Since moving back to New Zealand I’ve been giving myself lots of things to do here in Auckland so I explore more of the city and get out more. One of the things I’ve assigned myself is the task of visiting more local farmers’ markets and finding the best ones. Since we are headed into summer here it’s the perfect time to explore and test out all the farmers’ markets. I’ll post about a different one every week sharing what I liked and disliked about each. Hopefully this will be entertaining or at the very least helpful to all the people who have emailed me about where to find certain items in Auckland.
City Farmers’ Market at Britomart
This week’s farmers’ market review focuses on City Farmers’ Market at Britomart in Auckland CBD. I visited this farmers’ market on Saturday for the first time.
About the City Farmers’ Market from their website:
A farmers’ market is a food market where local growers, farmers and artisan food producers sell their wares directly to consumers. Vendors may only sell what they grow, farm, pickle, preserve, bake, smoke or catch themselves from within a defined local area.
The City Farmers’ Market operates in the centre of Auckland’s Britomart precinct and brings a bounty of regional produce to town for Aucklanders every week.
Fresh, seasonal, quality fruit and vegetables, eggs, meat, olives and olive oils, condiments, coffee, artisan breads and much more — direct from local growers, farmers and makers.
The market operates all year long on Saturdays between 8.30am & 12.30pm in the heart of the Britomart precinct on Te Ara T?huhu Walking Street.
What I Liked About City Farmers’ Market at Britomart
- I like that it operated year round instead of just seasonally.
- Vendors were very friendly. They all were giving out samples of food products and happily talked to us about their products and other things. It was a very friendly and nice group of vendors.
- The biggest fresh fruit and vegetable vendor sold kale although she was out by the time I got there. She was super awesome and told me what time to get there to get some or if I wanted she would set some aside for me. I wish I had gotten the name of her farm (no signs I saw) because they were super nice.
- Lots of samples. I love trying new foods and this market had plenty of vendors giving out little bites and tastes of products.
- Cupcakes! These were not the best cupcakes I’ve ever had but I enjoyed having a little snack while I was there (planned for this!) and these hit the sugar desire
- Dried fruit vendor. It was her first time at the market and she was very nice. I enjoyed her dried fruit samples because it was just that dried fruit with no preservatives or anything icky.
What I Didn’t Like About City Farmers’ Market at Britomart
- There only seemed to be two stalls with fresh fruits and vegetables and one was very small and had little selection. It definitely had less of a farmers’ market vibe and more of a market.
- A lot of the food I did try wasn’t that great. Unfortunately the falafel I bought was some of the worst I’ve ever had and I couldn’t finish them. They were cold and just unappealing which was disappointing at $2 for 5 small bites.
- The market was super small!It only stretched a block if that.
- There was not a lot of variety. Because the market was so small there wasn’t a wide variety of produce or foods to try from vendors. Altogether this lack of variety and size made it disappointing.
- There was not much seafood which is something I just assumed would be abundantly available since, you know, we are right next to the ocean living on an island.
Thoughts About City Farmers’ Market at Britomart
I admit that I was really disappointed in this market. Based on my previous experience with city farmers’ markets in places like Memphis, Seattle, SF, and other US cities I expected the farmers market in the city to be huge and awesome. It wasn’t. It reminded me a bit of the farmers markets I’ve visited in tiny suburb towns back at home. I guess my expectations are what made it a disappointing experience but I was hoping for more. We were downtown in the midst of lots of hustle and bustle yet very close to the water so I expected lots of farms to be represented as well as seafood options.
I would say that the best quality about this market is the fact that you can get kale there if you go early. I might have gone on a bad weekend so I’ll return later in the summer but I’m more excited to try out other farmers markets that I’ve heard good things about. This will be a fun summer project to try all the farmers’ markets out!
I recently went to the St. Paul Minnesota’s farmer’s market this summer. It was AMAZING all that I could find, and all that I got for $20!!! #LOVE supporting the local farmers, too!!! :)
That’s awesome! I really want to visit St. Paul one day, I’ve heard so many cool things about it!
Farmers markets are very new to NZ, and are really only taking off. To be honest, I was super surprised that downtown Auckland even HAD one!! In Wellington they have been going for a few years and are really well developed – HUGE vege and fruit range, but that is also because so much of New Zealand’s produce is grown near Wellington so the farmers can sell what the supermarkets don’t buy cheaply at the markets. I am not sure how much of the market gardens are near Auckland (although I do remember a lot being South Auckland/Bombay Hills way).
In terms of fish – I guess so much of it gets exported!!!!! NZ can get more money selling it to overseas buyers!
I would DEFINITELY recommend making the trip to 1) the Parnell French Markets (AMAZING) and 2) up to the Matakana Markets (on Saturdays). This is a beautiful drive, only about an hour north of Auckland and its a purpose built market – super cute and gifty and I always take tourists up there when I am home at my mum & dads in Auckland. LOVE it.
I am looking forward to hearing what other markets you explore!
I’m surprised there are new to NZ, but that answers some of the questions I had. And the fish thing makes sense but I still wish at least some of it was cheaper/more available beyond fish and chip shops.
So far the best I’ve been too is actually the closest to where I live – the Otara Farmers’ Market on Saturdays is great and HUGE. I love it. Plus I get a steamed pork bun every time and it’s delish.
I’ll add both of those to my growing list! I’m so excited about this summer and exploring the markets!
I’ll definitely second the Parnell market recommendation. We went last year when we stayed overnight in Parnell. I loved the pastries on sale, and there was quite a bit of fresh produce, as well. It wasn’t terribly big, though.
