OFFMA Fresh Facts: December 2011

8/3/2019 OFFMA Fresh Facts: December 2011

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Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association

Newsletter #273Dec. 2011

Volume 26, Number 10

Fresh Facts

Inside this issue:

Membership News 2

Christmas tidbits 3

Bus Tour Highlights 4

Advancing agricul-

ture through AALP6

The ABCs of Giving 7

Upcoming Events 8

Providing knowledge and leadership to grow the farm fresh experience.

Presidents Message

Do you hear what I hear? Its that time of year again the holidays and with this timecomes a host of familiar sounds. Snow crunching underfoot, doorbells signaling thearrival of guests, and those ubiquitous songs of the season. So why is it that this pastweekend all I could hear were sounds of discord and restlessness? Because I went toa mall. Now, I really dont have anything against malls, normally. What I do wonderabout whenever I find myself inside a shopping mall before Christmas is this: why iseverything on sale? Dont get me wrong, I love a good deal. My secret problem withthe mall is that it makes me wonder if were retailing properly.

We dont do blockbuster door-crasher roll-back sales here on the farm. Never have.Weve not gotten up Black-Friday-style at 2am to face an onslaught of hungry shopperslooking for loss-leaders. And were not equipped to handle the crush of Cyber Mondayshoppers to our farm website. For all of these things I am all kinds of grateful. See, Idont think our customers would like it if we did those things. Frankly, its not who weare. As on-farm retailers in a price-conscious economy, our value identity has to restwith quality, local, and service.

A couple of weeks ago the OFFMA Annual Bus Tour took about 50 of us to tour thebeautiful Niagara Region. We visited a truly eclectic mix of really interesting Ontariobusinesses who each in their own way demonstrated what a little heart and soul

can bring to a business. We saw beautiful apple, pear, peach, and cherry orchards,on-farm wineries, research gardens, gourmet food makers and retailers, flower sellers,and cheesemakers. One is enthusiastic about trains, another about antique cars.Each had one thing in common: a passion for what were talking about here a com-mitment to standing apart from conventional retail.

Wherever you are this holiday season, whether on the farm (or at the mall!) may I wishyou nothing but the best. I know that some OFFMA members are closed for the sea-son, some pushing through until Christmas, and still others areplanning to stay open all year. No matter where you are in yourwork, I hope that you find time to rest and enjoy. And on behalfof the entire Board of Directors here at Ontario Farm Fresh,

warm wishes to you and your family this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Jesse LauzonOFFMA President


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MEMBERSHIP NEWS

Page 2 Fresh Facts

OFFMA welcomes the followingnew members. Make the most ofyour membership participatewhenever and wherever you can.

Robert & Shannon MillerMillers Bay FarmLombardy, 613-283-0205

Dale & Angeline VranckxBlueberry Hill EstatesSt. Williams, 519-586-8712

Calvin & Paul DentzDentz Orchards & Berry Farm

Iroquois, 613-652-2397

Mark & Hector DelangheDelhaven Orchards Ltd.Blenheim, 519-676-4475

Associate MembersSusan DupejSusan Dupej CompanyToronto, 647-200-5349

Myla MalikICP ConferencesWhitby, 289-315-0519

Congratulations to Adam and DanaThatcher from Thatcher Farms in Rock-wood. They welcomed little Thomas totheir family on November 1.Everyone is doing well and looking forwardto Christmas with a new baby to enjoy the

holidays.

Sandy Archibald from Archibalds Orchardshad a very special birthday last month and herhusband, Fred wanted to make sure it was

memorable with a surprise party. Sandy saidshe has done 30 twice, and is now workingon her third time.Happy belated birthday!!

What we found on the web..Have you seen the word clouds similarto the one we made with the last para-graph of Jesses President Messagethis month?

Wordle is a toy for generating wordclouds from text that you provide. The

clouds give greater prominence towords that appear more frequently inthe source text. You can tweak yourclouds with different fonts, layouts,and color schemes. The images youcreate with Wordle are yours to usehowever you like. You can print themout, or save them to the Wordle galleryto share with your friends.Check it out on www.wordle.net andhave some fun creating your own wordclouds.

May your parking lot always betoo small to hold all of yourcustomers vehicles.


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Page 3Newsletter #273 Dec. 2011

Virtual One-on-One Social MediaConsulting-REMINDER

In the September newsletter, the So-cial Media Consulting program withSusan Murphy was outlined. OFFMA

has been working with Susan Murphyfrom Jester Creative Inc. to develop aconsulting program around social me-dia. It is intended for people who havea basic understanding of social mediabut do not feel confident to expand.This program will be delivered over thephone, thru Skype or another type ofvideo conferencing. For details checkyour September newsletter or go to theOFFMA website at

www.OntarioFarmFresh.com

Your Investment Cost is $300 + HST

We still have some spots available, soif you are interested please call theOFFMA office at 905-841-9278.

