Great Lakes Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal ...

MANAGING YOUR OWN RETAIL SHOP: MARKETING AND SELF-DISTRIBUTION
OF FARMSTEAD CHEESE
Alastair MacKenzie
La Moutonnière, Inc.
Sainte-Hélène-de-Chester, Québec, Canada
Financial success on a small farm doesn’t come without a healthy dose of hard work, trust
in our ability to finish the job, and a love of what you do. Farming is the only business where the
producer pays retail, sells wholesale, and carries the burden of both incoming and outgoing
freight. These are the unfortunate parameters within which we work.
At La Moutonnière Inc., we are always looking for ways to grow in an expanding market
… and to hold the course in a slower one. To add to the challenge, we also want to preserve
quality of life for both the humans and the animals in our operation. We spent 2004 designing a
new on-farm fromagerie (cheese plant) only to realize that if we opted to go ahead with
construction it would vastly limit our client contact. A new fromagerie would have meant
exporting to the other provinces of Canada and the U.S., but rather than wanting less contact
with clients, we wanted MORE contact with them! So, it was back to the drawing board to
rethink our expansion plans.
In April 2004, we were pretty sure we had the answer and we decided to open a booth at
Marché Jean Talon in Montreal, Quebec. What follows is the story of the ride we took to get
there.
The Opportunity
Since more than 35,000 people do some, or all, of their weekly shopping at this market, it
seemed reasonable to assume we would break-even for sure, and maybe even make a profit. As
opposed to other farmer’s markets where there is a distinct lack of clientele interest (and a
boredom factor for the retailer waiting for sales!), Marché Jean Talon is the largest open-air
market in North America. Its clientele has “le bec fin” [literally: “fine-beaked” but figuratively
a way to express the idea of “gourmet”]. It was close enough to reach by car in 2 hours. Not to
mention the fact that we’ve spent the last 10 years building a reputation and a client base in
Montreal. It seemed like a logical move at the time. As it turned out, we had a lot to learn.
Visiting the market, we were immediately struck by the number of retailers selling
produce from their own farm, or produce from their region. The potential seemed limitless for
our products. From flowers to flans, and turnips to taffy, the market provides producers and
market-goers a like, with a riot of colors, smells and tastes. Booths appeared, and then
disappeared overnight as farmers and producers arrived to sell their produce at the peak of the
season. We also noticed that while there were a few butchers who sold lamb, none of them sold
lamb raised on their own farm. Nor was anyone selling their own cheese or wool.
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