Farmer's market - artisan food

farmerfare

I am in the process of setting up a small operation from home. I hope to initially sell at Farmer's markets in Dublin area and then, if I get a big enough following/ demand, I will start (hopefully) to sell into shops on a small scale. I plan to sell fresh artisan food.

My questions are:

(1) Any one on here who currently sells at farmers markets - what are the best markets (foot fall and sales)? Are they hard to get stalls at/ Pricing of stalls?
(2) What food regulations do I need to adhere to? and Can i produce the foods at my own home (I am HACCAP qualified but never done anything from my kitchen before).
(3) Do I need any type of insurance to start selling or is that covered in the stall fee.
(4) How long does it take to get a stall- is there waiting lists etc . Where should I apply to get a stall- to the local county councils?
(5) any other helpful tips.

If you prefer to pm me, thats no problem.

Thanks again for any help.

Peterdalkey

see this thread for more on the topic http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79656544

cheers

peter

shindig-jp

farmerfare wrote: »

I am in the process of setting up a small operation from home. I hope to initially sell at Farmer's markets in Dublin area and then, if I get a big enough following/ demand, I will start (hopefully) to sell into shops on a small scale. I plan to sell fresh artisan food.

My questions are:

(1) Any one on here who currently sells at farmers markets - what are the best markets (foot fall and sales)? Are they hard to get stalls at/ Pricing of stalls?
(2) What food regulations do I need to adhere to? and Can i produce the foods at my own home (I am HACCAP qualified but never done anything from my kitchen before).
(3) Do I need any type of insurance to start selling or is that covered in the stall fee.
(4) How long does it take to get a stall- is there waiting lists etc . Where should I apply to get a stall- to the local county councils?
(5) any other helpful tips.

If you prefer to pm me, thats no problem.

Thanks again for any help.

Let me try to help you out a little .
1) Any one on here who currently sells at farmers markets - what are the best markets (foot fall and sales)? Are they hard to get stalls at/ Pricing of stalls?
(1a) Yes I work a pitch , NOT in Dublin. In your case , you will be looking at Irish Village Markets . These are lunch time markets and google is your friend . Not hard to get a stall . You buy your own stall set up , you'll need about 600 euro for a good rig . I't will cost you about 50~80 euro to rent a pitch per day in Dublin.

(2) What food regulations do I need to adhere to? and Can i produce the foods at my own home (I am HACCAP qualified but never done anything from my kitchen before).
(2a)You say you are HACCAP qualified ? Okay so you did the food handling course ... Let's deal with your kitchen . Your kitchen and business will have to be registered with the local HSE and be approved for use as such . Or your kitchen is a mobile kitchen and that has to be approved for use by the HSE .
(3) Do I need any type of insurance to start selling or is that covered in the stall fee.
(3a) You will need annual Public Liability Insurance and that can cost €600 per annum in the food business .
(4) How long does it take to get a stall- is there waiting lists etc . Where should I apply to get a stall- to the local county councils?
(4a) You could try Dublin City for a casual traders license or go under the umbrella of an organized market and pay the rental of a pitch.
(5) any other helpful tips.
(5a) Your product will have to be a little different than what's already out there.



PM your product and I may be able to help out a little more.

farmerfare

Peter - Thanks for the link.

Shindig-jp - Thanks for your v helpful answer. I will pm you.

I am aware that the NSAI have produced a standare on cooking food in your home kitchen, (I.S. 344:2002 Hygiene for Domestic-Scale Food Production - NSAI, 2002), but I cannot seem to locate a copy online.

Can anybody send me a copy or will I have to visit the NSAI office to see what the standard requires?

Cheers

ontour2

There are two main types of market, those that feed workers during their lunch time and markets targeting people doing their weekly shop. Irish Village markets have lunch time markets in different locations from Tuesday to Friday. These are outdoor so it is tough work in the winter.
For the produce markets, some are indoors and some are outdoors. I use the markets in Pearse St, Dublin Co-op and Honest2Goodness in Glasnevin. I would recommend visiting each of these, the Honest2Goodness market would be my favourite. It has a good range of produce, the prices are not celtic tiger based and generally great people there.

It all depends on what you are producing, there seem to be lots of cake and confectionary stalls which I think is a more competitive business. Bord Bia website has a list of most of the markets.

Cerulean Chicken

You'd probably need/want Product Liability Insurance as well as Public, you can get both of these included in one, costs anywhere from €300 to €1000 depending on the type of food being produced.