Davis Farmers Market offered free gift baskets with three or more items purchased
From Dec. 1 to 22, the Davis Farmers Market offered shoppers free wrapped gift baskets when they purchased any three items from a wide range of vendors throughout the market. Maggie Dorsey, the office manager of the Davis Farmers Market, stood at the center of the information booth, distributing holiday cheer.
“It’s wonderful because we get to encourage people to visit all of our vendors stalls,” Dorsey said. “Then, if they buy three or more items, they can come back and we can make a nice super easy gift-giving process. They’ll get to chose anyone of our decorative baskets and then we package it nicely. It makes it super easy to just give a gift and they’re wonderful unique items that they can use.”
This festive holiday packing was made as a way for the market to boost customers into the market, as well as give the Davis community a chance to experience the wonders of the city’s fresh produce and support local farmers. Katie Demers, the manager of Heringer Estates Vineyard and Winery and a vendor at the Farmers Market, took advantage of the holidays to sell festive gift boxes.
“We do gift baskets all year round,” Demers said. “Usually, we’ll include something that you can bake, so you can share it with friends and family. Sharing the wine and sharing the goods provided in those gift baskets are really important to us. As a family-owned and run business, it’s really important to keep that tight knit closeness.”
This tradition started several years ago. Some of the most popular items were jars of fruit, including blueberry and honey. Chocolates, popcorn and various fruits were also popular gifts with which people filled their bags. Others bought handcrafted sculptures or picture frames and other work of art. Elizabeth Rosner, a sales marketing manager of one of the market’s many booths, expressed her adoration of the festivities surrounding the market place.
“I think it’s a good collaboration for all of us in the community, especially the vendors who come,” Rosner said. “Today seems to be a very festive day. Earlier we had women come through dressed up in holiday attire. [It was] very Christmasy-like, and a very gay and happy [fashion].”
Tomas Palpallatoc, a first year sociology major at UCSB was the recipient of one of these baskets.
“It was very nicely made,” Palpallatoc said. “It captured the essence of Christmas, and had all my favorite foods in it. My favorite was the chocolate. [It was] a nice gift from my friends in Davis. It really showed the hard work of the community. ”
Written by: John Regidor — city@theaggie.org
