We have been trading at farmers’ markets, open markets, craft markets and big shows for over 15 years and here we assimilate our knowledge and experience of having tried numerous business ideas, in many types of markets and venues throughout the UK.
What to sell is the No1 question entrepreneurs ask themselves. Here is a quick and easy overview of some ideas and possibilities for you to consider. As well as trying to find a product that you are interested in, you will also want to find out if there might be a gap in the market – literally.
The first job is to visit your local markets and see what is being sold. Speaking to a few stallholders and finding out if that particular market is a good one and getting some idea of other markets in the area that you could visit is a logical first step. They may even have their own ideas as to what their market is lacking and you could get your answers that way. A great way is to speak to the market organisers and ask them directly what kind of stalls they are looking for. They are bound to have an idea of what kind of stalls they want. They may have just lost their ‘bread stall’ to another market and would be happy to have another. There is no substitute for word of mouth research and you will learn far more than you anticipated from a generously talkative stallholder.
We will discuss a few possibilities and look at the pros and cons of each venture. We start with food ideas, moving onto craft market ideas and more general items that can be found on general markets.
Food Markets
If you love food and are a good cook, this is an area to explore. From Quiches to Marshmallows to Cookies to Goats Cheese, all food items sell extremely well and you will certainly take money home with you, but is the hard work worth it?
Each category will be explained simplistically for reasons of clarity. Obviously, there will be much more to each type of business than we cover here. Another thing to consider is if your chosen business would need electricity at a market. Not all markets have this available and if they do, you are sometimes asked for a small supplementary fee to cover costs.
1. Cakes and Pastries
There is always a demand for cakes and pastries at markets. Whether they are sold by the slice or whole. You would usually earn more profit selling by the slice, but you may end up with more wastage. If you don’t sell all of your whole cakes you could at least sell them the next day or freeze them. The downside is that the shelf life of freshly baked goods is usually only one day. Consider the packaging you will need to sell them in. Will a brown paper bag suffice or will you need specially-sized boxes? Imagine how the customer will transport your goods home with them? Would they be happy to take it away in flimsy packaging or would they be more inclined to buy if it was more sturdy? It is not usually too difficult to gain Environmental Health approval to make these at your home premises, so it is a popular stall, though takes a little longer to get a pitch as there is usually always at least one cake stall on a food market.
If you find it difficult to get on a market that already has a cake stall, you could try and niche this category down and only sell Keto Cakes or Plant-Based sweet treats, for example. A canny market organiser may well accept your stall under these circumstances as they will have a valid argument with the current cake maker.
2. Jams and Preserves
Jams, Marmalade and Preserves, particularly if you offer samples, are always popular. Getting Environmental Health approval for home production is easy as it is a low-risk item. Profits are eaten into by the jars needed to contain these, taking out about 15% of the sale price (e.g. 3.50 – 0.50) though. Jam stalls are always welcome at a food market so getting a pitch should be fairly straightforward. Getting enough fruits and produce for your jars may be your only hurdle.
3. Fudge, Marshmallows, Handmade Sweets
Always popular, good profit because core ingredients are inexpensive and as these are low-risk items it is easy to get Environmental Health approval for making at your home premises. Because sweets are more difficult to make, you will not have much competition, particularly if you can find a way to make your own brand unique in some way. Packaging needs to be considered, especially as customers are generally more plastic-averse.
4. Olives and Pickles
A very popular stall, profits will be less than some homemade businesses because the wholesale cost of olives is high, however, there is more volume of sales and certainly repeat business week in, week out. There is a fairly decent shelf life on these, particularly if pickled. A stall dedicated to just pickles works very well too.
5. Salad Bar
Selling salads by weight or by the box is a guaranteed customer pleaser and the stall will be a very welcome addition to a food market. However, unless you are able to gauge exactly how much you can sell on each trading day, you will experience a lot of wastage. Salads will only last one day and will have to be prepped the day before and assembled the morning of a market. If you are making your produce and selling on your own, you will be hard pushed to attend one market after another. A busy and lucrative stall if you can get it to work. Consider how you will charge (weight, item etc) and how you would package it.
6. Sausage Rolls, Pies, Scotch Eggs and Quiche
Customers love a good sausage roll or pork pie stall. The sales price per item is comparatively low, compared to other easier to make items (pork pie – £2.00 / Slice Cake – £2.00), but the volume of sales is high. The cost to make these items is fairly high due to the meat involved and the environmental health implications are strict. It would be difficult to obtain approval from your Environmental Health agency to manufacture these at your home premises due to these foods being classed as high risk.
7. Vegetarian and Vegan Prepared Foods
These items are becoming extremely popular at food markets and should not require any separate premises due to their low-ish food safety risk, so can be a good choice for a future business. Profits will be higher than meat-filled produce and should be a good choice of venture. Be aware that your typical customer here will not appreciate any plastic or anything that is not kind to the environment, so be aware of that when considering packaging items.
8. Charcuterie, Pates, Hams, Smoked Meats
Cured meats are popular and the perceived value is high, so charging a premium price is understood. Making these at home would not usually be approved and you would need separate premises. Understandably, Food Safety rules are strict but profits are good as are sales. Selling these items on a hot sunny day will bring about challenges that need to be taken into consideration.
