A good marketing plan is an essential part of a successful farm business. This marketing plan involves you mapping out your desired market and customers even before going into production. Creating your marketing plan will give you the needed answers to the questions of what to produce, how much to produce and how best to produce to suit the demands of your market and customers most importantly. This way, you can be rest assured that you will get your produce sold when it is time for harvest.
After creating your plan, the following are the best available ways to sell your produce in Nigeria:
Online Markets
It is a good idea for any farmer to take advantage of the internet age by selling their products online through online markets like Agricmania. At agricmania.com.ng it is very simple to sell your produce. You would be required to provide a clear picture of the product, your price and contact details and you can start selling.
Physical Markets
You could also sell your goods at large agricultural marketplaces such as Mile12 in Lagos, Ogbete main market in Enugu, Zaki Biam Yam market in Benue, and others like that around the country. To do this, you have to meet with the head of the market first in order to get firsthand information and instructions on how to sell your produce in the market. Large market places like this are good opportunities for farmers to make their profits fast because of the large customer traffic at such farms, but it could also be a disadvantage where unnecessary taxes and levies are demanded.
Manufacturing Companies
You could also meet up with important representatives of factories that are in need of raw agricultural produce, to sell your agricultural produce to them. For instance, if you are a maize farmer you could contact buyers from a custard manufacturing company. An example of custard making company that can be contacted is Prime Custard at 6, Church St, Isolo, Lagos state.
Food Production Companies
Food production companies like Nestle, UAC, etc. in Nigeria are very large buyers of agricultural produce. The key to making this kind of sales however, is to have a large production capacity and efficiency, so you can meet up with their demand. Nestle can be contacted on http://www.nestle-cwa.com/en/info and at 22-24, Industrial Avenue, Illupeju, Lagos.
Large Restaurants And Eateries
As a farmer you can supply your produce to restaurants and eateries in the country. The larger the restaurant or eatery e.g Sweet Sensation, the larger their demand will be obviously. But be warned, this is a fairly saturated area so your prices must be competitive in order to make good sales.
Partner With Large Retail Stores
Partnering with retail stores is a good way to ensure sales for your produce. There are several small scale retail stores where you can supply your produce in their grocery section. However, targeting large chain retail stores like Shoprite will also require you to have competitive prices for your produce.
Setting Up An Online Grocery Store Yourself
If you have the wherewithal, you can create a website for you farm in order to get direct access to your buyers. For new farm businesses, this method should be used alongside to the other methods mentioned above.
Selling Directly To The Consumers
This is most effective if you have a small farm size or small-scale production. This can be done by having a stand at the market yourself, or letting the customers come into the farm to pick for themselves.
It cannot be over emphasized that as a farmer, you need to have prior knowledge of the market for your produce before going into the production. Also, you may even negotiate your selling price with the buyer even before production or harvesting, as the case may be, to be on the safer side.
For all the methods of sales highlighted above, an excellent negotiation skill is what every astute farm business owner must possess, especially in Nigeria where there are no price regulations by the government. You should know when to raise you price higher and when to push it down.