Vendor Registration Terms
The Powell River Farmers' Market is composed exclusively of vendors who grow, make, bake, raise or wild harvest the products they sell. All products must be locally made and approved by the Market Committee. No more than 5% of our total vendors can come from outside the qathet Regional District or City of Powell River. We are required by the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets (BCAFM) to have +51% of our vendors be farmers, bakers, and prepared food vendors.
All products sold must be approved and meet the following standards. If additional products are added throughout the season they must first be approved via email. A minimum of 2 weeks notice is suggested to ensure a timely review.
Free of Cultural Appropriation: the use of a people’s traditional dress, music, cuisine, art, knowledge and other aspects of their culture, without their approval, by members of a different culture.
Grown or made in Powell River & qathet Regional District by vendor (no resale or repackaging of items).
Produce must be grown without herbicides, pesticides or chemicals. Labels may NOT contain the word “organic” unless certification papers are displayed at the booth.
Baked goods must be made from scratch.
Original art and hand‐made items by local artists.
No reproduction of copyrighted images or products.
No use of Generative AI (a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text, images, code, and music, by learning from existing data) in the creation or assistance to your creation process.
A level of artistic talent must be evident beyond assembling basic or pre-made items.
Value-added products that are created, sewn, constructed or otherwise fashioned from component materials in a way that makes the item unique bearing a significant difference from it’s starting state. An artist may sell reproductions of their own original creation.
All items will be juried
Prepared food items must meet Vancouver Coastal Health's (VCH) “Temporary Food Market Guidelines”.
Hardcopy or email copy acceptable:Please use the Temporary Event and Food Market Interactive Tool to find the correct document for your prepared food. (To start, answer Yes to Public Function, then Choose Temporary Food Market, continue with selections as they apply to you). Download the form, fill it out and submit it to the market (powellriverfarmersmarket@gmail.com) when your registration is under review.
List of low-risk foods can be submitted directly to the market for approval.
Proof of FoodSafe Level 1 completion for at least one onsite person preparing/handling food or drinks.
Soap & Cosmetics
Soap and Cosmetics should be registered on a Cosmetic Notification Form. This includes any substance or mixture of substances, manufactured, sold or represented for use in cleansing, improving or altering the complexion, skin, hair or teeth and includes deodorants and perfumes.
1. FEES & FINES
FARMERS MARKET VENDORS
Annual membership fees must be paid on the first day of market sales when the 10% of daily sales fee is paid at the end of the market day. The Powell River Farmers' Market operates as a committee under the Powell River Farmers' Agricultural Institute.
SCHEDULE OF FINES
Fines will be charged when any policies are not followed by the vendor and a written notice is provided, by either a ticket or email. One late cancellation per year is permitted at no charge. To emphasize the importance of following the rules, the fine schedule will only be used as a deterrent to breaking the rules. The vendor will be required to pay the fine in cash at the market (on the day of infraction) or by e-transfer no later than the Tuesday following the weekend the infraction occurred. Failure to pay on time may jeopardize future attendance and booth assignment.
FALL FAIR VENDORS
Nonprofits providing information only and not selling a product, can make a donation to the Powell River Farmers' Agricultural Institute in lieu of recurring fees as this is an annual fundraiser (exempt from raffle ticket sales). If you're a non-profit selling a product the Recurring Fees would apply.
2. INSURANCE
The Powell River Farmers’ Market carries mandatory liability insurance. This insurance only covers the public in the event of an accident on the grounds not relating to a specific vendor. Individual vendor liability insurance is recommended (especially if you sell any type of food product). Shorter term insurance is also available. Insurance may be purchased through the BC Association of Farmers Markets if your market business does not have other liability insurance. The Powell River Farmers' Market's liability insurance does not cover individual vendors or their products.
3. BOOTHS
Priority for booths is given to farmers and ready-to-eat food vendors. Booth assignments will be done one week before the season-opening or the evening before the market during the season.
Only farmers may add one table in front of their booth and only after approval is given. No other items should be set out in front of booths (i.e. signs, racks etc.)
Although many vendors have preferred booths that will attempt to be accommodated, there is no guarantee from year to year that the same booth space will be assigned.
Vendors may bring their own tent and table. Tents must be secured with weights. Recommend 20 lbs. weight per tent leg. Tent locations will be assigned by the vendor coordinator.
No car traffic permitted through the center walkway of booths (1-32) once tables have started to be set up or within an hour of the market opening.
4. FARMERS MARKET VENDOR TIMETABLES
FALL FAIR VENDOR TIMETABLES
* Vendor Cut‐off: Booths will only be held until Vendor Cut‐off.
