FMC Teams Up with Farmspread to Offer Integrated Market Management & Data Collection Tools

      Posted On: December 18, 2017

As part of our continuing efforts to provide our membership with the best resources for market managers and their vendors, FMC is excited to announce our first-ever official partnership with the vendor management website, Farmspread!

What is Farmspread?

Farmspread is a comprehensive and user-friendly market and vendor management tool. Market managers’ time is precious, and vendors deserve a system that works as much for them as it does for markets. FMC has been impressed with the completeness of the Farmspread solution, as it is a holistic solution for both markets and vendors. And importantly, they offer superb customer service.

Why is FMC partnering with Farmspread?

Farmspread has taken pains over the past two years to develop a tool that covers all the needs of market managers and vendors. FMC has been actively working for the past three years on our Farmers Market Metrics (Metrics) data collection and reporting website. When FMC met Farmspread at the 2017 VAFMA conference, the discussion between our two teams was immediately aligned in terms of purpose and future goals. FMC had plans to build a complete vendor management solution, and Farmspread had plans to build out a reporting and analysis console. Recognizing that we each had already built what the other had plans for, we decided to collaborate rather than compete.

What does the partnership mean for me?

This partnership provides two levels of benefits to FMC members:

  1. All FMC members will receive a 15% discount to the 2018 season of Farmspread. (Coupon code is FMC2018)
  2. Any current or future Metrics subscriber will benefit from an API that allows Metrics and Farmspread to automatically share information between both systems. FMC recognizes that the easiest and most complete point of vendor data collection is at the vendor application. By partnering with Farmspread, FMC is honoring that recognition by allowing markets to collect data at the point of the application, and automatically transfer all of that information into the Metrics platform. Enter data once, get twice the benefit!

How does Farmspread benefit my vendors?

FMC knows that vendors are the center of the farmers market world, and we recognize that working in the direct marketing field is getting tougher each year. FMC partnered with Farmspread because they recognize this too; their platform was created to be vendor-centric — to minimize the places data has to be input, and maximize the effect of that data. Along with easily applying to markets and providing important data to your markets, Farmspread is in the process of rolling out:

  1. An Online FarmStand, allowing your customers to pre-purchase items from you, and pick up at market, saving time at checkout and better understanding your inventory; and
  2. A full-suite CSA; Enjoy optimized search when customers are looking for CSAs, get paid instantly for your goods, and manage distribution schedules, drop-off managers, volunteers and more.

How does this partnership work to strengthen farmers markets?

This collaboration between a private software company and a national non-profit puts the success of our constituents squarely at the center of this partnership. FMC wants markets to thrive, and intimately understands the nuanced world of markets. Farmspread has demonstrated their technical capacity through their current platform, and their willingness to embrace and actively develop around the nuances of markets that so often get ignored. With FMC playing an active role in guiding the development of Farmspread around these nuances, all parties stand to benefit.

Interested in learning more?

It’s free to create a market within Farmspread, so you can dive right in to see if it’s a good fit for your market operations without any commitment. Interested in learning more about Farmers Market Metrics? FMC and Farmspread will host a joint webinar on Thursday, January 11 at 2:00pm EST to explain the benefits of the partnership, future plans for the partnership, and for a live tour of Farmspread’s website and management platform.  Click here to register!