The State Street Farmer’s Market has been a star staple in Carlsbad for over a decade, attracting tourists and locals alike every Wednesday. From fresh flowers to artisanal pasta, authentic French pastries to cured garden herbs, the stalls that bring in market-goers offer something for quite literally everyone. However, this accomplished market might have met its match with a virus that the world is all too familiar with: COVID-19.
Junior at Sage Creek High School, Luke Norton talked excitedly about his experience at the market for all ages as an avid member of the Wednesday market community with a love for all things natural.
“My family tries to go to the market to get our groceries for the week every Wednesday. It’s such a cool experience to see all of these different products coming together,” Norton said.
Though Carlsbad’s beloved market is a popular commodity, the local businesses that make up the heart of the merchandise have gone through ups and downs living in a post-COVID world.
Shmackin Noodles is a San Diego-based vegan mac and cheese vendor that is a newcomer to the Wednesday farmers market. Owner and entrepreneur Adina Sofizada discussed her company’s experience involving the maintenance of a business after a global pandemic.
“Since we started toward the end of Covid, things were already somewhat back to normal, but living in a post inflation world is what has made small businesses struggle these days,” said Sofizada.
According to Sofizada, the government restaurant suppliers, vendor fees and even kitchen rentals have increased by a minimum of 30 percent since she began designing her business strategy in 2021.
“When a vendorship opportunity charges $200 or more for a vendor fee, factoring in food and parking costs, I have to sell for 2-3 hours just to cover what I lost,” Sofizada said.
These statistics make it impossible for a small business to stay afloat in a society riddled with inflation, let alone the stalls that only sell every Wednesday, some of which is their only income.
Carlsbad Farmers Market program manager Chris Cochran discusses how his market specifically has changed through pre and post-COVID years.
“Almost one third of the businesses that we rent stalls to have unfortunately gone out of business from 2020 [when Covid started] and today; there’s definitely a lot of fluctuation.” Cochran said.
Aside from the downs that the pandemic has caused for local businesses in Carlsbad, there’s also some surprising silver linings that changed the lives of employees.
J Organic Farm, or Rodriguez Family Farm to locals, is a San Diego-based sustainable growery that supplies fresh produce to the Carlsbad market as well as buyers individually.
“We’ve had the Rodrigez family selling at Wednesday market for about a decade. They are the heart of what we stand for,” Cochran said.
Vanessa Varela, J Organic Farm’s third-generation part-time owner discusses how the impact COVID-19 has brought upon her family.
“Because we are a farm the pandemic didn’t affect us negatively, but helped us succeed. With groceries shutting down we grew with an influx of buyers switching to sustainable farming,” Varela said.
The Rodriguezes weren’t the only ones in this boat, with dozens of other farms booming. Consumers began to migrate to a more reliable produce source than the grocery stores that didn’t provide through COVID.
“I know of about 10 other farms nearby that boomed due to the pandemic, some were struggling when the pandemic came around and changed the farming industry forever,” Varela Said.
Now, more than ever, small businesses need your support to thrive. All in all, COVID has led beloved markets and locally grown products on a bumpy, winding road, but it’s the heart of those businesses that will persevere.
