MARKETING STRATEGIES AT FARMERS' MARKETS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OF FISH

The popularity of farmers' markets in recent years is increasing. For small farmers, who are currently under the pressure of multinational food companies, farmers' markets are a so-called Short Supply Chain, which allows for the sale of goods without a middleman. Although the fish consumption increased by 6.3 percent to 5.4 kg per person, it is only a seasonal increase, which is due to the tradition of buying carp on Christmas. Farmers' markets provide direct contact with the customer and allow for sales outside the Christmas holidays. As indicated by previous research, farmers' markets are places where there is direct contact with the customer and the seller gains the ability to communicate and to capture changing customer preferences in purchase behaviour. This is potentially a very interesting channel of sales that, with the right marketing strategy, can allow producers (sellers) to increase sales directly to customers.