ROADSIDE MARKETING 



William J. Lord 

 Deparment of Plant and Soil Sciences 



The following excerpts were taken from an article in the Hoosier 

 Horticulture Newsletter prepared by Jerome Hull, Jr. , Extension Pomol- 

 ogist, Purdue University, It discussed some of the proceedings of the 

 4th annual Ohio Roadside Marketing Conference of November 22, 1963. I 

 believe many readers will find the information about the Oak Glen mar- 

 keting program, pick-your-own method of selling, the case study of the 

 Lynd roadside market and the information on cider interesting and useful. 



"The keynote speaker at the Roadside Marketing Conference was Mr. 

 Wilson Parker from Yucaipa, California. He has developed an outstanding 

 market at his orchard located about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. Mr„ 

 Parker's ranch is the largest of 14 ranches growing fruit in the Yucaipa- 

 Oak Glen area. These orchardists retail nearly all their production 

 (amounting to approximately $1,000,000 annually) directly to the consumer. 



Mr. Parker reported the Oak Glen apple area is approximately 6 to 8 

 miles in length and elevated, rugged territory. It is an extremely scenic 

 area and thus many potential customers combine a tour of this scenic 

 area with a visit to the roadside fruit markets. Parker revealed they 

 started in their marketing enterprise by exhibiting their fruit at fairs 

 one year, winning $8,000 to $9,000 in one year which was then used to 

 start the Oak Glen marketing program. Their promotion now attracts approx- 

 imately 500,000 customers into this scenic area each year. Parker's mar- 

 ket now attracts so many customers that he carries one half million dol- 

 lars liability insurance and must fence much of his ranch to prevent 

 customers from stealing fruit from the orchard. He also hires a detec- 

 tive to prevent shoplifting in the market. 



The Oak Glen Association consists of 12 apple growers who hire a 

 publicity man to write press releases about their scenic area and its 

 local apple markets and distribute these to newspaper editors. Parker 

 indicated their biggest break in advertising came from tie-in advertis- 

 ing with automobiles I Automobile editors, anxious for a fresh and dif- 

 ferent approach to introduce new car models, agreed to use apple harvest 

 scenes for background and were very successful. This has also helped 

 promote their area's scenery. Ford showed a 1/2 hour colored TV travel- 

 ogue of the Oak Glen area. (You cannot buy this kind of promotion.) As 

 a result of all this promotion. Oak Glen, considered a relatively wild 

 area 15 years ago, is considered one of the most promising areas in the 

 country today. 



The scenic aspect of the area and the promotion by the fruit grow- 

 ei's has tremendous appeal. Parker reports newspapers now write and re- 

 quest to be placed on the Association's mailing list to receive their 

 press releases. 



The Oak Glen Association finances itself through a 1^'^ per box assess- 

 I ment obtaining $3000 from the growers and $500 from three local restau- 

 rants also benefiting profitably by the many hungry people visiting the 

 area. The Association spends its $3500 budget as follows: 



