POLICIES AND REGULATIONS for WFM Vendors

POLICIES AND REGULATIONS for WFM Vendors (March 2012)

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A. TYPES OF VENDORS

1. Contracted Vendors

A contracted vendor is any vendor who has a contract to vend at the Wolfville Farmers' Market for 5 months (defined as 20 weeks) or longer.

2. Casual Vendors

A casual vendor is any vendor who is vending for fewer than 5 months and is not on contract.

B. VENDOR APPLICATION PROCESS

1. Contracted Vendors

Read and understand the Policies and Regulations Document in its entirety.
Fill in the Annual Vendor Admin Form which will register your interest in attending the market
The Market Manager will be in touch within two weeks to inform you of space availability for the period and day requested.
If there is room for your product at the Market on a contracted basis; the Market Manager will meet with you to discuss the contract and to get the contract and the Policy and Regulations Document signed.

2. Casual Vendors

Read and understand the Policies and Regulations Document in its entirety.
Fill in the Annual Vendor Admin Form which will register your interest in attending the market as a Casual Vendor.
The Market Manager will be in touch within two weeks to inform you of whether or not you have been accepted as a Casual Vendor.
If there is room for you as a Casual Vendor then you will need to sign this Policy and Regulations Document.
As a Casual Vendor you are requested to email the Market Manager no earlier than one week in advance of the week you wish to attend. The Market Manager will inform you that your request has been received within a day; and when there is a space, you will be informed by email.

3. New Vendors

There are caps in each product category so there must be an opening in the new applicant's product category. For example, because the cap on Wineries is 6, there can be no more than 6 wineries on any given Market day.
Preference is given to primary producers (for whom we have room because of product caps), and where applicable to secondary producers who use Market ingredients in their production, and then those who use local ingredients in their production.

C. ATTENDANCE

1. Owner Attendance

A worker owner must be in attendance at the market 50% of the time if they are selling at both WFM markets per week, and 75% of the time if they are selling at only one WFM market per week.
A worker owner may send a family member and/or staff to represent them at the WFM market if a principle owner is at another Nova Scotia farmers’ market on the same day.
At shared booths, a worker owner must be present 100% of the time and each vendor must be present an equal amount of the time.

2. Cancellations

There are 3 different cancellation mechanisms and requirements, based on a vendor’s level of commitment to market:

Casual vendors with no contract
Contracted vendors with no semi-permanent display
Contracted vendors with a semi-permanent display

Casual vendors with no contract

Vendors who have been assigned a vending space for a given market day have until noon two days prior to market day (ie. Monday noon for Wednesday market, Thursday noon for Saturday market) to notify the Market Manager that they will not be able to attend the market.
If this proper notice is given, vendors will not be required to pay for their space.
If this notice is not given, vendors will be required to pay for their space even if they do not attend the market.

Contracted vendors with no semi-permanent display

Vendors on contract who do not have a semi-permanent display are expected to be at the market every market day as outlined in their contract.
However, as long as all product, signage, and display materials are removed from the market after each market day, vendors may give the Market Manager two days notice prior to market day (ie. Monday noon for Wednesday market, Thursday noon for Saturday market) and be entitled to miss a market day without paying for their space.
If this proper notice is not given, vendors will be required to pay for their space even if they do not attend the market.
The maximum number of days that a vendor on contract without a semi-permanent display may miss without paying for their space (even when proper notice is given) is 25% of their contracted market days.
The Vendor shall not sub-rent the table/location.
If any vendor needs to withdraw from their contract for personal reasons a letter must be received by the President of the Wolfville Farmers’ Market Cooperative in order to have their contract request considered by the Board.

Contracted vendors with a semi-permanent display

Vendors on contract with a semi-permanent display are expected to be at the market every market day as outlined in their contract.
Vendors wishing to miss a market day without paying for their space may do so if they give the Market Manager a minimum of two week’s notice to find a replacement. If this space cannot be filled the vendor must still pay for the space.
Vendors must also remove all product, displays, and signage from their booth in order to waive the requirement to pay for each week they are under contract.
Vendors who need to miss a day at market, but do not want to remove their displays and/or product, may do so if their booth remains attractively draped during their absence. In this case, vendors will be required to pay for their space even if they are not in attendance.
The maximum number of market days that a vendor can book off throughout the duration of their contract is 10% of their contracted market days, regardless of whether or not they have paid for their space during their absence.
The Vendor shall not sub-rent the table/location.
If any vendor needs to withdraw from their contract for personal reasons a letter must be received by the President of the Wolfville Farmers’ Market Cooperative in order to have their contract request considered by the Board.

