We’ve all done it, seen something happening overseas and thought that could work back home. But very few of us actually have the fortitude to bring the idea back home and make it happen. Last weekend I met Bev McGhie, a wonderful Kiwi lady who went to Boston and returned with an idea for a food market. Her idea is now a fully functioning popup food market in Victoria Park. I was fortunate to bump into Bev and asked her about the markets success.
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| © The Ponder Room |
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| Paella Fideua © The Ponder Room |
There’s a time and a place for dainty meals and a food market is not it. I can vouch for the portion sizes as the paella serving was huge. Bev also had strong ideas on the prices to ensure the food was good value for money.
‘They had to set their prices at $9, $12 and $15.’
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| Paella Fideua © The Ponder Room |
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| Tapas Man © The Ponder Room |
3 Do something different
We’ve all seen market stall food and could probably list the items we’d expect to see. Not so here. I don’t think I’ve ever come across Mussel Fritters or Cactus Tacos. I’m now on the look out for a Mussel Fritter recipe and failing that, if you can’t find me for the next few Friday nights, I’ll be the one loitering around the Kiwi stall.
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| Maggies Treats © The Ponder Room |
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| Maggies Treats © The Ponder Room |
Bev limited the number of stalls to around 14, even though she has about ’90 others waiting to be invited.’This provides an air of exclusivity.
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| Shak Shuka Moroccan © The Ponder Room |
One of the other clever strategies Bev introduced, was to offer the stalls on rotation. While some of the stalls are there every week others pop in and out. This increases repeat custom as people return to see what’s available the next week.
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Caribbean Kitchen © The Ponder Room
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| Ragin Cajuns © The Ponder Room |
Located in Victoria Parks coffee strip you’d imagine that competition is fierce, but if you’re prepared to work in with the competition and not compete directly with them, it becomes less of an issue.
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| Perfect Pofferties © The Ponder Room |
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| Baguette Me Not © The Ponder Room |
9 Limited season
The pop up market operates for 12 weeks which also means you have to make the effort to go NOW or you’re going to miss it. It’s about half way through the season now.
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© The Ponder Room
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| Petite Pofferties © The Ponder Room |
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| © The Ponder Room |
and lastly …
10 Perseverance
I was interested to hear that Bev had pitched the idea to a number of Council’s, with some saying it wouldn’t work. Much to Bev’s delight they are now interested in doing the same thing.
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| Bev © The Ponder Room |
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This is yet another example of one person having an idea and pushing it though.
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Another example of how community spirit often starts at the grassroots not in the boardroom.
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The markets are classed as ‘on trial’ at the moment so make sure you get down there soon and support this initiative.
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Go early to avoid the crowd and make sure you try more than one food stall.
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I really hope we see more of these types of event.
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Congratulations to the local Council for seeing the possibilities and getting on board with a new initiative.
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Huge congratulations to Bev and all those who helped pull this off. If only there were more Bev’s in the community.
4 Comments
What a fantastic idea. A pity it is operating on a restricted time limit. Is it possible Bev could pop up in another suburb soon? Hoping to try it before it takes off.
Sincere thanks for bringing it to our attention. Don’t know how you do it but keep it up. Isn’t it a pity that these activities are so poorly advertised. There is apparently so much going on that the media we rely on for information misses so much while concentrating on sport, social “personalities” and bad news.
Hopefully if it’s deemed a success it might get a rerun. My pleasure I love letting people know what’s on. I always prefer to focus on the positive stuff if I can.
Mussel fritters, yum! This is a great list and the ideas hold for a number of different events. Thanks
My pleasure Shannon hope you can get along to see it before it ends. You’ve just reminded me about the fritters now mmmm fritters