It is 2.45am and the alarm is blaring.
John and Heather Preedy throw the bed covers off and get ready for the biggest day of their working week — a two-hour drive to Dunedin, followed by hours standing in the driving rain, wind, beating sun, frost or occasionally snow, protected only by a gazebo, and followed by the same drive home.
They have repeated this 12-hour routine nearly every Saturday for the past 20 years, ever since the Otago Farmers Market started in March 2003.
"We were the first people to sign up," Mr Preedy said.
Why? Well, when visiting a strawberry-grower friend in Australia they got told the local farmers’ market there was "bloody worthwhile", so when the idea of setting one up in Dunedin hit the media, he watched with interest.
The idea was sparked by Dunedin growers looking for an outlet for their produce as roadside stall sales declined. The late Ray Goddard was Otago Vegetable Growers Association president back then and spearheaded the idea as a way for producers to survive in a tough environment where large supermarkets dominated.
"It will be a lifeline; it’s the only way some of them will survive," he told the Otago Daily Times in 2003.
A charitable trust was set up with the aim of creating a true farmers’ market — one that sold produce and products grown or made in Otago. Behind it was a group of passionate advocates of the idea.
It was first mooted the market should be in the Exchange, as some businesses were keen to see the area revitalised, but others were not so keen, so the Dunedin City Council proposed the Dunedin Railway Station’s northern car park. The council also stumped up a $10,000 grant to help get the market started with advertising and promotion as well as a part-time co-ordinator.
And with that the market was on. On day 1 there were 38 stalls — a mix of meat, plants, vegetables and fruit — ready for action at 8am.
As were the Preedys. By 9am they had sold out. The next week the market grew to 51 stalls. The Preedys brought more produce and have continued to come each week.
The market has become their sole outlet apart from their roadside shop at Ettrick and some mail-order deliveries (the result of a Covid-19 pivot).
"We’re not at the mercy of the supermarkets. We have control of our own destiny and a wider range of produce so we don’t have all our eggs in one basket," Mr Preedy said.
Even if it has meant some hairy trips to Dunedin during the winter. After one close call on black ice they decided for safety’s sake to travel to Dunedin on the Friday for Saturday’s market during the winter months.
They have got through every type of weather Dunedin can throw at them — "snow, gales, you name it". One time they could not get home because of torrential rain. The only time they have not sold anything was during the South Dunedin floods.
"We just turn up every Saturday and sell stuff to the public of Dunedin. I think there has only been two days we haven’t been able to get down because of snow," Mr Preedy said.
Their commitment has meant changes for their orchard. Instead of their focus being apples, they have moved to growing more vegetables. They follow the demands of the market customers — courgettes were once something new and are now mainstream; fennel, cavolo nero and kale are other vegetables new to the paddock in the past 10 years.
"I think with all the cooking shows, people’s eating habits have changed. It is always evolving," Mrs Preedy said.
For Mr Preedy, it is that challenge which keeps the job interesting. Vegetables crops can be changed every year, unlike apples which take five years to produce.
"It’s not boring. I get very bored."
The new crops are grown along with traditional winter favourites such as parsnips, carrots, leeks and yams, which are stored in the ground and dug up every week for the market.
But what has not changed is the demand for berries. Peaking every Christmas, queues always form for raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. At peak raspberry harvesting time the Preedys can have 30 staff plus RSE (recognised seasonal employer) workers picking and packing. But the business averages about eight to 10 staff during the rest of the season.
"A couple of hepatitis scares has meant people are realising where their berries come from. There’s not a lot of berry fruit growers left in the country. We’re a dying breed."
It is the same for horticulture in general. Now they are at retirement age, they would like to take it a bit easier, but their business has been on the market for 18 months.
"It’s going to be a problem. You can’t eat a laptop for lunch or pine cones."
Trust chairwoman Sharyn Crawford says there are fewer growers at the market, reflecting reduced numbers of growers in the region, but those growers that remain provide produce on a much bigger scale than they did in the earlier years.
"There’s a lot less growers — it’s happening throughout the country; it’s a global problem. It’s an issue we’ve been talking about for a long time around the board table."
But not everyone was sold on the idea of the farmers’ market in the early days. Critics questioned whether Dunedinites would come out in any weather and some growers were among them.
"Lots told us it would never succeed in Dunedin, it was a crazy idea," Paul Crack, a former trust adviser, trust chairman and market manager, says.
It was an effort to get enough growers as they had to find producers growing enough, but not supermarket amounts. Mr Goddard "strong-armed" some along and was instrumental in getting vendors there.
"He was champion. It was tough to get people motivated to come every Saturday and get out of bed early to cut their veges. It sounds easy — it only took us two years."
Mr Crack, a market researcher, got involved in the early days to help the trust make the concept work. To do that he believed, after researching overseas markets, it had to focus on fresh, local produce, plants and food made from fresh local produce, not crafts or imported goods.
"It was always going to be the Otago farmers’ market even when we were scribbling things on the back of envelopes. If it was grown in Otago and it was fresh and local that was OK."
The other necessary ingredient was rules.
"If it was to be a real farmers’ market, people couldn’t just rock up. We wrote the vendors’ guide so that if somebody wanted to sell at Otago Farmers Market they had to agree to certain rules."
The trust has stuck to those concepts over the years, which is what has made it a success, he says.
"Those same rules are very much in evidence today as the day we opened. I’ve worked with others ... Everyone has failed who did not have rules. It didn’t make us a lot of friends at the time."
Supermarkets were also not too happy about the idea of the farmers’ market. But time showed people still needed supermarkets for their basics and that the market did not compete with them.
