Locals return as markets reopen
Many food markets have reopened under level 2, but some customers still have weeks to wait, writes Emily Brookes.
It was ‘‘like a whole heap of puppies had been let out of a kennel’’ in the Waikato last weekend as customers turned out for the first produce and food markets in eight weeks. ‘‘It was very exciting to be back, and for the customers too,’’ said Ian Kerr, AKA The Lettuce Man, who was back selling his wares at Saturday’s Cambridge and Sunday’s markets in Hamilton.
The customers were like puppies who had ‘‘been cooped up,’’ eager to get out and support local producers.
Business was better than he expected it to be, he says, although he still only had about half the revenue of a normal market day, and most of the customers were loyal regulars.
It was a similar story at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market, says Mark Taylor of Bay Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.
Being back was an ‘‘unreal feeling. It was good to get out and catch up with our customers face to face. All our regulars were there."’’
But it was ‘‘very quiet’’ on Sunday, something he puts down to the lack of tourists to the region.
While stallholders may have to wait years for international tourism to return to normal, Taylor hopes to start seeing Kiwi out-of-towners back at the market soon.
That level of revenue would be ‘‘still survivable’’ for Taylor, who typically did about 60 per cent of his turnover at the market and the other 40 through a farm shop.
He has managed to keep afloat during levels 4 and 3 through online sales, but says those had died off as soon as retail reopened.
‘‘We were really targeting locals who now want to get out and do their shopping,’’ he says.
Also getting creative with online sales was Anna Campbell of Wellington-based business The Oatery, a granola and porridge purveyor, who estimated she did about 80 per cent of her turnover at the Harbourside Market next to Te Papa.
She’s hoping her online sales remain popular for a while longer as Harbourside is unlikely to open until we hit level 1.
After being given special dispensation to run under level 2 the weekend before New Zealand went into lockdown, the market – which might typically attract 15,000 people on a busy day – was not seeking the same this time.
‘‘We’re looking at the next advice from the Government and how long we might be in level 2,’’ says Fraser Ebbett, manager of waterfront operations for the Wellington City Council.
‘‘If it’s another week or two weeks we’re looking at riding it out until level 1, but if they’re looking at keeping these conditions for some time, looking at
Plan B and reopening it would be a different sort of scenario.’’
Wellington was generally bereft of markets during the first weekend of level 2.
Shunila Hamilton, director of the Victoria St Market and Riverbank Market in Lower Hutt, said those markets were unlikely to reopen until level 0.
With the markets held in public parking lots with multiple entry points and customer numbers in the thousands, contact tracing and people flow was too difficult to manage, she says.
The Thorndon Farmers’ Market was also closed last weekend, but plans to reopen this Saturday.
Most farmers’ markets (which don’t include markets such as Harbourside or Victoria St that have third-party purveyors) reopened last weekend or would do so next, said Farmers Markets New Zealand chairman Jono Walker.
‘‘Some wanted another week to plan and get everything ready, and were afraid there might be a bit of a frenzy’’ last weekend.
Where markets were open, a lot of work had been done behind the scenes to allow them to operate under level 2 regulations.
Fleur Foreman, site manager for the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, says entry points at Claudelands Park had been reduced from six to one, organisers had put arrows on the floor to ensure a one-way flow of traffic, and a dedicated toilet cleaner had been brought in for the duration of the market.
On a typical summer day, the market would see a couple of hundred people at any one time, she says, while last weekend visitors were only coming in at a rate of 30 to 45 at a time.
At the Christchurch Farmers’ Market, customers had to queue to get in so that social distancing guidelines could be enforced, but ‘‘they didn’t seem to mind’’, says Michelle Devereaux, whose stall, Saveur de Sel, sells blended sea salts.
‘‘It was nice to see so many lovely, smiling faces. It was just a really great day.’’
Foreman thought that as Kiwis became more comfortable with life at level 2, numbers would increase.
‘‘At these times the benefit of coming directly to producers is [that] very low numbers have touched the food, the producer is standing right there so they’re able to tell you about when it was picked,’’ Foreman says.
The farmers’ market model also ‘‘stops people rummaging through’’ the produce.
Customers were also keen to get out and support local, Kerr says.
‘‘It’s important to locals, for the social aspect as well,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s their market.’’