Wellington Open Market Attracts Daily Queues

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27961, 7 May 1956, Page 9

Wellington Open Market Attracts Daily Queues

*‘The Press” Special Service

WELLINGTON, May 6. Although the Wellington open-air fruit and vegetable market has been gong 10 months, it is still attracting queues every day. Housewives are convinced that they can get much of the fruit and vegetables fresher and cheaper than from the ordinary greengrocer. The five stallholders in the market are licensed by the City Council for £2 a week each, and most buy their fruit and vegetables direct from growers. Only fruit such as bananas and oranges is largely bought from the commercial markets. Three of the stallholders are producers. One brings a four-ton truck load of apples and pears from his Hastings orchard each week, and many tons more by rail. In the height of the bottling season he is often sold out by 10.30 a.m. Another licence is held by a group of Foxton growers, who sunply all the produce for their stall. Friday is the biggest day for the

housewives, although many of the more shrewd buy on Thursdays, when there is a smaller crowd. Most stalls are usually sold out by the middle of Friday morning, especially of green vegetables. Prices are usually below those of the greengrocers, and there is provision in the licence to guard against flagrant profiteering and the sale of bad .fruit. Soon after it was opened there were requests from housewives' organisations for similar markets in the suburbs, and now City Council officials are searching for a site in Newtown. Although in the first weeks there was opposition to the scheme from greengrocers, much of this had died down. A small open market for selling fruit and vegetables may be established by the Auckland City Council as an experiment. A special subcommittee of the council has recommended to the council that the open I market be set up.