"At the time the supermarkets got really grumpy. After time they learnt to live with us."
The success of those first markets surprised everyone.
"The magic started on the day it opened. We had no idea there were so many people out there who wanted fresh local produce."
There were a few dramas in the early days such as an egg producer who decided to take on the market after being trespassed. He drove his truck up to the front of the market in protest, while Mr Crack steered him down.
"The egg man was a classic story. He wasn’t prepared to work to the rules."
There was another instance where a very popular stallholder tried to sell produce not grown in Otago, but the trust stuck to its "local" rules.
"He went away and that hurt, but that’s what you have to do. If you’ve got something you believe in, it’s what your customers believe in, the other vendors believe in, you have to do it. We survived both of those."
The other contributor to its success has been its ability to provide enough good-quality product to sell, matched with enough people to buy it, he says.
"Somehow the good people at the trust have managed to keep that balance over the past 20 years."
Over the years the farmers market has grown to about 62-65 vendors on any given Saturday, many of those new vendors falling into the ready-to-eat or drink category. Products vary from cheese, baked goods, jams, pickles and chutneys to wine, spirits and kombucha.
The market has provided a great opportunity for new businesses to market-test their products and some have gone on to greater success.
"I thought Dunedin wasn’t big enough to sustain it, but I went and had a look and thought I could do better than a sausage in some bread."
He got some of his frankfurters and bacon out of the freezer and thought he would give it a go for three weeks just to appease his stepdaughter.
"It started off with a bang. I sold out."
Two years later, after watching market neighbour Evansdale Cheese’s Colleen Dennison stay dry in the rain, he bought a caravan and has not looked back.
"I’m very loyal to the market. A lot of people come for us, so I don’t take a day off — people expect you to be there."
When his stepdaughter returned from Australia, they set up the "bricks and mortar" version of the buttie station.
"I supply her with bacon and do the market on Saturday — it’s my livelihood now. What I sell is what I make, well apart from the bread. I have total control over the quality of the sandwich."
After spending his week alone, with just the radio for company, making his Dutch-inspired small goods, Cornelissen loves nothing more than a yarn on a Saturday morning.
"You get a good rapport going with your customers, sometimes too good a rapport if there’s a queue. You have a few laughs."
But like the Preedys, time is marching on and he is looking to the future.
"I was 42 when I started — now I’m 62. Saturdays can be a drain and affect your social life. I like to play bowls — I’d like to dedicate more time to it."
Who Ate All the Pies is another success story. Mr Crack can remember coming across two young men making pies at the Savoy and suggesting they come along to the market.
"They brought along 30 pies and sold out in about 14 and a-half minutes."
They became a regular at the market, which continued when they sold the business to Englishman Steven Turner 15 years ago.
"I was literally there through snow, frost, illness — for five years I never missed a farmers’ market. It’s been the cornerstone of our business for a long time," Mr Turner said.
In the early days, the market was an important part of the business, nearly 40% of the company’s trade happening in one day.
The market also got the company, now based in South Dunedin, noticed by the supermarkets. They sent testers in to try the product and from that Mr Turner got invitations to sell his pies in supermarkets, which was also helped by him developing a method of packing the pies.
National media coverage of the market then got him noticed by top gourmet food shop Farro Fresh.
"Next we are supplying the poshest supermarket in New Zealand."
The company has gone from producing 100-150 family pies a week when Mr Turner took over to now producing more than 4000 family pies.
The market also provides Mr Turner with the perfect opportunity to do market research, trial new products and also make some products he cannot sell in supermarkets such as his Cornish pasties and pork pies or his seasonal special of steak and Bluff oysters. One of his most popular recent additions is seconds pies, burnt or damaged pies.
"I get feedback instantaneous and I can give value for money and specials you don’t get in the supermarket."
Like Mr Cornelissen, he enjoys having a chat with customers and also doing his own shopping, making the most of easy access to fresh produce.
"I can’t believe more people don’t use it. It’s as busy as I’ve seen it in five or 10 years, which is great. I think people are being a bit more savvy in their weekly shop and I think the vendors are meeting them on price point."
Beam Me Up Bagels is another success story, starting out at the market where it sold 200 bagels on its first day. It now has a bricks-and-mortar business, as do market vendors Bay Road Peanut Butter, Evansdale Cheese and No. 8 Distillery.
Mrs Crawford says the market, which is thought to be the third-oldest in the country, is always evolving, but one of the biggest changes has been how the market has become a tourist destination.
The city council and others market it as something to do when visiting Dunedin at the weekend. It has featured in national media and begun winning Trip Advisor Awards. It has also won the Outstanding Food Producers’ top farmers’ market award four times.
The fan base is broad, ranging from the everyday Dunedin person doing their weekly shop to people from Auckland visiting their children at university to cruise ship passengers and students themselves.
The market’s continued popularity over the years, she believes, is down to the quality of the produce and prices being kept consistent.
"The produce is picked fresh for the market and its shelf life is very good."
Sometimes the market’s Otago border is stretched if there is not anyone to meet that need from the region.
As part of the community, the trust tries to do its bit when it comes to sustainability and waste minimisation. It also supports a community group each week by providing a stall for it to fundraise from.
"It’s another way for the market to give back to the community."
But at its heart, the market is all about providing good-quality food, she says. These days many people are concerned about food security and where their food comes from.
"The interaction with vendors and learning about what food is in season, when and how to cook it is a wonderful opportunity and really engages people."
To see
Otago Farmers Market Long Lunch, Dunedin Railway Station platform, March 26, 12.30pm.
