Marketing and selling strawberries in Minnesota

Learn about the local market for strawberries

Before purchasing land or planting a strawberry, consider the demand for strawberries in your area: Who is growing strawberries and who is buying them?

Learn about the demand for local strawberries in your area. First, do a search for how many other strawberry farms are nearby. Learn about their market, how many acres of strawberries they grow, what market challenges they have encountered, and how much their customer base may overlap with yours. Attend local conferences and workshops to meet other growers in your area.

Second, learn about your potential customers. Customers in rural areas may be willing to travel longer distances to a strawberry farm than customers in a larger metro area. However, your farm should still have a customer base within a 45-mile radius that is appropriate for the size of your strawberry production, unless you are willing to drive long distances to sell your fruit.

Decide where to sell your strawberries

Part of the planning process for a strawberry farm is deciding where and how you will sell your berries. Consider what size strawberry field you are comfortable managing and if you want to manage it yourself or hire workers. The field size and availability of labor will determine whether you will be able to meet the demands of wholesale or mid-sized markets, or how many U-pick customers you can accommodate at one time.

Types of markets in Minnesota 

Directly to customers

• U-pick
• Farmers markets
• Farm stores
• Farmers markets
• Community supported agriculture (CSA) shares
• Roadside stands

Direct-to-consumer marketing is the most common way to sell strawberries in Minnesota. This method is the easiest for small-scale farms to manage, brings higher prices per pound, and simplifies the transportation process. Consider whether direct-to-consumer marketing, which involves a high amount of customer interaction, suits your personality and farm goals.

Mid-sized local markets

• Grocery stores
• Restaurants
• Group dining facilities

In Minnesota, marketing directly to mid-sized markets like local grocery stores and dining facilities is much more common than selling through distributors.

Wholesale through distributors

• For fresh sales
• For processing into value-added products

Wholesale marketing of Minnesota strawberries, such as through distributors, is uncommon because of challenges associated with wholesale marketing of short-season, perishable fruit.

Multiple markets

It is common for Minnesota strawberry farms to have more than one marketing strategy. For example, U-Pick strawberry farms often also sell pre-picked berries at their on-site farm store.

Some farms sell their berries using a combination of direct and mid-sized markets like farmers markets, CSAs and a local grocery store account.

Growers should also consider having a plan for using or selling extra fruit, like freezing it and using it in value-added products. Determining the demand for these various markets will help determine which approaches to adopt.

Develop a marketing strategy for your strawberries

• Decide how to market the strawberry crop in the months leading up to the season so your marketing strategy is ready to go when the busy strawberry season starts.
• Consider using a combination of social media, email, and traditional marketing channels such as newspaper or radio to reach a diversity of demographics in your area.
• If you wish to sell wholesale, or to restaurants or grocery stores, discuss this with potential buyers before you plant strawberries. Develop agreements with buyers in the months before the season.
• For more information about marketing local food, see The Basics of Marketing Local Food.