Most food producers sell in several places at once: a little in the farm shop, a little at the market, maybe to a restaurant and a store. Spreading out is wise. But it's easy to keep going with a channel out of habit, even when it barely pays. This section helps you understand the channels, see the differences between them – and prioritise the ones that fit you. The numbers come in the next step.
Think in channels, not just products
A sales channel is simply a road from you to the customer. There are more roads than most people think – and their terms differ completely. The big dividing line: do you meet the customer, or does someone else do it for you?
Click through the channels below and compare: what each one gives, what it demands – and the three things that differ most between channels: when you get paid, what margin you keep and who does the marketing.
You meet the customer yourself
Someone else meets the customer
Farm shop & farm sales
The channel where you own everything: the price, the meeting and the story. The customer buys an experience – not just the goods. Important enough to have its own section (step 6).
What speaks for it
- Best margin of all channels
- Direct contact – you hear what customers think
- Perfect test bed for new products
- Paid instantly – good for liquidity
What it costs
- Takes your time – someone has to be there
- Visitor flow follows the season
- All marketing is your own: the sign, Google, social media
Three of the channels get their own sections further on: the farm shop (step 6), selling to restaurants and stores (step 5) and the sales conversation that opens the door to companies and restaurateurs (step 4). The channel map (Channel Mapper) in the downloads gives you a visual overview to draw on when you have the discussion.
Four questions to ask about every channel
When you weigh a channel, look at four things:
- Logistics and liquidity – How do you get paid, and when? How do you solve delivery?
- Service and range – What does the customer expect? What demands are placed on you?
- Brand and market – How are you seen there? Does the channel strengthen your name or hide you away?
- Knowledge, time and energy – What does the channel cost you in work and stamina – not just in kronor?
A channel that looks profitable on paper can still be wrong for you if it drains your time. And vice versa.
Prioritise by your strengths
Choosing channels is a team decision – do it as a workshop at the kitchen table, ideally with outside help if needed. That way the assumptions are more honest and you don't get stuck.
- Draw your channel map. Mark where you sell today and which channels exist around you. Talk them through one at a time – what does it give, what does it demand?
- Weigh against your strengths. Different channels suit different people. If you're at your best meeting customers, you'll thrive in the own channels – the market, the farm shop. If you're strong on order and delivery, you can handle the demands of stores, wholesale and public kitchens. If you're the ones who push on and build relationships, restaurants and corporate customers are your home ground. (If you did the Mirror in Team & family, you already know where your drives lie.)
- Choose one main channel and one growth channel. The main channel is the one you run best today – it gets your best effort. The growth channel is the one you test during the year. Write down why you chose them – and which channels you actively opt out of. Fewer channels, well run, beat many half-run.
What the research says
- Direct sales usually give the best margin – but require more time and your own logistics.
- The farmer's share of the food krona varies widely (between roughly 11% and 48%) depending on product and channel.
- Your own working time is almost always underestimated. Count it, or you're fooling yourself.
- Consumers value locally produced – but logistics, time and energy are the big obstacles.
If you want to dig deeper, the reports are in the Deep dive folder (Matkronan, the economics of small-scale growing, the Competition Authority report and Matrapporten 2025).
Your first steps
Draw the channel map together and prioritise: one main channel, one growth channel, using the four questions and your strengths as the scales. That's enough to move on.
Next step: set your price – and when you want to see in black and white what each channel actually gives, there's the deep dive Run the numbers on your channels with the Excel tool.