Interesting Christmas Tidbits(impress your customers with yourknowledge about Christmas traditions) Christmas trees take 7-10

years to mature. The first Christmas card was

printed in England in 1843. An acre of Christmas trees

provides the daily oxygen re-quirements of 18 people.

Candy canes began asstraight white sticks of sugarcandy used to decorate theChristmas trees. A choirmas-ter at Cologne Cathedral de-cided to have the ends bent todepict a shepherds crook. Hepassed them out to the chil-

dren to keep them quiet dur-ing the services. It wasnt untilabout the 20th century thatcandy canes acquired theirred stripes.

Christmas tree was decoratedfor the first time in Riga(Latvia), in the year 1510.


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Page 4 Fresh Facts

A few 2011Bus Tour Highlights

Try a different twist to the traditional gingerbread men..dip emin chocolate to create chocolate pants.

Pictures are worth a thousandwords and when your picturesare as beautiful as this one, theyare priceless. Peach Country hadsome great displays that custom-ers could not only enjoy but alsolearn from each one.

Great Wolf Lodge is set up to

entertain kids of all ages. Theentire lodge is created to wowand provide a great experien-tial visit for the entire family.Theming throughout the facili-ty is consistent with the greatoutdoors. Even garbage canshave wildlife displayed onthem.

Wish you were here! Were having a great time!

Make sure you join us next year.


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Trains are clearly a passion for Murray Pud-dicombe. He has found a great way to com-bine his passion with his business. Their signa-ture train station and narrow rail train is a ma-

jor draw on their farm. Murray also has severalother train cars that he uses for Santas visitand B&B accommodations.

We were treated to a demonstration aboutgift basket making at Niagara Presents.Everyone came away with contacts for new

suppliers and tips on how to make greatChristmas baskets. Sue Bennett, from Val-leyview Little Animal Farm even won one asa prize. All thanks to Niagara Presents.

Kurtz Orchards do an amazing job of displaying andsampling the many delicious products they sell. Thisexample shows how the sampling, the products anda recipe using the product are all displayed to temptcustomers into trying and buying the product.

A big thank you to all our hosts on the bustour. You made our tour special and youmade use feel special whether it was withwelcome signs or great presentations. Welearned something at each and everystop; valuable tips and tricks for on-farmmarketers.


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Page 6 Fresh Facts

Advancing Agriculture through AALPby Will Heeman, OFFMAs AALP Scholarship Winner for 2011

My name is WillHeeman and myfamily owns Hee-

man Greenhousesand StrawberryFarm. Im the new-est family memberto return home tothe farm and thissummer I was ac-cepted into the Ad-vanced AgriculturalLeadership Program(AALP). Now offer-ing its fourteenth

class, AALP is an executive develop-ment program for men and women whowant to broaden their horizons and ex-pand their networks to help shape thefuture of the agriculture and food sec-tors in Ontario. Assembling primary pro-ducers, employees of agriculture basedbusiness and other partners with ourindustry as part of the program; AALPprovides a great opportunity to developstrong industry wide partnerships.

Our current class started seminars inCambridge this past September and willcontinue to meet across the province,even travelling all the way to ThunderBay. In the next 19 months we willcover topics ranging from marketingand working with the media to consum-er and social issues. In addition to trav-els across Ontario, a North Americanstudy tour and International study tourare part of the curriculum to gain a for-eign perspective on our industry.

After completing two of twelve seminarsweve covered topics on leadership the-ory and personal development. We cov-ered Grid Theory in the first seminar,which teaches a person how to attainthe perfect harmony between relation-ships and results that ultimately pro-mote synergy. In seminar two, we wereexposed to the Lumina Spark method

of personal development, which is a hy-brid of True Colours, Myers Briggs and afew other personality test programs. Not

only did the tool accurately peg eachAALP member to their leadership style, itgave recommendations on how best tointeract with other peoples styles aswell. I especially found this informationuseful when I was back on the farmworking with other family members andstaff.

AALP has a reputation for bringing inworld-class speakers and facilitators.They have certainly delivered on that

reputation thus far. Our speakers havebeen fantastic as well. In the first semi-nar Lorie Jocius, President and GeneralManager of Canadas Outdoor ShowsLimited told us how farmers need to bemore proud of the special role we play inproviding quality, reliable food to ourcommunities. She said we are not just afarmer were a Farmer and thatssomething to be proud of! In the secondseminar we heard from the HonourableLyle Vanclief, former Federal Agriculture

Minister. Hon. Vanclief, or Lyle as wewere instructed to call him, spoke of theimportance of people and organizations(like OFFMA) who help support the lead-ers and faces of our industry. He remind-ed us that behind every leader is a net-work of people who helped them get tothe position they are in.

