Farms, farmer markets booming as supermarket prices rise

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

MILLIS - Sweating under the beaming midday sun, Father Jack Mandile, 82, and his 80-year-old sister, Geri Robson, recently plucked hundreds of juicy blueberries from the bushes in the vast fields here at Tangerini's Spring Street Farms.

For the elderly siblings, the blueberry binge meant big savings. They paid just $20 for more than 10 pounds of berries - plenty for Robson's pies and muffins, and enough leftovers to freeze and last through the winter. Around the corner from the farm at a Roche Bros. supermarket, blueberries were going for $4.99 per pint.

"We're good pickers, and it's a good savings," said Mandile, standing proudly by his bags filled with perfect berries. Consumers young and old are taking to the fields this summer, picking their own produce for less money and visiting local farmers markets and stands as a way to avoid soaring grocery prices and address concerns about recent food scares.

Across the country, many farmers are seeing an uptick in business; here in Massachusetts some are reporting a more than 25 percent increase in sales, though there are no official industry surveys. Local farmers are finally able to compete on cost, and even offer lower prices in some cases, than area supermarkets confronting huge increases in shipping costs to haul produce from California and beyond, according to Jeff Cole, executive director of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets.

"We've seen a noticeable increase in sales," said Laura Tangerini, of Tangerini Spring Street Farms, who said traffic has doubled on weekdays this summer. "We've also had an increase in fuel costs for our tractors. But the average distance my crops travel is about 100 feet, not 1,500 miles."

With skyrocketing fuel costs and food price inflation at 6 percent, many consumers are rethinking how and where they shop for food. About 20 percent of shoppers are switching their allegiances to find better deals in the current economic environment, including trading down to value-oriented stores like Wal-Mart and buying less expensive versions of the products on their shopping lists, according to a recent report by market research firm TNS Retail Forward. Some consumers are willing to make longer trips to discount supermarkets or pick-your-own farms - even if it means using more gas - because of the savings on food.

"It's so expensive, it's depressing to go grocery shopping," said Kristen Sopko, 37, of Waltham. "You have to spend such a premium at the grocery stores. So why not pick my own produce for the same or less money and get better quality and fruit that doesn't rot two days later."

Over the past several months, Sopko has cut back the number of trips she makes to supermarkets and shortened her grocery list. Instead, she heads with her 3-year-old daughter to several farms, including Parlee Farms in Tyngsborough where she spends about $15 a week picking her own her blueberries, peaches, and strawberries.

Business has been so good at Parlee Farms this summer that it has not run its typical weekly advertisements, according to Ellen Parlee, and she hopes traffic stays strong through the fall with apple season.

"We're getting a lot of return business and new traffic, even with customers consolidating trips because of concerns over gas prices," Parlee said.

At the Bowdoin Square Farmers Market in Dorchester, shoppers pounced on deals last week like 50 cent cucumbers (75 cents at a nearby Shaw's supermarket) and tomatoes for $1.50 a pound ($2.49 a pound at Shaw's). It's the first year for the Bowdoin Square Farmers Market, but locals typically line up a half hour before the market opens to get first pick of the produce.

Meanwhile, grocery stores are suffering from the change in consumers' shopping habits. Earlier this summer, supermarket chains including Hannaford Bros., Food Lion, and Safeway lowered their earnings outlooks because of higher energy costs and consumer cutbacks. Even Whole Foods, nicknamed "whole paycheck" by some shoppers because of its high prices, has rolled out a "Real Deal" campaign to offer consumers money-saving tips and host weekly value-shopping tours which feature employees showing customers how to shop economically.

Shaw's spokeswoman Judy Chong said, "We provide our customers with great overall value. It's a combination of convenience, selection, service, freshness, the in-store experience, and price. What we've done consistently is to provide more ways for customers to save with competitive everyday prices, weekly specials, temporary price reductions, and money-saving coupons, along with extra savings for shoppers with reward cards."

Still, Chong acknowledges that supermarkets are feeling the pressure from rising fuel and gas prices as well as increased costs for many commodities, including corn, which is used as feed for animals and is a basic ingredient in numerous products.

Scott J. Soares, assistant commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, said the salmonella scares this summer have helped drive more shoppers to farmers markets where they can know how and where their produce is grown. But the fuel costs have really helped make a difference, he added.

"The shelf life and freshness of local products have always made it a deal even if the local produce has been a little more expensive in previous years," Soares said. "But what we're seeing this year is that the increased fuel costs for supermarkets have been the great equalizer and made local produce even more popular."

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.