Fresh and local the key to Cessnock small business success

Forced to slow down and stay closer to home for periods during the last few months has led people to think more about where their food is coming from. That is encouraging people to think fresh and shop local, to the benefit of some of Cessnock’s locally owned businesses on Wollombi Road.

Wollombi Road Providore, owned by Michael Jenness and Lisa Cussen, opened in 2015. It stocks fruits and vegetables, groceries, deli meats, milk and cheeses as well as ready made meals and fresh flowers. The focus on local farm produce means most of the items stocked come from within an hour’s drive of the store, Michael said.

“It shows people the difference between produce that has been picked the day before it’s there on the shelf rather than produce that’s been sourced from wherever and stored for some time,” he said.

“We are expanding our local range all the time.”

Recently, the store started to stock a new supply of mushrooms grown in Singleton, bringing their local mushroom supply up to 75 per cent. They also stock a gourmet mushroom variety grown at Old Bar, which shoppers would be unlikely to find in the national supermarket chains.

Arrangements with local eateries makes up a large proportion of the providore’s business, as cafes and restaurants embrace a paddock to plate approach.

The providore, which operates seven days a week, had been developing an online orderly system just as the COVID-19 restrictions hit earlier this year and had since made it a staple of their service. Customers can order online, call when they are in the driveway and have the items put in their boot.

The business’ face-to-face offerings will also be increasing in coming weeks, with the introduction of a small cafe and eating area soon to be unveiled, which will serve coffee, juices and ready made meals.

While pandemic times had been difficult, Michael said it had encouraged shoppers to slow down and think about where their food was coming from and how far it had travelled.