TWO brothers from Chepstow have started a click and collect market to help local producers survive the coronavirus pandemic.
Kit and Matthew Newell, who own Wye Valley Meadery, wanted to offer a “market to give local residents easy and safe access to local products”. By doing this, the brothers planned to keep businesses afloat, as well as keeping those who visited safe.
Mayor of Chepstow councillor Tom Kirton
The first of what is planned to be a series of weekly events for at least the duration of the pandemic, was held on Friday May 1, between 5pm and 7pm.
Other local companies such as Parva Spices, Silver Circle Distillery, and The Preservation Society whose produce is also available via the platform helped out with admin and marketing to get the project off the ground.
Residents ordered products online before attending the market, where they were given a number and could safely collect local produce, which included bread, beer and cheeses.
BBC Countryfile's Kate Humble visited the event
Customers can drive to the Meadery and park in a designated bay, where they will then wait in their car for the delivery.
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Explaining more about the aim of the programme, Kit Newell said: “There are a few companies, such as ours, that fall between the cracks of any available government financial support.
“We had planned to open a tap room and visitors centre this April at the Meadery and had taken on loans to build this space. With all our business plans for this year out the window, we have had to adapt to survive.
Matthew Newell, who helped his brother organise the event
“The idea of the click and collect hub is to have one centralised point where all local orders can be collected from in order to reduce the amount of potential contact with customers, and reduce the amount of trips delivering individual orders.”
Reflecting on the first event, Kit Newell added: “I think it went really well, a few stressful moments when everyone seemed to arrive at once during the first hour, but I don't think this can be avoided. It has given us a few things we are going to improve next week.”
Next week, veg boxes will be introduced to the market. If you would like to place your order or find out more about the market, you can do so at wyevalleyproducers.co.uk.
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