3. Opening and Closing Hours

All vendors are expected to adhere to opening and closing hours (8:30am – 1pm on Saturdays; 4pm – 7pm on Wednesdays) and will attempt to bring an appropriate amount of product.
In order to ensure the integrity and professionalism of the market during its open hours, vendors who are not set-up by opening hours or leave early (without notice to the Manager for special reasons) more than once per season will receive a $10 fine.
Even if vendors have sold out of their product, they are to remain at the market until closing. An exception to this rule is inclement weather that impacts travel time.
This policy is designed to help ensure that the market does not face the negative impact of vendors setting up or leaving during market hours, and unsightly gaps in the market created when vendors are not in-place during market hours.
The Manager will give a verbal notice the first time and a fine the second time.

4. Shared Stalls

Vendors may share stalls under the following conditions:

Vendors have followed the Annual Vendor Application Process and been approved to attend the market.
Up to two vendors can share a booth, and up to two booths can be shared together (ie. a maximum of four vendors with two booths).
Shared booths and booth pairs may be staffed by a minimum of one vendor per market day and a maximum of two vendors at any single booth.
Existing Members and vendors may share a booth. New vendors would need to go through the same Vendor Application Process as any other new vendor and be admitted to market before being permitted to share a booth.
There will be an additional fee for the second vendor per shared booth.

PRODUCTS

Percentages in this Section: The Market hasn't the capacity to police these percentages. They are guides. 75% essentially means “the vast majority” and 5% means “a very slim amount”. The purpose behind allowing products, not of your production at the Market is to ensure variety at the Market, and especially help the Market in the off-season have variety of produce. The intent is also that vendors would form partnerships and sell products from farmers and food producers whom they know well, and whose farming and production practices they are willing to put their own guarantee on.

1. Own Production

100% of all product sold by non-food vendors will be of their own production
75% of all product gross sales by food vendors will be of the vendor’s own production
From July-Sept 95% of produce sold at the Market will be of the vendors own production.

2. Other Production

From July to September up to 5% of produce may be of someone else's production. And over the course of the year, up to 25% of a food producer’s gross sales may be of someone else’s production, under these conditions:

It must be an agricultural or food product grown or produced in NS
It must be specifically approved by the Market Manager through an application process to ensure that the product fills a gap in the offerings being made at the market.
Vendors will be required to fill in and post signage each market day to show the source/origin of each product not of their own production.

3. Imported Products

Up to 5 % of gross sales can be imported secondary production product that compliments your product line (ex. spices, tea, imported cheese) and for which there is not another locally sourced product. Very few products will meet this criteria and it will be tightly monitored. Any imported product must be specifically approved by the Market Manager through an application process.

3. Primary and Secondary Producers

All vendors must be primary or secondary producers or offer a service appropriate to the vision of the market.

Primary Producer: A producer that grows or harvests raw materials for direct sale or manufacture into secondary products. A minimum of 60% of products sold or product ingredients must be grown or gathered by the producer, in order to be considered a Primary Producer.
Secondary Producer: A producer that purchases raw materials for local manufacture into secondary products. Secondary production does not include re-packing or re-labelling of product. Further processing and skill must be applied to a product to consider it secondary production.
Example: A craftsperson would be a primary producer if they grow or harvest 60% of their own production material, or a secondary producer is they grow or harvest less than 60% of their own production material.
Example: A cheese producer would be considered a primary producer if they produce their own milk, or a secondary producer if they purchase the milk for cheese production.

4. On-Site Inspections

The market reserves the right to do farm or site inspections of any product and/or process, for the purposes of product or process verification, to ensure products sold at the WFM are in accordance with the WFM policies.

5. Other Product Regulations

Vendors are required to have all licences and permits that are available for their products on site.
Valid Food Establishment Permits are to be displayed.
Any activity that constitutes a criminal offence is prohibited. Nothing shall be permitted to be done or displayed at the table/location which is contrary to the Criminal Code (Canada), or any provincial or municipal act, by-law or regulation.
All Vendors will comply with 'copyright legislation', and further shall not copy or infringe on the original work of another who is an artist, author, crafter, etc. unless specific written consent is given by the creator or owner of such work.
All food vendors and the people serving the food are required to provide the Market Manager with a copy of their up-to-date Food Hygiene Course Certificate.
Misrepresentation: Vendors may not misrepresent their products or production processes (ie. where and how they are grown, harvested, prepared, or created).
Only Certified Organic growers may use the word 'organic' in promotion of their products through signage, labels and verbal communications.
Accreditation: Services may not be promoted or sold without displaying proof of accreditation from an accrediting body, where applicable.

E. BOOTHS

1. Booth Size

The maximum allowable square foot per vendor is 100 square feet.
Contracted vendors may book more than one stall (to a maximum of an additional 100 square feet) dependent on and in the following order:

2. Booth Allocation

Historical vendor locations will be respected, but the Manager reserves the right to move vendors for operational reasons.
The Manager will fill spaces that come available using the following criteria, and in this order:

3. Booth Parameters

Each booth address has its own booth dimensions and parameters to be followed according to individual contracts.
Vendors are not to exceed the boundaries of their allotted space. This includes their products, their infrastructure, their signage and themselves.
Children are welcome but should not infringe on other vendors or customers.
Vendors are not to bring pets to the market.

