Another event in the bag, this time one within walking distance of the smokehouse! Crawley Down Village Fayre was held this weekend (Saturday 5th September) and Sussex Smokehouse was delighted to be one of the vendors selling at the event, which was blessed with glorious sunshine and good attendance.
As my pitch was maybe 200 metres from my front door, I thought I’d be able to wheel and carry my whole pitch in a couple of trips. That turned out to be massively overoptimistic, as I am in my forties, work in an office during the week and could do with being a bit more active in what free time is available to me. I got the gazebo to the pitch location, then the weights for said gazebo, then put everything else in the car and drove it there, as I was already a sweaty mess and it was only 10am.
Once the car was unloaded and returned to the house, my little girl joined me to finish setting up and we were ready to sell the smokehouse to our local community when the fayre officially opened.
It was a completely different experience from the market. Not surprising- this was a completely different event. Instead of gyros, gin distilleries, organic lemonade, vintage clothing, cakes and other handmade goodies, there were fairground rides, toy sellers, scouts cooking burgers and a cordoned-off area for displays and demonstrations, such as a tug-of-war, a fab dance show (featuring my talented daughter), local firefighters burning stuff and a chilli eating contest.
We quickly made friends with our neighbour; the fantastic John’s Jams of Caterham. John is proper old school so you won’t find him online, other than his food hygiene rating, but you will see him at events and markets across the southeast. He makes delicious jams and is a lovely fella. Seek him out. The folk on our other side were not so friendly- each to their own and all that- I just struggle to understand why a simple ‘hello’ or ‘good morning’ is too much for some people. I mean… I don’t bite…
The fayre visitors that were kind enough to stop by our stall were positive and supportive and generally delightful (although, I’m very confused as to why you would approach a stand promoting a smokehouse that sells smoked food products and accept free samples of said smoked food products to eat, if you do not enjoy the taste and flavour of smoked foods- but I have been known to overthink things…). I had a lot of really positive conversations, caught up with some pals and made a decent amount of sales.
My meaty cashews were as popular as ever (seriously- why haven’t YOU tried them yet?) and I very nearly sold out of all the smoked seasonings I brought with me. The smoked rapeseed oil was a non-starter again. Next event that might have a bakery stall, I’m taking a plate and a knife then buying some posh bread and letting folk dip to sample it.
Surprisingly, the majority of the smoked novelty items (pretzels, Wotsits and Mini Cheddars) were not as popular as I expected them to be. At our first ever event, the smoked pretzels I brought with me on a whim was our biggest seller, so I made the assumption they would be popular again. Nope. Although, the people who like them really like them. I’m looking at what I’d need to do to add them to the official product line. Watch this space.
The only item we sold out of completely was a small batch of roasted and salted giant corn I smoked for an entry in our ‘But Does It Smoke Good?’ series. Spoilers, I guess…
There is a decent amount of smoked English mustard powder floating around the village now- I’m looking forward to getting some feedback on that too.
In the age of social media and digital marketing, it can be surprisingly difficult to actually promote a new business to the area in which it is based. Local groups on sites like Facebook and NextDoor can be great, but you have to circumnavigate the tyrants who moderate them and that can be exhausting.
Posting has its place, and it’s fun to tap out a little piece of writing like this to please the algorithm gods, but nothing beats getting in front of people, letting them try what you make, having an honest discussion about what you’re doing and your plans for the future. There appears to be a consensus that having a diverse range of artisans, as well as trades, in the village is beneficial to all. I’m delighted that’s the case.
Looking forward to attending more local events.
