Farmers Market Sales and Event Associate for Ronnie's Giardiniera™ (Seattle)
Job Description:
First things first: If you don’t know what giardiniera is or what we do, I’ll tell you – Ronnie's Giardiniera (jar-din-air-uh) is a Chicago style condiment with a kick. It’s made of fresh cut, never frozen, non-GMO peppers, vegetables and spices in extra virgin olive oil. It’s the missing condiment and is the new go-to for everything from cheeseburgers to pizza, pasta to eggs, tacos, salmon, avocado & toast or even salads. Try it on sourdough, bagels, or dip into it with tortilla chips… It’s truly limitless.
Based in Ballard, Ronnie's Giardiniera™ is seeking a super friendly, reliable, and fun person to join our team as a Farmers Market Sales and Event Associate. This position involves setting up, selling, and taking down our booth at local farmers markets and various events in the Seattle area, rain or shine. You will need to work independently as you will be the only person loading in, setting up, selling and loading out. As the face of Ronnie's Giardiniera™, you’ll spend time engaging with our customers and fans and help spread the word about Ronnie's Giardiniera™. We pay $21/hour. Each market or event is about 8 hours from load in at the warehouse in Fremont to load out at the warehouse. This position is for our Seattle markets and events. Markets and events right now are in Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, Downtown, University District, Greenwood-Phinney, Edmonds, and Shoreline. In the future there will be North Seattle, South Sound and Eastside positions available.
Responsibilities:
- Market Setup & Takedown: Arrive at our small storage warehouse in Fremont two hours before market opening. Unlock the roll up door by yourself and load up the market tables, displays and stock. Drive to market and set up the booth, tables, tents, arrange products for display, get the POS up and running, serve samples and sell Ronnie's Giardiniera™. Take down the booth and pack items securely at the end of each market day. Bring everything back to the warehouse, load out and lock the roll up door when you are done.
- Sales & Customer Service: Engage customers in a friendly manner, educate them about Ronnie's Giardiniera™, offer samples (where allowed), answer questions and complete sales transactions. There is potential for inside/outside sales if you are interested, ambitious and would like to grow with the company – we need partners to get Ronnie's Giardiniera™ into more stores and in front of chefs and kitchens. You can always help us in finding other markets and events in the area that would be a good fit for Ronnie's Giardiniera™.
- Inventory Management: Keep track of products, ensuring adequate stock throughout the day, and report inventory levels to management. This is typically done automatically with our POS, but in case of any issues you may need to do a manual count.
- Booth Maintenance: Keep the booth tidy and appealing, with special attention to product organization and cleanliness, regardless of weather conditions.
- Weather Preparedness: Work in various outdoor weather conditions (rain or shine) and ensure products are protected from elements as needed. There will be windy and cold days.
- Transportation: Transport all necessary products and display materials to and from the warehouse and market location.
Requirements:
- During winter 2024 this might be a part-time or full-time job, depending on which markets we are selling in. During the spring, summer and fall of 2025 this will be 40 hours a week – typically Wednesday to Sunday. If the 2024 winter is slow we can discuss other options to create a full-time position for the right candidate. Moving forward into 2025, this will be a full-time job. We will consider part-time or fill in work for the right person.
- Must be physically able to lift and carry items (up to 50 pounds) and work outdoors rain or shine. It is rarely needed to lift 50 pounds – most boxes are 10-20 pounds.
- You must be cautious as all of our stock is in glass jars.
- Reliable transportation to various market locations. There will possibly be a company car for these markets in 2025, but for now you will need your own vehicle large enough to fit the market setup. In the past we have use a Volvo XC 90 and a Kia Soul – so our market gear is pretty compact.
- Valid driver’s license with no DUI’s.
- Auto insurance.
- Strong communication and customer service skills. A high level, positive and joyful personality is key to this position.
- Flexibility with schedules, including weekends and early mornings. This is a must – almost all of our markets and events are Wednesday through Sunday. Sunday is the biggest day and you will need to pick up in Fremont as early as 7am, so assume you will be needing to get up Sunday at 6am. Sundays are our most popular markets and we have multiple markets on this day with multiple people working in different parts of town.
- Previous sales or farmers market experience preferred but not required.
- You cannot consume alcohol before or during these markets and events.
- You will need your Washington State Food Worker Card. If you do not already have one, we will pay for you to take the class online to get it.
Benefits:
- We pay $21/hour plus mileage. You will be W2 payroll, not 1099 independent.
- You can have 2 (two) 9 (nine) ounce jars of our Ronnie's Giardiniera™ to keep for yourself or trade for other items at markets or events. The retail value of this is $32 per market or event.
- Opportunity to grow with a local, up-and-coming brand.
- Potential for additional hours and opportunities as the we grow. We are expanding and need partners to get Ronnie's Giardiniera™ into more stores and in front of chefs and kitchens.
- We will promote from within the company. The hope is that you will put some time in at the markets and then move into other roles as they open within the company.
So, if you're passionate about local gourmet food, enjoy engaging with people, and are ready to be a key part of bringing Ronnie's Giardiniera™ to our community, we’d love to hear from you!
- Thanks for reading
Why Only 4 Stars, Not 5?
On theChicagoflag, the four red stars stand for certain historical locations or events that took place inThe Second City. The first star is forFort Dearborn, the second represents theGreat Chicago Fire, the third and fourth represent the world fairs that took place in Chicago; theWorld's Columbian Expositionin 1893 andA Century Of Progress Expositionin 1933-1934.