Food awards judges like their taste of the Bay

The vibrant market offers plenty of choices.

Stallholders from the Tauranga Farmers Market won several awards at this year's Farmers Market New Zealand Food Awards.

The local market, established 13 years ago, and with an average of 55 stallholders taking part every Saturday at its Tauranga Pimary School location, is a member of Farmers Market NZ.

This year a number of its stallholders competed with fresh produce and food products from local farmers markets across the country, said Tauranga Farmers Market manager Trixia Nixon.

"Our stallholders cover a wide range of different sizes from small commercial producers down to people who are doing something in their backyard and really have a passion for producing food," she said.

"We have had numerous stallholders over the years who have entered and done well." (see box for this year's Tauranga results).

Stallholders have to meet strict Farmers Market NZ criteria and are subject to a site visit before they are allowed to join the Tauranga market. A key condition is no third party reselling of produce.

There are two main categories of stalls, fresh produce, and added value foods.

Award entrants have to send samples of their produce to the judges, together with recommended options for preparing and/or cooking the food.

Tauranga market chairwoman Lyn Paul, who runs Te Puna-based Pauls Tomatoes with her husband Eddie, scored a runner-up prize this year in the "Dirt of the roots" category. "The Tauranga market is very strong," she said. "The market's customer foot traffic numbers are increasing all the time, with fresh produce doing particularly well.

"We get lots of requests from people to join."

The Pauls have been growing commercially in Te Puna for 20 years, and have been selling through the market for nine years.

"We have chosen to have the farmers market as the first priority outlet for our product and we find we sell it all there," she said.

"We were surprised it has become that popular. When we started we were only there in the summer as we only grew in the summer. Then the demand grew so great that our customers asked us to buy off us all year.

"We decided to just stick with the market and we actually provide more now than we did to provide the commercial market."

The Tauranga market winners will receive their awards this week.

There will be a followup event to honour winners and thank customers for their support at Taste Sampling Saturday, which will be held on August 13.

It will include food provided by a group of hospitality students from Tauranga Boys College, plus tutor Josef Reiter, and local celebrity chef Peter Blakeway.

This year's Farmers Market NZ category winners from Tauranga included:

* Best Produce from the Kitchen Bench Bread/Baking

Winner - The Pastie Van (Rex and Imelda Tucker) - Welsh Oggie

Runner Up - The Pastie Van (Rex and Imelda Tucker) - Cornish Pastie

* Dirt off the Roots

Runner Up - Pauls Tomatoes (Lyn & Eddie Paul) - Small Cocktail Tomatoes

* Eggs

Runner Up - Pahoia Fresh Produce (Pauline Alexander) - Duck Eggs

* Tastiest Produce from the Butchery

Highly Commended - Highcrest Free Range (Brendon Hogan) - Bacon

* Creamiest Produce from the Dairy

Highly Commended - Mount Eliza Cheese Ltd (Dave & Jill Whalley) - Red Leicester/Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese

Summer section of the Awards (held earlier this year):

* Dirt off the Roots

Winner - Southern Belle Orchard (Emily Meese) - Orange Sweet Palermo Capsicum