YOUR INDUSTRY
Connings Food Market adapts and thrives despite challenging times Last year’s first lockdown was loaded with stress for Connings Food Market near Nelson. But when the government announced that the country would once again enter Alert Level 4 on August 17, Connings had its systems ready to go. By Anne Hardie
This time, the rules were clearer about opening for business. It took just two hours for the Conning family’s operation to switch into lockdown mode, with safety measures put in place for staff and customers, allowing the business to open at Alert Level 4. Simon Conning is the second generation to be involved in the family’s market garden business and is in charge of the shop. He says they were fully stocked for the 2020 lockdown, thinking they would be allowed to open, only to be forced to close as the government worked out who could open to the public at Level 4. They turned to home deliveries to deal with the high stock volume in the shop. While it got existing produce out of the shop to customers, it wasn’t efficient or profitable. Eventually Connings opened at Level 4 with government guidelines in place. That experience guided its plan of action for ensuing lockdowns. The food market sits on the edge of Richmond and is part of a family business that involves two generations, growing vegetables from seed in its nursery to be planted out on about 130ha of land where it is harvested for both the shop and the wholesale market. Simon says there was a lot more certainty about the rules this time around when the August 2021 lockdown was announced.
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The ORCHARDIST : OCTOBER 2021
Simon Conning says clearer rules make it easier preparing for business in lockdown
The shop was stocked with the knowledge they could open for business, PayWave was installed for the duration of lockdown and signs and arrows were erected to remind customers of social distancing rules and how to negotiate their way through the shop. Ropes blocked off aisles to encourage customers to follow the arrows and to ensure they weaved their way in one direction through the produce aisles to the checkout. “We tried to put multiple locations of produce so if people missed something, they didn’t try and go back to get it,” Simon says. “It was a lot easier because we had done it before. We turned the shop over at night (before lockdown) and were open the next morning.”
We tried to put multiple locations of produce so if people missed something, they didn’t try and go back to get it Staff numbers dropped for lockdown, though there were still about 40 on the roster, with high school students continuing to help out stocking shelves in the morning and packing up at the end of the day. The bakery behind the shop continued making bread, but the café in the shop stayed closed until Level 3 when it could reopen for contactless purchases.
