Fearful dairy owners ready to shut door, walk away

A Christchurch dairy owner has confirmed he will shut his shop’s doors and move back to India, regardless of whether his business sells, following Wednesday night’s killing of a dairy worker in Auckland.

Two other dairy owners also want to quit, but can’t due to lease restrictions and a struggling market.

Dairies have been one of many targets by offenders throughout most of 2022. Yesterday, the industry hit breaking point when news broke a newly married dairy worker had been killed during an aggravated robbery.

When South Brighton owner Mukesh Patel learned of the homicide he made his mind up then and there.

The owner plans to shut his dairy’s doors for good in March next year and move back to India.

“I don’t care whether or not my business sells, I’ve had enough. My work is not more important than my life,” he said.

Mukesh had already warned his daughter and son-in-law on multiple occasions to not “waste time” and also sell their dairy.

Three of Patel’s friends, all Christchurch business owners, have left New Zealand for Australia.

He said the reason they left was due to feeling unsafe.

“If there’s no support from Government then it’s just not worth it,” he said. “I’ve had enough now.”

Patel has owned his South Brighton dairy for 19 years. He planned to retire in two years once he’s eligible for the pension, but will speed the process up due to living in fear “24/7”.

While he’s managed to avoid any incidents so far, Patel said is not waiting for his dairy to be targeted.

“Why am I going to stay in fear for the last two years? It’s just too risky to wait it out and, if something happened, my retirement money goes,” he said. “I’m closing just after six [each night], I just don’t want to go through the hassle.”

Thirteen kilometres away in south Christchurch’s Sydenham, another dairy owner wants out after being hit five times in one week by different groups of offenders.

Stephen, the shop’s owner, said he had to endure his store’s windows being broken, stock being stolen and heavy financial losses last month when the incidents hit over a short time span.

With his family struggling with mental wellbeing, Stephen doesn’t feel comfortable working in the industry and wants to sell his shop. But he’s stuck in a lease. “I’m trying to leave, I want to sell but nobody will take [the shop]. It’s [been] enough for us, it’s dangerous at the moment but we have a lease. You need to remember that. We can’t go, but if there was no lease we’d be gone now.”

Another dairy owner in New Brighton agreed the sale process for dairies has grown next to impossible.

It is especially difficult given the industry’s uncertainty with the Smokefree 2025 proposal, which would see restrictions on where cigarettes can be sold and creating a licensing regime.

Sunny Kaushal has been the country’s advocate against dairy and convenience store crime on behalf of the Dairy and Business Owner’s Association. A statement from Kaushal expressed dissatisfaction with the Government’s action on crime policies, calling the country “lawless”. He said the death of the dairy worker was “inevitable and sadly predictable”. — NZ Herald