Businesses prepare for ‘early’ Covid winter

Businesses in Marlborough are bracing themselves for an ‘‘early winter’’ as they prepare for less trading due to Covid-19.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a temporary ban on cruise ships entering New Zealand on March 14.

Norimaki by Noodle Corner owner Udomsak Juchange said the early end to the cruise ship season would affect his business in Picton.

Juchange also owns Noodle Corner in Blenheim. While most of his produce was sourced locally, his rice was sourced from overseas and was getting ‘‘harder and harder to get’’.

‘‘People are panicking and buying all of our rice, and it’s getting hard to get,’’ Juchange said.

He said the pruning season, which generally started in May, was the busiest trading time for his Blenheim business, while his Picton business was closed for winter from the middle of May.

‘‘For pruning, a lot of people come from Asian countries and they like to get food from us.’’

Gusto cafe owner Gareth Mcglynn, in Picton, said given the seriousness of coronavirus, the abrupt end to the cruise ship season ‘‘wasn’t the worst’’.

‘‘It is worth it to regulate the risk,’’ he said. ‘‘While we’re not overly busy in winter, tourists do still travel through, so there is a lot of uncertainty there.’’

Key parties in Marlborough discussed ways to support local businesses last Friday.

Kaiko¯ura MP Stuart Smith, who instigated the meetings, said they discussed the best ways Marlborough businesses could be supported, and suggested something similar to the package developed after the Kaiko¯ ura earthquakes.

‘‘It gets money to the businesses so they can keep the jobs open, keep the businesses viable so that when the crisis passes, they’re able to just get up and running very quickly,’’ he said.

The Vines Village co-owner Jeff Fulton said they were nervous.

‘‘We have a large local following but we also get a lot of visitors so we are bracing ourselves for a downturn,’’ Fulton said.

‘‘So I guess it’s an early winter. Everything is really uncertain, we operate in a circular economy and support from patrons means everything to us.’’

The Vines Village was due to help host the Whitehaven Graperide on March 28. However, the Graperide had been postponed to February 27, 2021.

‘‘Who knows what the future will hold,’’ Fulton said.

‘‘While there are no cases in Marlborough I think we should obviously take precautions, but also not panic. It’s important to support local.’’

Fairweathers owner Warren Croft said they were busy with catering for the wine industry.

‘‘We’re quietly confident, at least for now that we will get through,’’ Croft said. ‘‘There’s a lot of people relying on tourism, whereas we aren’t as such, we’re reliant on the local customers at this time of year.

‘‘We’re trying to do as much as we can to alleviate the situation – but a lot of it is just about waiting and seeing.’’

Wairau River Wines general manager Lindsay Parkinson said they were making decisions about the trading of their cellar door and restaurant ‘‘day by day’’.

‘‘We have taken extra precautions, such as taking away the spittoons,’’ Parkinson said.

‘‘The one benefit for the cellar doors is having the cruise ships not come in, it’s something we don’t have to worry about. But there’s still lots of tourists that are on holiday, so tourism is still happening, so it is something we have to be careful about, being in harvest.’’