Until the mid-1800s, farmers primarily brought their goods into cities and towns for direct sale to the public. While farmer s markets still exist, and are gaining in popularity, most people get their groceries from supermarkets. There are a number of people, beside the farmer, involved with getting agricultural products to the store shelf for you to purchase. These people, called middlemen, consist of processors, distributors and retailers. Processors change or process raw goods, such as grapes, and create a new product, like grape jelly or grape juice.
Processors package and sell their products, mostly to distributors.
Distributors buy and store large quantities of processed products. They also buy produce or other goods directly from farmers, and then supply all of these products to retailers. Retailers buy products from distributors. They also can buy directly from farmers or from processors. In the end retailers sell products to consumers like you and your family.