Peter Bow and his nephew Harry Kai Fong aged 11, not long after their arrival in New Zealand in 1920. Photo/Kai Fong family
Peter Bow and his nephew Harry Kai Fong aged 11, not long after their arrival in New Zealand in 1920. Photo/Kai Fong family
A Rotorua family features in a new book which chronicles the lives of Chinese fruiterers and greengrocers in New Zealand.
The Kai Fong family have long been associated with fruit shops in Rotorua with Harry Kai Fong and his uncle, Peter Bow, at one stage owning two outlets opposite each other in Tutanekai St.
Long before supermarkets became a one-stop shop for fresh produce as they are today, local fruit and vegetable stores run by Chinese families were a key part of communities.
The greengrocers and fruiterers were a family affair; fathers, brothers, sons, mothers, sisters and daughters all working from the early hours to get only the best produce for their shelves.
The Fruits of Our Labours: Chinese Fruit Shops in New Zealand,
to be launched at a talk at Rotorua Library on Thursday, April 12 at 2pm, chronicles the lives of these pioneering greengrocers and fruiterers as they carved their place in the country's rich social and cultural tapestry.
Authors of new book The Fruits of Our Labours: Chinese Fruit Shops in New Zealand. Back from left: Carolyn King, Michael Wong and Helen Wong. Front from left: Ruth Lam and Beverly Lowe. Photo/Supplied
Commissioned by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and researched and written by Ruth Lam, Beverly Lowe, Helen Wong, Michael Wong and Carolyn King,
is a fully illustrated, two-volume set of books combining historical research and statistics with personal stories and photographs.
In the book Frank Kai Fong remembers back to 1935 when his family had a fruit shop in Tutanekai St.
"Business was good in those days and we did wholesaling as well as retailing and we supplied the two main hotels in town as well as a lot of dairies.
"Rotorua was a thriving town in those days, being the regional centre for government offices, and with the state sawmill as well as being a bustling tourist destination with thermal activity in and around town.
"In those days, all of us children had to work at the shop after school and during the holidays. At first, it was bagging potatoes and removing the loose onion skins and washing the root crops, wiping the spray off tomatoes and doing a lot of prep for sale that is not done these days.
"When we grew older, we graduated to being able to serve the customers. All of this work was unpaid and it wasn't until I was in the third form that I received anything for my labours, and that was only in the holidays."
The books are a collection of personal anecdotes, historical documents and photos.
The stories provide a unique perspective on New Zealand's history as they trace the evolution of these shops from the general store-cum-greengrocery of the 1880s through to the fresh fruit and vegetable retailers we know today.
It follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the Chinese in New Zealand through the hard times of the Depression and World War II, the growth and boom times of the 1950s and 60s and the challenge of supermarket giants eating up the competition.
Lam and Lowe will share some of these stories and talk about the journey of this project from inception to publication at the launch. The free talk is open to members of the public and copies of the books will be available to buy.
For further information visit www.rotorualibrary.govt.nz.
