'Crazy': Shops and fruit sellers smashed in festive spend up

A large line outside The Strawberry Patch in Havelock North on Christmas Eve. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay retailers are welcoming a huge festive shopping rush following a tough year operating under Covid restrictions.

Berry and fruit sellers were also slammed by customers on Christmas Eve, particularly those selling strawberries or hard-to-come-by fresh cherries.

The Strawberry Patch in Havelock North boasted a huge line as people snapped up strawberries and other fresh fruit and veges.

Manager Ange Rowe-Thompson said it was always like that on Christmas Eve and their strawberries were definitely a best seller.

"People have been lining up outside our shop since about 6.30am," she said, on Friday.

"Everybody comes here for the strawberries ... it is a staple for Christmas Day."

Meanwhile, a retailer in Hastings and Napier, Blackbird Goods, reported it was their busiest day of the year with a wave of customers through their two shops.

Blackbird Goods owner Nathan Speeden said the demand for last-minute gifts had been "crazy" again this year.

"People leave it to the last minute and there is a lot of things that aren't available this year, so they have gone to buy them and it has not worked out.

"That means they have had to come up with another idea."

He said most things that sold well were what he called "add-on" gifts.

"So not your big presents more side bits and pieces and stocking fillers."

He said it was good to see so many people get into Christmas and be able to celebrate after a tough year.

"It's been a weird year, so it's nice to have people that are celebrating and still have money to spend on presents."

Freak rainfall earlier this month in Hawke's Bay impacted a lot of cherry growers as cherries tend to split when impacted by heavy rainfall.

It meant there were fewer cherries to go around ahead of Christmas, and many sellers took to social media to declare they had sold out ahead of Christmas Day.

At Riverside Cherries, in Twyford, co-owner Jerf van Beek said it had been a challenging season.

He said his cherry farm had produced about two-thirds of what they had expected, and they were fortunate to have a lot of protection over their top-quality cherries.

He said all the cherries that met their high standards and that were able to go to market had sold out ahead of Christmas Eve.

"It has been in short supply."

He said he was getting calls from sellers late into the week asking for more cherries, because of the short supply this year.

"Some cherries have gone on the market that would not usually," he said, of lower-quality cherries he had seen on the market.