Skip to content

Bentley Farmer’s Market makes the move to online

The digital marketplace provides vendors a space to safely sell products during the pandemic
21351723_web1_20200430_SLN_BentleyMarket-File_1
The Bentley Farmer’s Market is an extremely busy place, as seen in this photo from a past market, that is why it was decided to create an online farmer’s market to help maintain social distance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo Submitted

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous changes, and next on the list is the Bentley Farmer’s Market transitioning to an online marketplace.

The popular farmer’s market decided in the current climate to move online and not hold a physical market this summer.

Wendy Buyar, the manager of the Bentley Farmer’s Market, says it made more sense this year to make the move to an online market.

“At the best of times it is absolutely insane at the market, so for the safety of everyone this seemed like the best option,” Buyar said in a recent phone interview.

The online market has been in the works for a while, Buyar says.

She had gone to a seminar in the United States where expanding a farmer’s market into the digital spear was discussed.

She said because of the seminar, the Bentley market was ahead of the curve in planning when the epidemic cropped up.

“Unless someone waves a magic wand and this all clears up we will be online this year,” Buyar said.

Having an online component for the farmer’s market will be a benefit to the producers who rely on farmer’s markets for income.

Even though farmer’s markets are considered essential services by the provincial government, Buyar says it is hard to regulate the number of people and the amount of space between everyone.

With an online component producers will still be able to rely on income from the market while staying safe and practicing social distancing.

It’ll also help moving forward with big producers like green houses, Buyar says.

“A lot of times the big producers don’t know what items are going to be popular or how much stock to bring. With the online component they will be able to better judge what to bring and have pre-orders as well,” said Buyar.

She said the online market will be set up similar to sites like Etsy, where each vendor will have a shop page the customer can visit where products and prices are listed.

She added the customer will have to check out with each individual vendor on the site.

As of printing, there are four vendors who have their shops open on the website. There are roughly 28 vendors who are working to have their shop up and running on the site.

“The delay right now is all the back end stuff, like putting in all the products and pricing for each vendor,” Buyar says.

Each vendor will be able to add and update their shop with new product and pricing.

As well, each vendor will detail their preferred delivery. In some cases a vendor may offer home delivery on a specific day of the week, while others may offer curb-side pick up on a different day at a specific location.

“We wanted to make sure the deliveries and pick ups were spread out to ensure we are still practising social distancing,” said Buyar adding, “each vendor’s preferred method will be easily found on the website.”

Buyar says the online market will continue as a part of the Bentley Farmer’s Market even after the pandemic has come to an end.

Customers will need to create an account to order from the website.

The site is now live and customers can make orders 24/7 at www.bentleyfarmersmarket.com.