Value of Local
Brendan Blake of Maxi IGA Castlemaine has never seen such massive change as been experienced during the COVID-19 restrictions.
As consumers we have recently witnessed scenes of empty supermarket shelves never seen before in our lifetime. An obsession with toilet paper, hand sanitiser, rice and pasta became an acute issue as people worldwide were urged by governments to ‘stay at home’ during the Corona virus restrictions. A spotlight has been shone on local manufacturers and suppliers in every rural and regional community creating a new level of loyalty and appreciation.
Brendan Blake grew up in supermarkets. By Year 11 he was managing one of his father’s stores every weekend in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. Twenty years ago, Brendan purchased Castlemaine Maxi IGA in regional Victoria and officially became a store owner. Despite this extensive experience Brendan says that he has never seen such massive change as has been experienced during the COVID-19 restrictions. The good news is that local independent supermarkets have become even more highly valued in their communities and Brendan has become an accidental ‘foodie’ in the public eye.
‘Over the past eight weeks, it’s been change like I’ve never seen before,’ he admits. ‘Suppliers have been unable to supply. Customers have bought out the store. We’ve had to learn some quick tricks.’
Brendan does not take his duties lightly. Maxi IGA is the major food supplier in the City of Castlemaine with a population of around 8,000 people and a further 10,000 counting nearby smaller towns. He also employs around 230 local people.
While previously customers had the choice of shopping in the closest regional city of Bendigo where the big chain supermarkets operate in abundance, travel restrictions directed all the locals to the Maxi IGA and one other smaller independent IGA store in Castlemaine.
‘I’m responsible for supplying food to the local population,’ says Brendan. ‘I have to go and find food.’ … and toilet paper I silently add! Almost as if he heard me, Brendan launches into the story of how he sourced a semi load of toilet paper from a friend who just happens to be a toilet paper manufacturer.
He has also reached out to many small businesses.
‘As soon as COVID happened I told the local providers that I would support them. For instance, Edmund at The Mill had to shut his cafe down overnight. We sell his Coffee Basics coffee beans and help keep the cash flow going.’
Enthusiastically Brendan steers me around the store pointing out new shelf displays of local products. Everything from locally made soaps to honey, puddings, and smallgoods. He is a big fan of the Oakwood range of products from The Mill Castlemaine.
‘We’ve always stocked local produce, the range is driven by what people want, but I put the call out so others could join while there is no foot traffic past their stores.’
‘There has been a consumer rejection towards overseas product lines,’ he observes. ‘Everyone is looking for Australian made.’
One major issue, still relevant two months on, has been the difficulty in sourcing staples such as rice and flour. Thinking laterally, Brendan approached restaurant wholesalers to purchase their bulk products, for which they had a depleted market. Product was then repackaged into smaller 1kg packs.
Unlike other supermarkets that purchase packaged meat from the big distributors in Melbourne, Castlemaine Maxi IGA buys whole carcasses and runs its own inhouse butcher department. This turned out to be a massive advantage during the restrictions.
‘We never ran out of mincemeat,’ Brendan tells me proudly. ‘We had bucket loads while all the big supermarket chains sold out.’
Perhaps the most surprising element for Brendan has been the massive surge in social media support for the store and himself personally.
‘We started to inform people on Facebook. We have rice. We have pasta.’
These simple announcements soon escalated to higher levels. ‘I enjoy cooking. I cook for the family every night, so I started sharing recipes and doing product reviews in the store. It’s like a blog.’
While the store had maintained a Facebook page for five previous years its static following quickly tripled. Clearly a numbers man, Brendan informs me that the Castlemaine store now has 1,666 followers as of today. Without any support or training he admits to doing all this on his iPhone as he walks around the store. Judging by the comments, his followers love it.
‘I’ve become a social media junkie!’ he exclaims and for another exceptionally good reason.
‘Previously our marketing catalogue took up to ten days to publish and distribute. Facebook and email are instant. It is one tenth of our previous advertising cost and has a far wider reach,’ says Brendan.
While saving money in some areas he has also invested in others.
‘The staff here are wonderful. We had to keep them safe. I made a phone call at 9.00am one morning to a plastic manufacturer and by 2.00pm we had plastic sneeze guards installed on every workstation. Afterwards the big chain stores followed our lead.’
Automatic hand sanitiser dispensers and social distancing markers on the floors are here to stay. New lighting and signage are brightening up the store. Brendan points out each and every little improvement explaining the detail to me. Local trades are being employed and supported.
A customer my entire life, I am exhausted by the time we complete a tour of my local supermarket looking at it in an entirely different light. Hands on and methodical, Brendan is constantly straightening products and chatting with staff along the way.
Showing incredible willpower, I have resisted tasting samples at the new fresh yogurt bar. A selection of Georgina’s cakes was ready and waiting for Brendan’s daily visit to the inhouse bakery. Apparently, he had to photograph the previous day’s vanilla slice being cut on the tray as well as taste it. Judging by the friendly jibes, a fair portion did not make it to the shelves.
Oblivious to my lack of culinary skills Brendan provides me with tips of exquisite products that I must try. Of far more use, he provides me with a valuable insight into what has gone on behind the scenes in a business selling essential products during this extraordinary period of time. The value of local manufacturers and producers has also been highlighted.
Like everyone else, Brendan Blake did not anticipate 2020 being such a massive challenge but admits that much good has come out of it. ‘It has been a rebirthing of the whole business. It has been a good experience.’
Will this appreciation for local suppliers and retailers last, I wonder?
‘People will not forget,’ Brendan is adamant.
I certainly hope not.
KERRY ANDERSON: Founder of the Operation Next Gen program and author of ‘Entrepreneurship: It’s Everybody’s Business,’ Kerry works with small businesses and rural communities to help them embrace new opportunities. In 2018 she was named as one of Australia’s Top 50 Regional Agents of Change. READ MORE