Fresh Competition Hots Up

Danks St markets, Waterloo.  As mentioned in the previous post, our local area has seen the opening of a farmers-style market this past weekend.  Saturday was pretty quiet, but Sunday was very busy, drawing as it did on the 'ready-made' market from the large and very busy Hillsong church across the road (see pic), which has multiple services on a Sunday. The range of produce was reasonable, but disappointing for not having the promised wine.  The interior is very basic, and some operators were pleasant and outgoing, encouraging you to taste the food.  Another positive is the parking, which is a rarity in the area.

On the downside, the warehouse structure has very poor ventilation, and will suffer on the warm summer days.  The range is currently somewhat limited, and quality looked ok, but not as consistent as the more upmarket Fratelli Fresh around the corner. Some operators seemed more like producers than retailers - more smiles and service required, I think :))

Apart  from this market, which will be open Saturdays and Sundays, the area also has the aforementioned, and long-established Fratelli Fresh, a Macro Whole Foods organic store, and the brand new Coles supermarket (see below), in addition to the nearby competition in Surry Hills, including a wide variety of fresh food stores in the village shopping centre.  The competition is hotting up.

The Famous Fratelli Fresh

Fratelli Fresh, Danks St, Waterloo.  This fresh produce outlet is legendary in Sydney.  The fitout is basic, no more than a warehouse, parking is a pain, prices are not cheap, and it is often cramped and busy. However, the difference is the quality of  the produce - period.  Worth a visit.

FRESH CUES

This display in Fratelli Fresh, Danks St, Waterloo demonstrates a bunch of the cues necessary to signal freshness.  Fratelli Fresh is a traditional green grocer that has operated out of a warehouse stud for some time, long before it became fashionable amongst store designers.  The natural light demonstrates that product which shows colour in that light is fresh.  The brown hessian and paper bags signal 'traditional grocer', and 'quality', and these days have almost an inverse 'snobbishness'. The boxes and blackboards signal a 'marketplace' also suggesting freshness, being close to the producer (while in the middle of the city), and a return to basics. While nothing can substitute for quality product, these cues all serve to subtly reinforce the decision to shop here, and pay a premium.