Husband and wife producers of Grafter’s Honey, Sam and Vanessa Pegg, say they’ve been pushed out of Wellington’s popular Harbourside Market to allow another honey producer “a monopoly”. Fair Go reporter Gill Higgins investigates.
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A local honey producer from Wellington has accused the city’s Harbourside Market manager of “playing god” after being told they could no longer sell at the popular waterfront farmers’ market.
Sam Pegg, co-owner of Grafter’s Honey, claims his chance of trying for a permanent stall at the market was quashed following complaints from the existing honey seller, Bee Fresh. Sam’s co-owner and wife, Vanessa, says Bee Fresh raised concerns about the competition negatively impacting its sales.
The Wellington City Council (WCC), which manages the market, denies that Bee Fresh influenced its decision. It maintains that the market manager made the call to ensure a balanced mix of vendors.
The dispute began over a year ago, when Sam and Vanessa were struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly tough industry. The couple manages hives across Wellington, the Kapiti Coast, and the Hutt Valley, working tirelessly to produce honey from millions of bees. But despite their efforts, financial rewards have been minimal.
That’s because the industry as a whole is doing it tough. About a third of commercial beekeepers are going under, and those left standing face escalating costs and the constant threat of hive disease while prices keep dropping.
“The margins are so slim. You need to sell as much of your product as you can to survive,” says Sam. Farmers’ markets are critical for small producers like Grafter’s Honey, as they offer direct access to customers, building a loyal base.
Currently, Sam and Vanessa have stalls at Saturday markets like the Riverbank Market in Lower Hutt, but their goal was to expand to the Harbourside Market in Wellington.
Hopeful beginnings
After some discussions with market manager Fraser Ebbett, Sam and Vanessa were thrilled when they were offered a temporary spot at Harbourside. Almost all the arrangements were done over the phone with no contract signed. They say their understanding was they could start off by selling there every other weekend, with the possibility of securing a permanent stall in the future. This was confirmed in an email from Ebbett, which read, “As discussed, I will certainly look at the permanent possibility.”
On both the first and second Sundays their sales were good. Vanessa fronts the stall as she loves to chat to customers and share the story of their local business. But on the second Sunday, one customer took her by surprise. “This gentleman came up to my table and said ‘Oh, are you a local beekeeper?’ And I was like ‘Yes, I am’ and then I clicked that he was the other person selling honey and he said to me ‘Well, you know, when someone else turns up doing honey I don’t do so well’.
She adds that he “made a bit of a stink of it”.
Then it all came unstuck
Sam and Vanessa were unaware at the time that the owner of Bee Fresh also complained directly to Ebbett. It was following that complaint that Ebbett rang Vanessa and she was told “we couldn’t come back”. She adds that the manager said he was sorry but there wasn’t room for a second honey seller.
Sam was frustrated. “It just feels unfair that one person should have a monopoly on selling something like honey.”
Fair Go contacted Wellington City Council. It said the complaint from Bee Fresh hadn’t influenced its decision. It added that the offer to Grafter’s Honey had been for two Sunday spots only, not for a permanent place.
Its rationale for this decision is that the market manager is responsible for curating the market appropriately. This includes allowing for many sellers of fresh perishable produce, for which there is high demand. In contrast, it opts for single sellers of long-lasting products like honey, as demand is lower. It also tries to allow for seasonal stalls, such as berries and flowers, and for community stalls.
So why was Grafter’s Honey given a spot in the first place? Ebbett says he “didn’t do his due diligence”.
How much is too much honey?
While Sam and Vanessa understand the need for control over the number and types of stalls, they feel there is room for a second honey vendor. Sales during their two weekends at the market were strong, indicating that there was demand for more than one option. “Honey is like wine, there are different taste notes, there are different floral notes,” says Vanessa.
Patrick McKibben from the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce agrees. “Grafter’s Honey is a business with great customers and great feedback and I’m not saying the other producer doesn’t have this as well but why not have two there?”
McKibben has been working with Sam and Vanessa for months trying to resolve the situation. This specific scenario doesn’t come under competition law, as the law focuses on businesses that lessen competition in a broader sense. So in relation to honey producers, the “market” isn’t just a single Farmers’ Market, it includes online sales, gift shops, supermarkets, and Farmers’ Markets elsewhere.
The owner of Bee Fresh referred to this too telling Fair Go that Harbourside customers “could go across the road to New World” for more choice.
But Vanessa stresses that Farmers’ Markets are their lifeline, “I’m building relationships with customers, they’re meeting the producer, it’s entirely different from a supermarket where you’re going in there and just picking off the shelf”. She adds that Grafter’s Honey has only limited products in a few supermarkets and no longer has any at all in the New World across from Harbourside Market. They also only have limited online sales.
Without the law to back their cause, the Peggs could only hope that WCC would see fit to support them. Patrick McKibbin believes this decision could have a wider impact on other produce growers too. “If Sam and his business disappear, which is entirely possible, then the ecosystem will be seriously impacted with the loss of bees”.
The months of battling have left Sam feeling broken as he saw Harbourside as a golden opportunity. “We’ve gone about this 100% the right way, going through the system, but we just find doors just getting shut, one after the other.”
McKibben has stood by the Peggs throughout. He received piles of papers after making an Official Information Act request for the communication between Bee Fresh and the WCC, as well as information around market laws, to try to better understand the situation. That was how he learned of the complaint by Bee Fresh to the council, but he wasn’t able to learn much more because the information was heavily redacted. “Was there anything untoward in there? I don’t know, if there was it could be under all the crossing out”. He says that in his opinion the WCC decision is down to some “really crappy rules to be honest”.
WCC told Fair Go its rules have a clear purpose. It says they’re in place to keep a good mix of fresh produce and to support local business while keeping the right level of suppliers to meet customer demand.
And that’s where the two sides disagree. “There is room for different sellers,” McKibben says. “There is room on the high street, there is room in the supermarket. People make their choices, so give Sam and Vanessa the opportunity here too.”
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