Receive regular updates directly to your inbox.
Update profile
Country Markets Ltd is a cooperative social enterprise, organising and promoting individual cooperative Country Markets for the sale of high quality home-made, home-baked or home-grown products throughout England and providing an opportunity for people to profit from their skills. Anyone over the age of 16 may join.
Members of the cooperatives come together at over 400 weekly local Country Markets, at Farmers Markets and at other events throughout the country to sell their produce directly to the public. Producers supply baked goods, both sweet and savoury, preserves, honey, eggs, fruit, vegetables plants and crafts. Some Country Markets also sell meat, fish and dairy produce.
Each Country Market is unique; the range of produce being sold varies according to local skills and, of course, the season. Many Markets serve refreshments - a place to catch up with friends and enjoy a coffee with a home-made cake or biscuit.
Country Markets produce real food for local people thereby reducing food miles and supporting the local economy. They promote, preserve and sometimes revive regional food and crafts, many of which are unique or unusual.
All Country Markets producers are members of a Country Market Society; there are 65 Country Market Societies across the country and about 12,000 members . Each producer may supply any of the Country Markets within their Society, although many only supply their most local and are able to generate, from the sale of their own produce, an often vital addition to the household finances.
The Country Market Ltd appoint Market Advisers who offer advice to Country Markets on statutory regulations, enforce national Country Markets Ltd policy, monitor quality and coordinate local training initiatives.
Country Markets Ltd has gained invaluable experience of this work in the community over the past 85 years and, in response to the growing demand for high quality home produced food, would now like to extend that knowledge into selling the same local, home-produced food through a wider range of retail outlets such as community owned village shops, farm shops, garden centres.
It is anticipated that by opening up a new trading opportunity, new producers will be encouraged to join our cooperative. This new opportunity of selling goods produced at home into retail outlets will appeal not only to our enterprising current producers, keen to extend the availability of their produce, but also to new producers who are interested in joining us but whose other commitments (such as elderly relatives or young children) prevent them from committing to helping to run a Market. Producing for indirect sales is an opportunity for those people to fit work that they really enjoy around family commitments.
Country Markets Ltd will be recruiting and training Retail Advisers to support new and existing producers in adapting to the statutory requirements, maintaining quality both in production and at the point of sale, and seeking out new outlets for Country Markets Ltd produce.
COUNTRY MARKETS LTD
Interested in becoming a Country Markets Producer?
Are you interested in healthy, good quality, locally produced fresh food?
Do you enjoy cooking?
Do friends and family often tell you that your cooking is good enough to sell?
Would you like to work from home and around your family commitments?
Would you like to be part of a social enterprise that has cooperation, community, and quality at the core of its values?
Or perhaps you would like to become a Country Markets Retail Adviser
Would you like to help develop and support a new opportunity for good quality, locally produced fresh food?
Are you good at talking to people?
Do you have an eye for opportunity?
Contact us by email or telephone the Project Administrator on 01246 261307 for your nearest Country Market for further information
or go to www.country-markets.co.uk