6. ACCEPTABLE CUSTOMER PAYMENTS
Please familiarize yourself with the acceptable forms of payment we have at the market. It is our intention to never lose a sale, we have several options in place to help vendors who only deal in cash.
MARKET MONEY
Customers without cash can buy Market Money with debit or credit from the INFO Booth. Market Money can be accepted in place of cash by all vendors. $2 wooden tokens and $10 cards are available. Vendors will cash in all their market money at the end of every market. For payouts larger than $100 an e-transfer will be issued the following business day.
NUTRITION COUPONS
Nutrition Coupons are single-use $3 coupons and can only be accepted by participating farmers for participating products: unprocessed fruit, vegetables, nuts, honey, eggs, food-producing plants & meats only. (Ready-to-eat or prepared foods are not covered in this program)
Farmers: only accept current year Nutrition Coupons, the market will not pay out on expired coupons.
Coupons totaling over $100 will be paid by e-transfer the following business day.
Coupons cannot be accepted from other vendors without an accompanying letter of exception from the Farmers’ Market, these are one-use coupons only.
Participating vendors must have all their Nutrition Coupon paperwork in place before accepting coupons.
7. CODE OF CONDUCT
Respectful behaviour is expected towards other vendors, committee members, market staff, volunteers, and customers. Please report any inappropriate behaviour to the vendor coordinator or manager immediately. Vendors are not required to address or handle any confrontations or escalations with each other or the public.
The vendor coordinator must be notified by phone/text (604-414-3327) at least 48 hours in advance of an absence. All vendors will be listed on the Powell River Farmers’ Market Vendor List as “in attendance” if the coordinator is not otherwise notified. One exception per vendor per year is allowed.
The Market runs rain or shine, vendors agree to participate regardless of weather conditions. If your sales/products are weather dependent please notify the coordinator at the start of your season.
Sales begin only after the opening bell sounds with the exception of ready-to-eat food and beverage vendors who may sell single serving on-site consumables anytime.
Vendors may buy early. Please go to the back of the booth you wish to purchase from and be patient and respectful of vendors setting up. If you access the front of the booth you must wait in the line like a regular customer, purchasing only after the bell rings.
All products should be labeled and clearly priced.
Please take away your own garbage. The garbage cans provided are for customer use only.
Absolutely no dumping of any food products, garden waste or compost on the grounds.
No sales of bottled drinks (water, pop, juice etc) allowed except for Fall Fair. Vendor bottled, VCH approved drinks are ok.
No smoking or vaping is permitted on or near the market grounds, we operate within a Regional Park. Smokers must go to Myrtle Avenue or McLeod Road to smoke. Cigarette butts should be disposed of responsibly and not littered.
Dogs and other pets are NOT allowed on the market grounds between Vendor Cut‐off and Car traffic permitted hours (except for service dogs). If you bring a pet with you please ensure they have water and stay securely inside your vehicle until the market is over. There are plenty of shady parking spots available even during the heat of the summer. Check with the vendor coordinator if needed.
Please use only reusable, recyclable or biodegradable containers. No Styrofoam, compostable plastic, compostable corn-based plastic cutlery permitted. During the summer months we have a large selection of dishware available and a hired dishwasher.
Our community does not yet have a commercial composting facility to accommodate compostable plastic‐looking containers or corn‐based plastic cutlery so for now, these items go to landfills.
Vendors are required to attend at least one work party or complete one volunteer task per season. Physical strength or endurance is not needed for all tasks and tasks are available throughout the year. If you are unable to attend you can choose to pay the $10 volunteer exception fee, all these funds will go to support the volunteers at the work parties.
If any questions have arisen please contact. powellriverfarmersmarket@gmail.com during the registration process.
Please follow us on social media so we can tag/share/like/comment on each other's posts.
Facebook: powellriverfarmersmarket
Instagram: @powellriverfarmersmarket
Twitter/X: @prfarmersmarket
If you agree to uphold these terms and conditions during the season, please proceed to the registration. Once you have completed your registration, please allow up to 10 business days (2 weeks) for your application review to be completed. A copy of all the aforementioned information will be emailed to you during the approval process.
** Please note ** Vendor registration will be asking for a vendor bio and a few pictures of yourself, your product and your display. Please prepare these items beforehand to help streamline your application.
New and renewing vendors can
If you agree to uphold these terms and conditions during the season, please proceed to the registration. Once you have completed your registration, please allow up to 10 business days (2 weeks) for your application review to be completed. A copy of all the aforementioned information will be emailed to you during the approval process.
** Please note ** Vendor registration will be asking for a vendor bio and a few pictures of yourself, your product and your display. Please prepare these items beforehand to help streamline your application.
New and renewing vendors can
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