Frequently Asked Questions

BUMPER CROP FOR ALL

Who can buy Bumper Crop gift certificates?

Everyone! Anyone can purchase MFFM’s $5 vouchers good for any of Maine’s participating farmers’ markets. Buy as few or as many as you like!

Who can use Bumper Crop gift certificates?

Everyone! Anyone with a gift certificate can redeem it at any participating market.

Some fun ideas on how to use Bumper Crop gift certificates:

Keep some gift certificates on hand for guests and visitors
Give them out at your wedding, event or party
Leave them for AirBnB guests to use
Buy a bunch as stocking stuffers for the holidays
Save some for yourself as a reminder to hit your favorite farmers’ market or explore a new one

Why buy Bumper Crop gift certificates?

To encourage your friends and family to eat local and have fun, while also supporting farms and farmers’ markets that strengthen the local economy.

What does it cost?

Whatever you want! You choose how many $5 gift certificates to buy. If you purchase gift certificates online, there is a flat $5 service fee added to your order to cover postage and printing costs. There are no other additional program costs. And you can always buy more!

ABOUT THE WORKPLACE WELLNESS PROGRAM

Why should my company participate in Bumper Crop?

Bumper Crop helps you treat your employees well while supporting farms and farmers’ markets that strengthen the local economy, all with one low-cost voucher.

You only pay for the value of the vouchers that are spent (redeemed) on food with farmers. We (MFFM) act as the intermediary to make participating in Bumper Crop as simple and streamlined as possible for all parties.

What should I tell my employees about Bumper Crop?

MFFM makes it easy to share this program with your employees by handling the communications! We have rack cards that help introduce the program, and we’ll follow-up with newsletters to keep your community informed about farmers’ markets.

Beyond that, you can simply tell your employees that you’re giving them vouchers to spend at farmers’ markets in Maine. When they shop, they’ll access good local food and getting to know their local markets. They’ll also be supporting their local farmers, who will benefit from new customers and increased sales.

And MFFM will help you promote the program to your employees by providing you with:

Printed vouchers
Promotional materials
End-of-season surveys for employees
Logistical support
Billing support

What does it cost?

Employers pay only for the value of the vouchers that are redeemed; you will not be charged the value for any vouchers that are distributed but are not redeemed.

Service fees: employers are also asked to pay for the printing costs incurred for the vouchers (approximately .06c to .12c per voucher, depending on size of order).

We ask that you also pay a voluntary 5% service fee to MFFM on total vouchers redeemed to help us cover the costs of this program. However, that fee is completely optional. We will work with you either way.

How does billing work?

The vouchers from your company have a unique alphanumeric code. Markets track which vouchers they’ve received so that MFFM knows the billing amount.

MFFM can accommodate whatever billing/payment schedule fits your need.

Orders over $5,000 in vouchers require a small advance payment so that we can keep markets fully reimbursed. For smaller orders, we tend to invoice employers once or twice towards the end of the season, but again, we are glad to work with your budgetary schedule.

Where do vouchers come from?

The vouchers are printed by a Maine printing house that will ship directly to your office.

If your company has in-house printing capabilities and would rather print its own vouchers, we are glad to discuss that option.

How many vouchers do we get?

You choose! MFFM can help you determine your level of participation based on your budget.

What value do the vouchers have?

The vouchers come in $5 denominations, have no cash value, and are only valid at farmers’ markets.

Where can the vouchers be spent?

Vouchers can only be spent at farmers’ markets, given directly to farmers and food producers.

If you prefer, we can print vouchers that are good for only fruit and vegetables. However, most employers distribute vouchers good for all food items, so employees can use them for eggs, meat, dairy, bread and more!

Eligible markets will be listed on the back of the voucher. MFFM will help employees know in advance where and how to spend them.

Do the vouchers expire?

Yes. Your company decides on an expiration date.

Are the vouchers only redeemable for fruits and vegetables?

That’s up to you to decide. We have special vouchers that say “Fruit & Vegetables ONLY” if that’s what you’d prefer. Or you can make the vouchers redeemable with any farmers’ market vendor. Either way, it’s an honor system, as the vendors will be too busy to enforce restrictions.

Which farmers’ markets are participating?

Click here to see our full list of 50+ participating markets. The vouchers are valid at all of them.

If your company is based in a specific location, we will list the closest markets on your vouchers. If there’s a market local to you that you do not see on our list, please let us know. We’d welcome the opportunity to bring them on board!

What’s the timeline for participating?

Summer is the most robust farmers’ market season. However, some farmers’ markets run year-round, and there are usually 15-20 winter farmers’ markets across the state. Vouchers can be distributed and used at any time.

How does my company get started?

Simply email us at [email protected]. Once we’ve familiarized you with the Wellness Program and answered any questions you might have, we’ll have you fill out an enrollment form. Once enrolled, we can usually have vouchers to you within 2-3 week’s time.