Farmers' Markets on Country Calender 17/7

Well presented piece on Farmers' Markets on last night's Country Calender (available here ) with some very current views regarding the huge gap between supermarket prices and grower returns.

Also a link to a related website on the future of direct grower marketing via the link at the bottom of this page

I loved it! It is exactly the way I am thinking! I loved to see the growers taking initiative instead of shrugging their shoulder and saying you can't do anything about it.

I wish we had more people like these.

Cheers

Peter

It was great! You don't see people clammering to get to the supermarket at 6.30am

It explained precisely why we got out of commercial horticulture last year.

PeterNZ;325381 wrote: I loved it! It is exactly the way I am thinking! I loved to see the growers taking initiative instead of shrugging their shoulder and saying you can't do anything about it.

I wish we had more people like these.

We just watched it as well, and the Whangarei market sounds excellent, with large numbers of growers supporting it, and the aim of keeping prices well below the supermarkets.

If we had a market like that nearer to us, we would support it.

However, we didn't have such a positive experience with the Kerikeri Farmers' Market. The organisers have taken it "upmarket" with an emphasis on Organics and many of the prices ended up being more than what you would pay at a supermarket, unless you are somebody who insists on buying only organic produce. If you were to buy organic produce only, maybe there would be a small saving, but if you are looking to buy locally-grown produce at a reasonable price, you will go away empty-handed from the Kerikeri Farmers' Market. Added to that was the small size of the market, meaning that the selection was quite limited and therefore not worth the 80km return trip, added to the $13 in Fullers' Ferry Tickets.

It's a pity, because we would like to support local growers, as opposed to the Supermarket "Fat Cats".

Maybe this has been amended now, but a few years back, a grower friend of my brother, was trying to get a good market for his produce and went to Turners auctions. He found he had to sign an agreement to supply a certain quota of his produce. Under the terms of his contract, he found that if he failed to meet his quota, Turners had the right to seize his land to meet the shortfall. Needless to say, he decided against selling that way. His wife got active and took produce to either the Otara markets, or by hawking, or from his home base and he also got some good contracts supplying restaurants.

I can see why a ground swell of opposition to supermarket distribution, caused growers to form a farmers market and good on them. Why should the supermarkets make all the money for very little labour when the grower has done all that work for a pittance. We need a whole lot more farmers markets through out the country, and the law makers in this country need to stop meddling with SMP's and other restrictive "nanny state" practises and let hard working honest people get on with earning a living which should be their right.

It would appear from GrantK's post that the Keri Keri Farmers' Market has lost touch with its consumer base. No fear, supply and demand will no doubt rectify the situation as the customers vote with their feet

This movement (found on Facebook) is also based around the 'buy local, buy direct' movement - www.ooooby.com/

I couldn't agree more with this Grant. You can say exactly the same about the Matakana Farmers Market which is not a farmers market but rather a branch of the Ponsonby shopping mall. []

One criteria which can be easily checked is, do the people who sell the produce have dirty fingernails? [] Seriously, I am glad we have the scruffy Kaitaia farmers market because these are the people who grow the produce and not some employees of the growers. I like the rule the Whangarei market has that the grower has to be at the stall.

One other issue I have with markets like Matakana (and I heard Kerikeri is the same) is that the people who manage it mess around with the market idea. What I mean by that is that they say "No, we already have a stall selling eggs, we don't allow a second one" which is absolutely against the concept of a free market. A market looks after itself. That's how it should be. This is the reason why prices at the Matakana market are sky high. Because there is no competition. And the people coming from Auckland in their Porsche 4x4 (yeah right) on their way to their Million dollar weekend homes in Omaha are willing and able to pay the prices. You won't see any "normal" people there! And this is sad!

Cheers

Peter

GrantK;325522 wrote: We just watched it as well, and the Whangarei market sounds excellent, with large numbers of growers supporting it, and the aim of keeping prices well below the supermarkets.

If we had a market like that nearer to us, we would support it.

However, we didn't have such a positive experience with the Kerikeri Farmers' Market. The organisers have taken it "upmarket" with an emphasis on Organics and many of the prices ended up being more than what you would pay at a supermarket, unless you are somebody who insists on buying only organic produce. If you were to buy organic produce only, maybe there would be a small saving, but if you are looking to buy locally-grown produce at a reasonable price, you will go away empty-handed from the Kerikeri Farmers' Market. Added to that was the small size of the market, meaning that the selection was quite limited and therefore not worth the 80km return trip, added to the $13 in Fullers' Ferry Tickets.

It's a pity, because we would like to support local growers, as opposed to the Supermarket "Fat Cats".

PeterNZ;325561 wrote: One other issue I have with markets like Matakana (and I heard Kerikeri is the same) is that the people who manage it mess around with the market idea. What I mean by that is that they say "No, we already have a stall selling eggs, we don't allow a second one" which is absolutely against the concept of a free market.

Yes, that is exactly how it is at Kerikeri. We attended for a few months in the early days, trying to sell a few roosters, but without much success. We weren't allowed to take any of our eggs because somebody else had them. Until I saw the Country Calendar programme last night, I thought that all Farmers' Markets were the same in this regard i.e. trying to restrict competition. It is good to know that there are others such as Kaitaia and Whangarei which go against this trend.

Inger says that Kawakawa have a market, once per month. Maybe we might have to look into that.

I've heard through the grapevine that we were going to have a Farmers Market here in Matamata but the cost would be too great for the stall holders so wouldn't be worth their while...will look into this more me thinks...

Just a slight point - the Country Calendar programme was about a Growers' Market which is a bit different from a Farmers market, though it shouldn't be!

What is the difference?

Cheers

Peter

Horticulture vs Agriculture.

Kiwi303;325591 wrote: Horticulture vs Agriculture.

Well maybe in theory but not in practice. When I remember right you can get eggs and sausages etc at the Whangarei Growers Market and you get vegetables and chillies at the Matakana Farmers Market etc.

Cheers

Peter

I find the Clevedon Farmers market is not a place to get cheap fruit and veges either! It is a lovely market wiith a focus on local produce but nothing is cheap. Pukekohe on Sat or Pokeno on sunday seem a much better bet.