Hawkes Bay Farmers Market

The Hawkes Bay Farmers’ Market is the oldest and largest farmers’ market in New Zealand. Farmers’ markets feature food sold directly by farmers to consumers. The trend began in the US and has now been adopted up and down New Zealand, becoming focus points for communities. The number of markets has doubled in the last 10 years and their popularity is said to be due to a greater awareness of what’s in our food and a growing demand for local produce.

Another reason for that popularity is that farmers and growers, especially small scale ones, needed to find alternative ways of getting their produce to the consumer. Traditional wholesale supply routes disappeared with consolidation as retailers and wholesalers pruned supplier numbers for ease of operation and started dealing only with those growers who could supply in bulk.

New Zealand does not have a strong market history like Europe. Farmers’ markets here are creating a new culture of fresh food provision and shopping. Accordingly each market is driven by differing local circumstances and requirements rather than history.

Some markets have clearly identified the need to preserve growers’ and farmers’ livelihoods above all else. Others have developed a stronger focus on the social occasion and the provision of specialty foods, usually made locally, but not exclusively from local ingredients. The label Farmers’ Market covers them all. 

The popularity of farmers’ markets is also to do with the idea that the consumer gets to meet the person that is growing their food.

More recently other markets have piggybacked on the popularity of the farmers markets with produce that doesn’t meet the farmers’ market criteria. By definition, authentic farmers’ markets are food-only markets (with some exceptions for flowers and plants), with no re-sellers allowed, so those who have grown or made the food are the ones selling it.

Most of the original markets had a few rules around the authenticity of the products for sale – that it had to be local and that the people making or growing the product were the ones who sold it. Hawkes Bay has largely stuck to these rules, however there are others who choose to be less rigorous in adhering to them. In response to this, Farmer’s Markets’ NZ Inc. (the membership organisation of around 40 farmers’ markets in New Zealand) has introduced an option authenticity scheme for member markets. 

The Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market was established in 2000 with a view to incubate, profile and assist the growth of small food businesses in the region by creating a single destination where local growers and producers could meet with customers.

Fourteen years on, the Hastings market boasts more than 60 stallholders year round and many more than that during the growing season. The market draws crowds every Sunday to the Hawkes Bay Showgrounds, a facility owned by the Hawkes Bay A & P Society. People see, touch, smell, taste and buy fresh quality produce and genuine artisan products directly from the producer. In summer the market takes place in the leafy surrounds of Waikoko Gardens within the A & P Showgrounds complex.

The Hawkes Bay Farmers’ Market comes under the umbrella of Food Hawkes Bay which was founded with the aim of promoting and highlighting food products that originate in the Bay. Food Hawkes Bay aims to be the prime point of contact for food products in the region. It started as a government funded regional initiative and has evolved over the years into a membership organisation funded by companies and Hawkes Bay Farmers’ Market members. Their stated mission is to facilitate growth of the food and beverage sector in Hawkes Bay through event management, information sharing, promotion and membership networking.

There are a number of food related events staged by Food Hawkes Bay.

And they’ve produced a food trail which, like the winery trail, has a range of farm gate sales, tours, and tastings and includes restaurants that sell local food.

Kelvin Speirs is the current chair of the Hawkes Bay Farmers’ Market Committee. He is also a grower and runs a business called Zoe’s Garden. He started growing in the Wairarapa and moved to Hawkes Bay three or four years ago. He has a glasshouse and outdoor growing site with a range of vegetables and flowers.

Like many of the other stallholders Kelvin makes and sells a range of value-add sauces and relishes. He says the commitment by the stall holders to the farmers’ markets (there are two in Hawkes Bay – one at the Hastings Showgrounds and another on Saturdays in Napier) not only provides an opportunity to supply freshly harvested garden produce, but also an opportunity for the consumer to meet and talk to the grower. He believes this interaction builds trust through the sharing of knowledge about the produce, its characteristics, and creative cooking and presentation ideas.

Kelvin says traditionally Hawkes Bay has been known as the fruit bowl of New Zealand and feels this is a reputation that needs to be built on. He says that as more areas in New Zealand realise the draw that great locally grown products have, they will start to build on their own reputations. Aside from the brilliant growing conditions in Hawkes Bay, he says there is a growing group of very talented, innovative entrepreneurs in the food business.

Kelvin believes those two advantages mean Hawke’s Bay is developing a reputation not only for great crops but also for top notch, high quality and world class value added products. He thinks growers have the ability to gain not just national recognition but international recognition.

The Hawkes Bay Farmers’ Market venue is, according to many growers, one of its biggest selling points, however during the winter the stalls move indoors into an exhibition hall and underneath the Showgrounds grandstand. There has been talk for some years about constructing sheltered accommodation.