Food vendors park up in the city
Food vendors set up shop and placed their chocks yesterday as the Esk St Food Village opened for a two-year stint.
Food vans will be along Esk St, Invercargill, for about two years while the CBD block is demolished and redeveloped.
The vans would operate on weekdays and vendors had the option of weekends.
Souper Natural owners Cameron and Lauren Richardson started their business for the village, but also began doing deliveries about three weeks ago.
Lauren is a dietician and Cameron said their mission was to create food that was healthy, delicious and affordable. Soup was how they planned to do it.
‘‘It’s really exciting – something my wife and I have been dreaming about,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a crazy time to start a business. At the same time, food brings people together.’’
The idea of packing a lunch had been lost and the business aimed to fill that role with healthy food, Cameron said.
People had been ordering soups for their staffrooms.
‘‘We’re hoping other people will benefit from us being here.’’
The reception on the first day of the food village had been good;
Souper Natural sold about 30 litres of soup and delivery customers had come to say hello, he said.
His personal favourite soup? Creamy chicken. Cameron said the secret ingredient was chipotle.
Amy Hibbs, a public relations manager for the CBD block’s developer, Invercargill Central Ltd, said the food offerings would bring people to the central city.
As well as Souper Natural, there are four other vans: Cooking Keto,
Koha Kai, Lee’s Food Truck and Stellar Kai.
‘‘We are hoping the Esk St Food Village encourages more people to come to the CBD and all businesses in the area will benefit from the extra foot traffic.’’
Invercargill Central Ltd had established the food village as it was a resource consent requirement to bring vibrancy and activity to the area for the duration of the development, she said.