named as the “Certificate Holder”

The “Certificate Holder” should read:

Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market
Sustainable Healthy Connections
PO Box 607
Litchfield, CT 06759

AND

Litchfield Community Center
421 Bantam Road
Litchfield, CT 06759

---

 

Important Reminders

• Factors that make our market successful include variety and abundance of CT-grown and value-added product each week. Our customers depend on your product being at the Market each week, or the Market Master knowing why you are not there and when you will be back. We understand extenuating circumstances might prevent you from attending a market. However, it is mandatory that you call or email any member of the Market Master Team as early as possible if you will not be attending (for any reason) one or more of the days you committed to attend the Market. The market layout and customer satisfaction are affected by your attendance

• Litchfield is a CT-grown, producer-only market, which means that all products sold at the market must be produced in CT or made from CT-grown products. Exceptions to this Litchfield Market principle are those products that cannot be sourced in CT (e.g., olive oil, organic dried herbs, bread grains). Any exceptions in our market have been reviewed with CT Department of Agriculture (DOA) and approved for inclusion in our market under CT-Grown guidelines.

• DOA requires CT-Grown market vendors to submit a crop plan to DOA and to the markets in which they participate. Products on the crop plan are the only products you can sell at a CT-Grown market unless you have applied for, and received, a special exception from the market. In addition, the Market Master Team tries to balance the supply of various items with the consumer demand. Thus a vendor may NOT be approved to bring all of the items on their crop plan to the Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market.. The purpose of DOA and market approval is four-fold:
  1. To seek product approval from the DOA and Market Master Team
  2. To assure that the product is CT-grown and/or produced with products grown in CT;
  3. To help the Market Master Team coordinate product diversity; and
  4. To help monitor the products brought to market; products brought to market must match products listed on the respective crop plan.
  Please check your crop plan to be sure the CT-grown/produced products you bring to market match those listed on your crop plan. Anything not on the crop plan must be cleared with the Market Master Team.

• As a producer only market, Litchfield requires that vendors directly educate consumers about the products they sell. Exceptions to the face-to-face link between vendor and consumer are products that add critical variety and breadth of CT-Grown offerings, but for which the producer is not able to staff a booth in Litchfield. Every exception in the Litchfield market has been cleared through CT DOA. Two examples:
  1. Goat and cow cheeses (made in CT from CT milk) are sold by a member of the Market Master Team. However, approval was secured for producer-only status under the condition that the seller was trained in cheese-making. The seller of the cheeses invested three days in an intensive training session with the producer to learn the cheese-making process and, in turn, how to educate the consumer.
  2. In the winter, hydroponic greens were sold at the Litchfield Market, but only after the seller was trained to identify the products and learn about the production methods.
  Does everything you sell meet these requirements? If so, great! If not, let us know and we can help with the exception process.

• Acceptance of value-added vendors at our market is based on an expectation that they will use as many local, CT-grown ingredients as possible. Some examples:
  1. Bethlehem Christian Fellowship makes pies from local fruits.
  2. Snooty Foods uses local herbs to make pickles and dips.

• Any questions about value-added products? We're ready to help answer them.