Shires Fruit and Vege Market owners and staff were hard at work yesterday to meet the demand for its two-day delivery service.
Suresh Patel said the decision to deliver pre-ordered boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables yesterday and today was prompted by public demand.
"Since we closed three weeks ago,we have had a lot of pressure from customers to provide a delivery service."
Patel said when the Covid-19 lockdown was announced, it was originally planned that the store would remain open.
However, the Government's decision that fruit and vegetable shops weren't essential services meant the store, which has been operating for almost 100 years, had to shut for an extended period for the first time ever.
Shires Fruit and Vege Market owners and staff were hard at work yesterday to meet the demand for its two-day delivery service.
"We had just stocked up on produce when we were told we had one day to close.
"Our customers were fantastic and came into the store in droves to buy up our produce and help us to clear out our stocks. Through that, we were able to sell 95 per cent of our stock."
Patel praised the work of his staff on that final day of trading.
"Even though we were flat out, the staff worked continually throughout the day without a break."
Last Saturday the decision was made to go ahead with deliveries and orders began pouring in.
"We had three or four days to get organised so it was a mad scramble to obtain stock. We bought in four truckloads of fruit and vegetables from the market in Palmerston North, which is still operating, but with limitations.
"You can't go into the market, you have to place an order and it's a pick-up service, but I was able to do a bit of bartering."
Once the produce arrived, the massive task of collating the orders, answering messages, texts and phone calls began.
"The staff have been amazing, especially Karen Jones who handled all the phone calls, the messages and emails. It was very daunting, but Karen did a fantastic job in putting it all together.
"The response has been unbelievable. It's been a real learning curve but I think we have adapted pretty well."
The boxes were to contain a set mix of fruit and vegetables, but Patel said there had been requests for different items.
"We have tried to meet those different requests, where possible."
While Shires have provided produce boxes in the past, they had not operated a delivery service.
"This was all new to us and it has certainly been a bit of a challenge, but we have had so much help.
"We have had so many calls from people offering to help, but we have to be mindful of the Covid-19 situation."
He said produce packers and deliverers were well kitted out with protective gear.
"Tararua District Council and Civil Defence have really helped us out with any requests we had."
Rural Delivery driver Adam Appleton loads another box of fruit and vegetables to be taken out to the coast.
Yesterday, 500 orders were delivered with 76 orders going out with six Rural Delivery drivers.
"We've been inundated with orders and we've had some businesses putting in bulk orders of between 20 and 30 boxes for their staff members."
Five delivery drivers were kept busy through the day with multiple runs.
"Each driver will have between nine and 15 drops at a time and, once they have been delivered, they will reload and head out again."
Patel said all five drivers are local business people, using their own vehicles to make the deliveries.
Sourcing boxes to place orders in was something of a challenge but supermarkets, both in Dannevirke and Palmerston North, had helped out.
Patel said from feedback received, one of the more frequent comments was that at $30, the boxes were too cheap for the amount of produce they contained.
"We have made them as cheap as we can just so we can get the fresh produce into people's homes. We are trying to give back to our loyal community that has supported us for so many, many years.
"The 500 orders going out on day one was a reflection of people's needs over the past three weeks and shows how much they have missed our business."
He expected orders for the second day to be lower.
Patel was waiting to hear the outcome of the Government's lockdown planning before deciding on continuing deliveries on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
"This hasn't been about making the packs, it's more about when there's a crisis, it's a time for communities to band together and work together."
