Connings Vegetables
A second generation of vegetable growers expands their operation.
Three brothers are working to take the vegetable growing business their parents began on the Waimea Plains four decades ago to new heights. Simon, Ben and Toby Conning are combining their skills to provide fresh nutritious, affordable produce for their customers.
Forty years ago, Robbie and Cheryl Conning began growing cabbages, carrots and potatoes on their land on the Waimea Plains. As the years ticked by with the boys growing up, more vegetable varieties were added to the family enterprise and then they opened a fresh produce store they called Brightwater Country Fresh.
Fast-forward to today and Cheryl manages the accounts, as well as keeping an eye on her boys – including her husband Robbie, who still shares the wealth of fruit and veggie production knowledge he has gained over the decades with the on-farm team.
The couple’s three sons have clearly defined roles in what has become a highly successful family business, that of providing fresh and affordable produce that is sold in the dedicated Connings Food Market in Appleby, another outlet in Nelson city, as well as supermarkets, T&G and the MG Group for onselling to other retail outlets.
Simon manages the Connings Food Market and the Nelson store, where customers not only select from a wide range of tasty fresh produce grown on the family farm, but can also purchase other groceries including dry, frozen and locally produced artisan goods, meat products, fish, seafood, wine, beer, cider, and fresh-cut flowers.
He says: “To see locals come week after week to do their shopping is rewarding – we’re immensely proud that not only are we providing them with food that’s fresh and nutritious, it’s also affordable”.
If customers do not feel like cooking, the Connings Kitchen has the solution, with flavoursome take-home meals featuring the fresh produce the family grows. Simon says setting up the kitchen has meant there is very little food waste in the Conning business with produce that might be a little less than perfect often being used in dishes – “even wonky carrots deserve a chance,” he adds. As well as take-home kai, the kitchen sells coffee and other hot drinks and a range of lunchtime dishes and treats.
Toby runs the Conning farming operations where 40-50 seasonal crops are grown from seed, ensuring there is year-round produce. Throughout the year there is broccoli, cauliflower, a variety of cabbages, kale, kohlrabi, silver beet, spinach, and a range of herbs grown on the farm.
In the cooler months the likes of brussels sprouts are added to the harvest, while the summer sees a range of salad vegetables, courgettes, corn, peppers, chillis, tomatoes, melons, strawberries, boysenberries and raspberries. As a former diesel mechanic, Toby is also the go-to guy when any of the farm and packaging machinery needs fixing.
Ben works in the fields too, including looking after harvesting, ensuring crops are gathered when they are at their best. He also manages the Conning sales operation. Ben says: “The food we harvest, and sell is the result of a shared family passion for fresh produce. We come from a place of wanting the best for our community – to be able to share quality, fresh and healthy food with everyone”.