The best markets in NZ I’ve been to are the monthly Tamahere market (produce and craft… http://www.whatsonhamilton.co.nz/eventlisting.aspx?id=193) and the Nelson Saturday morning market.
Fish? I’ve been disappointed, also expecting fabulous cheap fish being on an island, but nooo. Try the specialist fish shops, perhaps?
Thanks for the recommendations Cilla!
You would think there would be tons of fresh, cheap seafood. Logical, right? Leah made good points about the fish though but I still want to find some!
Wow, I am a bit surprised too but I suppose that NZ is just only starting farmers markets (which is very surprising to me, as well). Us silly Americans, eh?
Now I want a cupcake! :P
That’s too bad that the market wasn’t quite as up-to-par as you had wished based on the other cities that you’ve lived in (San Fran and most CA markets are pretty stellar!) but hey, at least you went, right…because that cupcake looks pretty awesome :)
FINALLY after 40 years I became a famers mkt woman a few years back.
We love it.
for the food and the family time.
It is a good family time trip, right? I totally expect our family to do weekly farmers’ market trips from now until forever. ;)
Hey Mary,
If you want good fish I recommend the Auckland fish Market near the viaduct, isn’t cheap but has good variety if you go early. Other option is to make friends with someone who has a boat so you can get out and catch your own!
Will be following your farmers market reviews with interest,
as have only ever been to Parnell and Matakana ones.
Bridget
Thanks for the info Bridget! I actually would like to go fishing eventually but for now will have to stick to buying. I’ll try out that fish market soon.
Thank cause i really lean something new today
There’s no bigger irritation when they advertise a farmer’s market and it turns out there’s more market than farmers. If I wanted to look at earrings or homemade soaps, I’d seek it out. When I go to a farmer’s market I want lots of fresh fruits and veggies and the mini thrill of seeing who has the best produce for the best price. I seriously miss the one vendor we got our lettuce, zukes and radishes from. We’d drive 18 miles just to get them from her.
Hello! Thank you for sharing your Farmers Market visit! I loved your pictures. :)
I visit our Farmers Market here in Blacksburg, Va., on occasion. It’s neat, but I have the same issue as you: it’s teeny, tiny! It does not even fill one block. It fills a parking lot behind Main Street. The prices on a lot of the items seem too high, but I’m not very keen on what the norm is. :) Learning! I visited a Farmers Market about 45 minutes from here a few weekends ago and it was GREAT! I got some apples, some peppers, some amusing chats with local farmers and lunch at a great little local cafe. Yum!
Hi – I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I’m de-lurking to recommend another Auckland market :) The Hobsonville Point Market – http://www.hobsonvillepoint.co.nz/community/hobsonville-point-farmers-market/
It’s located on what used to be the old Hobsonville RNZAF Base. It’s a fairly new market (in that it only really kicked off last summer I think) but it’s still growing and is worth a trip if you’re doing the rounds of Auckland farmers markets :)
Nice! That’s one I haven’t heard of yet. Thanks for the info and delurking! :)
Yup, as I was saying on Twitter, farmers’ markets round here really do vary a lot. I’m very keen to try the Howick one myself (after my mother said she bought a cauli there that lasted for a month) and I know that the Pukekohe one is usually fabulous for fresh produce – like someone mentioned earlier, it’s in a market gardening area so there’s plenty of produce that the supermarkets don’t want! I love attending all sorts of markets though – mum and I went to a fabulous market in Mt Maunganui last summer called the Little Big Market – heaps of random food and crafty vendors!
Yes, here in SF we have tons of farmers markets. They’re all over, in most neighborhoods, and they tend to be different sizes. The one by work is pretty small and the one by my house isn’t that large either, but I’ll bet you went to one of the 3 really big ones here in SF or the big one in Oakland. The only thing i find about our farmers markets is that they are expensive. Then again, everything here is expensive. But when i lived in Boston, we had a huge one that was super duper cheap, perfect for roomie and i who were poor at the time. Thanks for the post cuz i love learning stuff bout other places!
Hey Mary – For the run down on Auckland markets:
Otara isn’t really a farmers market, but it does have the best variety and price for produce (they generally have a fish stall as well – but set away from the other stalls). The other markets to check out for quality produce are the Manurewa markets and Clevedon markets.
You’ll find that on the whole, food is expensive in NZ and unless you have tapped into a supplier (mostly out south towards Pukekohe) you aren’t going to get much for your $.
Clevedon, Britomart, Parnell and Matakana are all boutique markets – rather than farmer’s.
Pukekohe, Otara and Manurewa have the good produce (but stay away from Ellerslie and Pokeno! – they are rubbish, literally people selling second hand crap!)
Good luck!
Regarding the lack of seafood – the Auckland Fish Market on the other side of the city would be the ones selling the majority of the fresh seafood. If I were a vendor selling seafood, in Auckland, I wouldn’t sell it at the Britomart market, I’d sell it at the Auckland Fish Market; it’s been around for years and people know to go there specifically for seafood. It localises all of the fishy smells too to one part of the city ;)
Thanks so much for your blog! We haven’t been on twitter for a few days so have only just seen it. We are the kale people that you talk about! So great to get feedback (good and not so good!).
We grow everything ourselves in Clevedon and are at the Britomart, Howick, Mairangi Bay, Clevedon and soon to be at Mangere Bridge markets each weekend. You can find out more about us by visiting our website http://www.clevedonherbsproduce.com.
Thanks again
P.S. We actually ordered some signs for our stalls a few weeks ago!
Thanks so much for commenting and letting me know all that info! I will definitely be checking you guys out next week, possible at Howick!