4. Booth Safety and Cleanliness

All stalls are to be clean and safe for customers.
Only CSA and fire safety approved appliances may be installed at the market.
All appliances are to be plugged in directly to outlets.
All extension chords are to be CSA approved with breaker ; all chords are to have the correct gauge for the appliance being used.
All vendors are responsible for cleaning their own area in and adjacent to their booth and leaving it clean, sanitary, and tidy after each market using LEED standard cleaning materials and practices.
Each vendor is required to dispose of all garbage in the appropriate receptacles provided by the Market.
In the event the Vendor leaves the table/location in an untidy condition, the Vendor may be assessed a $25 cleaning fee.
All vendors with semi-permanent displays may leave their booth and/or product in their space between market days, provided that their booths and product are clean and attractively draped after each market. This is so that we do not attract rodents and to prevent displays being left open or exposed if a vendor cannot make it to the next market due to an emergency.
No cooking where there is grease laden vapours of any kind is permitted in the Wolfville Farmers' Market facility
Pets are not permitted in the building of the Wolfville Farmers' Market.

F. DISPLAYS

1. Set-Up and Tear-Down Options

Contracted vendors who attend both WFM markets and are positioned in the Mercantile Area may set-up semi-permanent displays which they can leave up throughout the week.
Vendors, contracted or not, who attend one WFM market per week or are positioned in the assembly area, are required to setup and tear down each time they attend.
Contracted Vendors in the Mercantile area of the Market who attend the Saturday Market only, may, on a seniority basis, and as space permits, leave rollable large equipment or furniture at the Market to be stored in one assigned area of the Market, for a cost. To do this, these vendors would need to:
arrive by 7am to move their equipment/furniture out of the assigned storage space, which will also be a vendor space on Saturday for another vendor.
put their furniture/equipment, in the assigned storage space at the end of the Saturday Market Day after the vendor who uses this space is packed up.
Market will reserve the right to require all vendors, including those with semi-permanent displays, to take down their booths and/or displays as required by the market.
Vendor in the Mercantile area of the Market and attending both the mid-week market and the Saturday Market may have a semi-permanent displays or tables. These displays are called semi-permanent because they must be moveable for the occasional use of the Mercantile area for other rental income.
On these occasions when the Market may use the Mercantile area for rental income, the Market will give Vendors a minimum of one month notice and the Vendor will be responsible for moving their own display.

2. Display Materials

Vendors are responsible for supplying their own display materials.
Vendors cannot penetrate the floor of the market with any fastening devises without the express permission of the Landlord.
Vendors setting up outside the market building are responsible for providing their own shelter.
All booths and their displays infrastructure will be inspected by the Building and Fire Inspector and vendors will comply with their requirements.

3. Signage

Each Vendor must display their name or the name of their farm or business.
All signage must stay within the parameters of the booth. If signage is overhead, it must be hung 2 feet back from the frontage, so as not to block other vendors.
Vendors are required to display prices for all products by way of a price list or individually priced items.
Food vendors must display signage that clearly lists products not their own production, indicating who the grower/producer is and where the grower is based.

G. CONFLICT RESOLTUTION

The first point of contact for any conflict arising between vendor(s) and the market, or vendor to vendor (providing the issue is related to the Farmers’ Market), is the Market Manager. The Manager will offer a resolution. If the issue is not satisfactorily resolved, the vendor or the Manager can present the issue to the President for a decision. If vendors have an issue with the Manager they are welcome to raise this first with the Manager or the President. If needed, the Board would make the final decision on the issue.

H. SAFETY

In the event of a FIRE or EMERGENCY, the following regulations are in effect:

The Vendor must observe and obey the Fire Alarm regulations.
The function must be shut down.
The Wolfville Farmers’ Market facility must be evacuated.
The Wolfville Farmers’ Market facility must not be re-entered until it has been deemed safe to do so by the Wolfville Fire Service.

I. PARKING

Vendors are able to load and unload at both main entrances and then may park in the parking lot on the West End of the Market, the Public Works Parking lot and the Festival Theatre Parking lot, but not the Curling Club Parking Lot. $25 fines and the chance of getting towed by the Curling Club is the consequence of parking in the Curling Club Parking Lot.

J. SENIORITY

Members will be allocated 2 seniority points for every paid Market day and contracted vendors will be allocated 1 seniority point for every paid Market day. Seniority will be calculated every year, after the financial year-end is complete and posted at the AGM.

All decisions of the assigned Market Manager are final on market day.

By signing here, I indicate that I have read and understood this document.

____________________________________________________ ______________________________

Signature Date

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MAY 2012

POLICIES AND REGULATIONS for WFM Vendors

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