Hawke's Bay Farmers Market goes online during lockdown

Hawke's Bay Farmers Market was open a couple of weeks ago under strict health and safety restrictions but was forced to close due to the lockdown has converted to an online format. Photo / Ian Cooper

Hawke's Bay's Farmer's Market is set to continue in an online form during the nationwide lockdown.

The market's manager, Emma Glover, said with the market now closed it had inquiries from customers wanting to know where they could access fresh locally grown seasonal products.

It has now created a list of which stallholders are providing contact-less home deliveries.

"They are wanting to support the HBFM local growers and producers operating under the MBIE guidelines," she said.

"Therefore we have compiled an online reference list of where or how our stallholders' products are available."

The list can be found at:

http://www.hawkesbayfarmersmarket.co.nz/COVID19-Shop/Where-to-Buy-Stallholder-Products

This will be updated as information is provided by the businesses.

The online service is set to help those continue to access fresh local produce and help those businesses continue to stay afloat during this tough time.

Some businesses are taking advantage of the service but are seeing an overflow of orders that outnumber their teams.

Bayfresh Fruit and Veg have moved to an online service and owner Trina Gee said it has been great to have local support and be able to service the community, but that during difficult times things are getting busy.

"We are happy for the support but we just want to ask people to plan ahead with orders because we have been inundated," she said.

The other day she said they received 150 orders in one day.

"We just want people to plan because if someone orders in the morning they can't expect to have it that afternoon. We just can't service it that quickly."

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment confirmed last week via the Government's Covid-19 website and to Horticulture New Zealand that deliveries of food (other than cooked prepared meals such as takeaways) can go ahead, but Covid-19 anti-transmission measures must be in place, such as the 2 metre distancing rule and deliveries being done without individual contact.

Orders must be made by phone or online and paid for online, so there is no handling of cash.

In other words, appropriate safe food handling and Covid-19 anti-transmission measures must be in place at all times.

Gee said Bayfresh was extremely grateful for the support.

She said many of the markets' stalls are just small teams and will all be suffering and will need all the help they can get.