9. Prepared Foods
Meat Pies, Lasagne and Shepherds Pie for example are great sellers and extremely popular at a market. You may get approval to make these at home premises but the chances are low. Ask your food safety department for advice. Once you get a loyal following you could potentially have return customers, buying as part of their weekly shop and you may get orders in advance, particularly if you have a tendency to run out of stock.
10. Bread
A bread stall is always welcomed and extremely popular. From the more traditional breads to more artisan breads, these are always in high demand from customers and from market organisers. Not a huge amount of profit and lots of wastage unless you can gauge your market right.
11. Cheese and Yoghurts
Cheese is always popular, from small producers of goats cheese to air-conditioned vans selling a selection of regional varieties. You will often require separate premises to produce your own cheese but discuss options with your own environmental health department. You don’t need to keep milk-producing animals to become a cheesemaker. Some canny folk buy the raw milk from farmers and make cheese as a separate venture, just like big national brands do! Some types of cheese will need to be refrigerated or kept cool on market days, other, harder types of cheese will not. If you are a cheesemaker, your business will also rely on selling items wholesale to shops, so markets maybe just a small part of your operation. Unusual, local cheese is always very much in demand. Goat and Sheep’s cheeses are particularly popular.
12. Ice-cream
An extremely popular product, which is always in demand. However, it is only likely to sell seasonally and may not be a long-term profitable business – certainly not at a market. Electricity and some type of freezer would need to be transported.
13. Raw Meats and Fish
Good quality raw meats and fish will sell well. Profit will depend on whether you rear your own livestock or not. Butchers fees are expensive and Environmental Health paperwork is lengthy and detailed.
14. Game
This is a seasonal venture and whilst popular is also profitable. If you have a good source of acquiring game this could be one to consider. You do run the risk of having an element of wastage. Environmental Health advice would be essential.
15. Wines and Beers
Selling Wines or Beers is extremely popular and has a good profit margin. Bottles do eat into your profit. You will usually have to purchase a day licence to trade on a market, or sometimes the market operator buys one for the whole market and you don’t need to.
16. Coffee Stall
Selling coffee beans or freshly ground coffee. An extremely popular stall and profitable.
17. Niche Foods
From niche International Foods to Locally produced packets of Crisps to Specialist Dietary Foods. All have a place on a market stall and can work well.
This list is by no means exhaustive, just an overview of the usual food stalls that are often found at a food market and to give you a broad idea of the Possibilities.
18. Hot Food
Selling hot foods at a market is very lucrative once you get your prices right, however, you usually only have a small window to make most of your money. If the market is a day market, it will begin around 9 am until about 2 or 4. If you are selling hot lunchtime fare, then your trading window will mostly be between 12 and 1.30 pm, and for most of the day you will be hanging about waiting for custom. However, it is still very much a good opportunity for profit, as long as you don’t have too much competition from other lunchtime food sellers. The footfall needs to be good to make this work consistently. Hot food stalls are welcomed at food markets, retail markets and shows.
19. Fruit & Veg Stall
Extremely popular stall, hard work, lucrative and a mainstay of any general market. Getting a pitch will be like finding gold dust – unless you start your own market!
General Markets
Whilst food items are also sold at general markets (also known as Charter Markets or Retail Markets), here follows a list of items that are often seen at a good retail Retail Market as well as the previously listed food items.
20. Clothing and Shoes
From dresses, hats, gloves, coats, jumpers, dresses, shoes, slippers, knickers, bras and socks. All have a place on a general market and all do well in their own way.
21. Mobile Phone Stall
From supplying and fitting watch batteries, to mobile phone covers to anything small and electronic. A mainstay of a good retail market.
22. Stationery
Cards, wrapping paper and all kinds of stationery. Slightly risky in the event of inclement weather but a great stall if you can get an indoor pitch!
23. Records, CD’s, DVD’s
Specialist stall selling dated music and films. Popular with collectors. Good at antique fairs too.
24. Bric-a-Brac or Flea Market Stall
Find stock from auction houses, do them up and sell them on. Successful stall and as all items will be unique, you won’t have issues of having a similar stall to others.
25. Flowers and Plants
Getting up early and buying your flowers at an incoming port, then selling them on at a market. Hard work but can be lucrative if you find some regular customers and have a fall-back plan to sell flowers at the end of the day if you have any left. Unsold pot plants will have a long shelf life though.
26. Crockery
Heavy stock to transport from market to market. More suited to a permanent stall, indoors but still can be a very lucrative stall.
27. Baskets and Rugs
These two often go hand in hand. Attractive market stall but hard work lugging all your carpets about and will need a large vehicle for transportation. More suited to a market stall that you don’t have to dismantle at the end of the day but still great on a daily market too.
28. Pet Food and Snacks
Pet foods are common at general markets though these are becoming more and more visible at a food market stall.
29. Other Stuff
When you can group all types of other ‘stuff’ together, you then have a brand that you can market. Grouping items together be they cupcakes or metal signs, they look good and are good examples of niching your product right down into a very manageable stall. By doing this you put your buying eggs into one basket and cut your time by only having one wholesale outlet to concentrate on.
