Source: Radio New Zealand
Wonky Box is being affected by growing fuel prices. Supplied / Wonky Box / Sophie Louise Creative
Artisan food producers and speciality food suppliers have expressed their concern about how growing fuel prices will affect their online businesses.
Among those affected is Wonky Box, a delivery service that supplies customers with local produce with imperfections that don’t meet the standards of big supermarket chains.
One of the owners, Angus Simms, described the pressure they’re facing as a “double-edged sword”.
“So we obviously source in and work with producers who work around the country, who are sending products to us. These producers are under significant pressure, especially our growers who rely on diesel and fuel to get product out to consumers.
“At the same time, we’re also in the business of getting our products to our customers doorsteps, so I suppose [there is] the home delivery element as well,” he said.
Simms said that his business is subscription based, meaning their customers expect a set price.
“We can’t chop and change weekly like most fuel variable rates do at the moment. So, it’s going to be a tricky for us to manage, but right now we haven’t decided to make any changes,” he said.
Meanwhile, co-owner of Cranberries Westland, Kate Buckley, said fuel prices was a big topic of conversation between her and other artisan producers recently at The Christchurch Food Show.
“For a lot of us, the online business is a really important part of our business model and of course fuel costs and selling online is going to be a challenge, so we’re just going to have to roll with it and see what happens,” she said.
Kevin Jenkins, founder of artisan cheese subscription service, The Cheese Wheel, said they’ve so far been shouldering the extra costs.
“We’ve tried really, really hard to look for savings within the firm, so it’s a bit tough, but we’re more concerned about the cheesemakers really.”
Jenkins said they sell cheeses that are not available at big retailers, so he was hopeful that subscribers would continue to support small artisans.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
