To enhance the Christmas Spirit, additional decorations have been erected as can be seen from this photo.

 

 

By Tony Thomas

 

Office workers by the hundreds are now collecting farm fresh food from Melbourne's first-ever CBD based farmers’ market.

 

The market is managed by RC Central Melbourne-Sunrise for  charity projects. It's in Goldsbrough Lane by the corner of Bourke & William Streets in the middle of Melbourne’s CBD office precinct.    

 

 A typical shopper might emerge from the Lane with fresh-ground nut butters, organic chocolate, Chai Mix, fresh berries, macaroons, artisan biscuits, a bottle of cool climate Victorian wine, free-range pork and pasta sauce.

As one worker posted on the market’s Facebook: “It’s worth visiting on your way home. The cheese and jam -- yum!”

 

Says Rotary’s organizer Greg Cuthbert: “We’re open when office workers can duck in for a few minutes or homeward bound. They pick up produce for dinner and chat with the growers. It’s quite different from the weekend-only markets all around Melbourne.”  

 

It currently operates 4.30-7.30pm fortnightly on first and third Thursdays of each month. The club provides five volunteers for setting up and packing up.

 

There’s an all-round push to make it weekly. Cuthbert is talking to other Rotary clubs about labour and profit sharing from a weekly market in 2016.

“The market could replace people’s regular shop on a Saturday morning. They’ll get their Saturdays back, and quality fruit and vegetables.  Food tastes much better when you’ve met those who made it or grew it.”

 

Cuthbert took two years and nearly lost his sanity screening 40+ potential sites across the city. “We had to find a flat space which was undercover, space for loading and unloading for stallholders, large numbers of office workers nearby and ideally a site with cafes and restaurants people can relax in after they’ve bought their market stuff,” he said. “We finally hit pay dirt with Goldsbrough Lane. The GPT Group has two large office towers there, there’s big corporate headquarters nearby like CGU and NAB within walking distance, and the laneway already has fantastic retailers. The GPT Group is incredibly supportive by providing the Laneway for no cost and providing tables, cleaning and power.

 

 The City of Melbourne and their street trading team helped us all  though the permit process.”

 

The club’s takings go to charities including deprived schools in Laos. “The club’s needed a regular income like this for ages,” Cuthbert says.

“We want to get accreditation from the Victorian Farmers’ Market Association by our next market on November 5th – as we are committed to sustainable, slow-food grown by real Victorian farmers and produce made by food artisans – not shonky resellers of other people’s food." 

 

The market uses Instagram and Facebook social media for promotion and to help people find and share their market experience with friends. Cuthbert says, "Connecting in a meaningful way with busy office workers is challenging, and social media creates real word of mouth to extend the market’s reach quickly to those near the laneway.

 

We've helped the stallholders create their own social media accounts and recently had a picture of the market “re-grammed" (shared) by the influential Broadsheet publication leading to nearly 800 followers on Instagram in first two months.#

 

Market Instagram link: https://instagram.com/goldsbroughgourmet/

Contact: Greg.Cuthbert@auspost.com.au