I look forward to our next sessions,which include visits to Ottawa to meetwith government leaders, and Toronto to

sit down with executives from high fi-nance businesses. Of course our nextsession in January is most exciting be-cause it is where well learn the mysterylocation of our North American and Inter-national travel locations. You can followour classes progress and travels on theAALP website (www.aalp.on.ca) or onTwitter (@AALP).


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TheABCs of Giving(modified from a poem written by Karen Ann Bland)

Ask someone to lunch at your house.

Bake a special treat for an elderly acquaintance.

Call an old friend whos been out of touch.Deliver groceries or medicine to a shut-in.

Encourage someone whos having a bad day.

Fix your familys favourite meal.

Give outgrown toys and clothing to charity.

Hug a friend; them tell why they are special to you.

Invite a friend for coffee and some conversation.

Just do it-when you see a need, try to fill it.

Keep giving even when you feel youve given enough.

Lend a favourite book or movie to someone whod enjoy it.Make someone smile with a pleasant word or joke.

Nominate a deserving employee for an award.

Offer to organize a community event.

Pick up flowers for someone whose day needs brightening.

Quench a co-workers thirst - treat them to a hot cocoa.

Read a story to a child.

Send a greeting card to friends and relatives to mark special occasions.

Take a walk with a friend.

Use every opportunity to deliver sincere compliments.

Volunteer at a soup kitchen or food bank.Write that long-overdue letter, getting personal mail is a treat these days.

EXpress thanks daily.

Yield the choice of movie or restaurant to someone else.

Zealously support a worthy cause.

OFFMA is very grateful to Domin-ion and Grimm for the incentiveprogram they sent up with us ap-proximately a year ago.Two percent of all glass sales to

OFFMA members are donatedback to the association.Recently, Heather Clark from Do-minion and Grimm presented Jes-se Lauzon, OFFMA President witha cheque from last years sales.If you are looking for any kind ofglass containers consider Domin-ion and Grimm as your supplier ofchoice. They have very competi-tive prices and support our indus-try. Everyone wins!

It is easy to getcaught up in thematerial crazinessof Christmas. But

you dont have tospend a lot ofmoney to brightensomeones day.Here are somesuggestions on howto create a bit ofChristmas cheerwith an investmentof just a little time.


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Upcoming EventsJan. 4-6 Central Ontario Agricultural Conference, Georgian College, Barrie, ON,

www.centralontarioagconference.ca

Jan. 21 FarmSmart Agricultural Conference, University of Guelph, Guelph, ONJan. 26-29 Guelph Organic Conference, Univ. of Guelph, www.guelphorganicconf.caJan. 29Feb. 2 Canadian Gift and Tableware Association Show, Toronto International

Centre & Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, ON www.cgta.org

Feb. 10-16 North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association Convention,Williamsburg Virginia, check out www.nafdma.com for more info

Feb. 21 Pre-Convention Workshop, Hiring and Keeping Employees with MichellePainchaud, Crowne Plaza, Niagara Falls, ON, call Cathy @905-841-9278

for additional info.

Feb. 22-23 Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention, Niagara Falls, ON, www.ofvc.ca

Page 8 Fresh Facts

Ontario Farm Fresh

Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director

2002 Vandorf Rd. Aurora, ON L4G 7B9

Phone: 905-841-9278

Fax: 905-726-3369

E-mail: [email protected]

www.ontariofarmfresh.com

2011-12 OFFMA Board of DirectorsJesse Lauzon, President

Springridge Farm

Steve Smith, Vice President

Smiths Apples

Amy Strom, Past President

Stroms Farm

Leslie Forsythe, Forsythe Family Farms

Jay Howell, Brantview Apples & Cider

Brian Hugli, Huglis Blueberry Ranch

Marg Land, Annex Publishing

(Associate Member)

Hollis English, Murphys Farmstead

Colleen Pingle, Pingles Farm Market

Geri Rounds, Rounds Ranch

Dorene Collins, OMAFRA

(Advisor to the Board)

A simple but brilliant business thoughtby Donald Cooper, www.donaldcooper.comA very clever retailer has put each of his sales people in charge of merchandising, house-keeping, stock replenishment and staff product knowledge training for one specific areaof the store.The result has been a much higher level of staff interest and commitment..and muchimproved store performance. The staff are more engaged, their jobs are more interesting,they undertake their additional responsibilities during the slow periods, rather thanstanding around.and each one of them is worth more, so theyre all paid more.Net result.sales and profits are up, staff turnover is way down, they feel that they havea retail career rather than a retail sales joband, because the staff have taken

ownership of running the store wonderfully, the boss now has much more time off tohave a life. Whether youre a retailer or not, how could you give your team additional re-sponsibility, more initiative and more money to grow your business and their lives?

The OFFM A Board of Directors wishyou and your family a wonderfulholiday doing whatever it is thatgives you peace, contentmentand happiness.Wishing you good health andgood weather for 2012.

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OFFMA Fresh Facts: December 2011