MarketMaker Year in Review - 2020 - 2

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W
...elcome to another issue of the
...MarketMaker Year in Review, this one
covering 2020. As the year of Covid-19,
2020 disrupted all parts of our lives. In the food and
agriculture sector, we saw a disconnect in the food
supply chain, with food shortages happening at the
same time that farmers were plowing under produce
because their normal market outlets were no longer
available. It became a cause for introspection: How
can we avoid this kind of disruption in the future?
We at MarketMaker also felt the impact of Covid-19.
As food supply chains scrambled to recalibrate,
information platforms such as ours became the
go-to solution. Within weeks of the onset of the
pandemic, product searches on MarketMaker sites
increased nearly threefold.
This unexpected spike in traffic affirmed the
role we can play to help build more robust and
more agile food systems. It also challenged us
to be responsive to the urgent needs of our
community of users. We brought new members
onto our team and invested more resources
in modernizing our technology. Developing
innovative new models and expanding our
network of partners has in turn helped us better
connect with the farms and businesses we are
committed to serve. The result is a much-improved
MarketMaker, one that also boasts a whole new look.
We are excited to introduce you here to all that is
new with MarketMaker.
We are optimistic that the worst of the pandemic
will soon be behind us, but we also firmly believe the
paradigm has shifted in how we do business in food
and agriculture. Technology was a lifeline during the
IN REVIEW
Covid-19 pandemic, and as a result farmers and foodrelated
businesses have become accustomed to new
online solutions that will carry over even as we move
back to " normal. " There are real opportunities for
growth in the coming years, and our efforts in 2020
have readied us for those opportunities. We extend a
special thanks to all of our partners, who have played
a vital role in our successes.
BY THE NUMBERS
66 web-based domains feature
MarketMaker farmers, farmers markets,
and food-related business profiles
268 ads posted in the Buy/Sell Forum,
with almost 8,000 views
3,557 product searches per week conducted
with the AgMRC Food Searchers Tool (up 14%)
4,421 average profile views per week
34%)
29,620 registered farms and
businesses (up 21%)
38,734 profiles
represented
(up
2 MARKETMAKER | 2020 IN REVIEW
MarketMaker Year in Review - 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MarketMaker Year in Review - 2020
