Market Wagon is an online ordering and delivery service for ordering produce, meat, dairy, and prepared foods from local farmers and artisan food producers. It was founded in Indianapolis in 2016 and as of 2021 had multiple delivery hubs throughout the midwest and Tennessee.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food delivery, Grocery, E-commerce, Farmers Market |
| Founded | 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Founder | Nick Carter, Dan Brunner |
Area served | Midwest, South |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 30 |
| Website | marketwagon |
History
editThe company was founded in 2016 as FarmersMarket.com to deliver products from local food producers in Indianapolis to local residences and businesses.[1] In 2017 it acquired an Evansville, Indiana business with a similar business model and rebranded as Market Wagon.[1][2]
As of March 2017 they had 100 customers, all in the Central Indiana counties surrounding Indianapolis.[3] By April 2018 they had expanded to cover Northwest Indiana and Southwest Indiana.[4][5] By October 2018 the company had opened a fifth hub, the first outside Indiana, in Southwest Ohio serving Cincinnati and Dayton and the surrounding counties.[6][7][8] At that time 23 farmers and artisan producers in Southwest Ohio had signed on.[9] By March 2020 it was operating in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio.[10][11] During the coronavirus pandemic the app helped farmers navigate disrupted demand for their products.[12] By early 2021 it was operating in fourteen states including Tennessee and Georgia.[12][13]
Business model
editThe business model revolves around an online ordering platform which allows customers to shop, order, and pay ahead of time for later delivery and charges a fee for each delivery.[9][14] Deliveries are grouped into batches and delivered in insulated totes with cold packs on specified days each week to a given area.[9][14][15] Totes and cold packs are exchanged at the next delivery.[15] Alternatively customers can pick up from central delivery hubs and pay no delivery fee.[3] Market Wagon collects a portion of the purchase price from orders.[15] According to baker Debra Liston, "Since [customers] order, I know exactly what to make and I sell it, where like at a farmers market, I might show up with 20 loaves of bread and sell seven and then I’ve got 13 loaves of bread to deal with. That’s what makes [Market Wagon] super-attractive.”[9]
Coronavirus pandemic
editSmall farmers in Ohio credited their survival of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns of 2020 to their use of the service.[16]
References
edit- ^ a b "Indiana Originals: Leading Local Living". Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Market Wagon helps producers expand sales". The Herald-Tribune. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ a b Singleton Craig, Charity (15 March 2017). "The Farmers Market Goes Online". Edible Indy. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Market Wagon Opens Local Food Delivery Hub In Fort Wayne". Fort Wayne & NE Indiana News. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Farm-to-Table delivery service opens hub in La Porte". TheNewsDispatch.com. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Caproni, Erin (8 March 2019). "Online farmers market, delivery service launches in Cincinnati". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Market Wagon delivers farmers market products to your home". WHIO. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Market Wagon". Fox19.com. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ a b c d Schwartzberg, Eric (12 October 2018). "Farmers markets go online — and deliver to your door". journal-news. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "MarketWagon". National Young Farmers Coalition. 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Market Wagon for the win". The Blade. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
- ^ a b "App helps farmers get their fresh products in more people's hands". wbir.com. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ Henry, Sierra (30 April 2021). "Market Wagon creates new type of farmers market". pantagraph.com. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
- ^ a b "Market Wagon". Edible Indy. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ a b c Miller, Susan (2017). "The Farmers Market meets the Internet". hamiltoncountybusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Bruck, Taylor (28 December 2021). "Local farms credit online farmers market service for surviving pandemic". Spectrum News. Retrieved 2021-12-29.