{"doi":"10.5304/jafscd.2024.141.003","title":"Exploring barriers and facilitators to direct-to-retail sales channels: Farmers’ perspectives on wholesaling produce to small food retailers in Charles County, Maryland","abstract":"In 2020, a mobile application (app) was developed to connect small food retailers with local pro­ducers, recognizing the underutilization of direct-to-retail sales channels. Before piloting the app, formative research was conducted in Charles County, Maryland, to gain an understanding of existing direct-to-retail sales channels for locally grown produce. Seven stores were surveyed to explore current local produce stocking, and four farmers participated in in-depth interviews to pro­vide insights into their experiences with direct-to-retail marketing channels. The results indicate a limited stocking of local produce in the small food stores, some of which was self-procured to obtain adequate quantities. Farmers expressed a passion for contributing to food security in their commu­nity and a willingness to collaborate with store owners to strengthen their direct sales; however, they cited barriers such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, competition with large distributors, and logistical challenges. Considering these existing barriers and facilitators, small food stores may still possess a unique potential to establish direct sale relationships with local farms. Such relationships could be effectively facilitated through the implementation of a digital strategy.","journal":"Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development","year":2024,"id":469681,"datarank":0.20794415416798362,"base_score":1.3862943611198906,"endowment":1.3862943611198906,"self_citation_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":3,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9439,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":954198,"name":"Emma Lewis","orcid":"0000-0001-7360-396X","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":770279,"name":"Lisa Poirier","orcid":"0000-0003-4180-0357","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1301619,"name":"Stacey Williamson","orcid":"0009-0007-6681-8349","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1301618,"name":"Yutong Xie","orcid":"0000-0003-3861-6778","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1303756,"name":"Alexis Lightner","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":434404,"name":"Joel Gittelsohn","orcid":"0000-0003-2761-3280","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1303328,"name":"Audrey Thomas","orcid":"0009-0000-5972-305X","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":36,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:05:32.241298Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}