Tauranga Farmers Market

WORDS LIZ FRENCH | IMAGES ALEX SPODYNEIKO

“Like all Kiwi primary producers, our people are a really resilient bunch,” says Market Manager Trixie Allen. “It’s been great to see how they all did their best to help each other with distribution and communication.” Getting fresh vegetables was one of the first things on most people’s minds when lockdown was announced (after wondering how to cope without the daily cafe caffeine fix!). We needn’t have worried. The Farmers Market stall holders swung into action, introducing or ramping up their online ordering and delivery services. For many it was more than a service; it was a means of survival. “It was a total scramble with sleepless nights to get everything up and going online,” reports Tony Cato of Pirongia based Catos. “When your income gets wiped overnight you have to make swift changes to survive.” The upside for Catos was the connection with locals and the feedback from customers enjoying fresh, spray free produce full of flavour. Catos extended their deliveries to Tauranga under level 3, a long drive from Pirongia but worth it. “The Bay of Plenty had been so welcoming to us. I wanted to show appreciation and support in return.” The Covid-19 experience reinforced the

value of the online business and Catos will continue deliveries locally. Six Toed Fox Organics is another market stalwart who proved they could adapt rapidly to change and think ahead. At the last market before lockdown they offered a discount code for free delivery of online orders. The resulting volume of business had their mixed vegetable boxes in such high demand they could not fill custom orders. As Frank at Six Toed Fox acknowledges, “It got our juices flowing and proved we could innovate and adapt quickly to a changing market.” It seems many market customers enjoyed the delivery service so much they will continue using it. Silvio of Abundant Backyard proved the epitome of his mantra, “People Care, Earth Care, Fair Share,” by offering to add other smaller growers like Billy’s Mushrooms to his website for online offerings. He quickly put systems in place and increased deliveries from once a week to twice.

For some stall holders, lockdown was the catalyst to work on their business, not in it. Milly’s Fine Foods created a website and were gratified by the number of orders received. The enforced quieter period also gave them a chance to get production of preserves, pickles and condiments up to date. Matt from The Muesli Company says that while they lost the bulk of their business during lockdown it gave them a chance to experiment with new recipes and to work on the move to environmentally friendly packaging. Mount Eliza Cheese adapted to the new normal by

pre-packaging more of their cheeses. They are not sure they can anticipate a return to the more sensory way of selling cheese, by cutting if off a big block in front of the customer. While they had been making some sales by email, the establishment of online sales through their website opened a new national market to them. Pets had to be fed too, and as a result Raw Pawz saw a huge jump in online sales of their natural raw meat products, making them much busier than usual at a time when staff could not come into work.

Lockdown brought out the best in both producers and purchasers. Nicki from Nicki’s Eggs added other products (including oil from Katikati Frantoio) to her delivery van, putting a note in egg cartons as to what was available through her. Deliveries increased so dramatically she got a “clucky” horn to sound as she came into the streets. “Not only did my customers emerge but others would also pop out for a chat.” Nicki’s eggs were also available from Vetro and she notes with appreciation that the Summit BP Service Station was, and still is, selling them for her without any mark up. Nothing went to waste. Catos took excess produce to the food banks. The kind folk at Te Teko Veges filled their trailer with produce they could not sell, drove around their neighbourhood and gave it away.

Tauranga Primary School, Fifth Ave, Tauranga | www.tgafarmersmarket.org.nz