Dramatic drop for dairies
Without the usual rush of school students, life is getting tougher for Mt Victoria Food Market owners Manish and Manisha Patel.
Manish Patel said custom had dropped about 40 per cent since the lockdown started on March 26, with about 120 customers walking through the door on an average day compared with about 200 previously.
There had been no change in customer numbers since New Zealand moved to alert level three on Tuesday, he said.
‘‘We’re not very busy, but steady. We used to sell more drinks and lollies but now we’re selling more breads and milks.’’
Food purchase costs had also increased because the Patels avoided long queues at supermarkets and bought goods from specialty stores instead.
The ‘‘one in, one out’’ policy had potentially deterred some people from visiting dairies, he said.
‘‘They’re not used to waiting. They come here to quick buy.’’
Daksha Patel, from Mitesh Food Market, said custom had dropped from alert level four to alert level three, but overall numbers had remained similar.
Milk Bar dairy owner Jarnail Singh said his Havelock North business had been hit hard because of the pandemic, with an initial rush on the return to level three followed by a lull over the next few days.
‘‘It was hard to get supply of the household stuff – butter, bread, flour, the sort of thing we don’t usually have, but which people wanted,’’ Singh said.
‘‘It’s been hard to keep customers happy, but we tried our best.’’
Dairies were not allowed to sell food prepared on-site during alert level four, which was a significant blow for the Milk Bar, Singh said.
After an increase in business on Tuesday, the first day of level three, things had since quietened down.
‘‘There was a big rush on hot chips and chicken that first day of level three, but yesterday [Saturday], I didn’t sell a single piece of chicken.
‘‘I did sell 45 milkshakes though.’’