We hope you can find the answer to your question here. If you don't, please email us. You may want to see the Quick Guide for Traders that covers all the markets and stall fees and can be easily printed off.
The questions dealt with in the section are:
Using electricity for heating, such as when cooking, puts heavy loads on existing electric circuits and cannot take place at the markets. There is a flat charge of $10 to make one connection. We do not provide leads or otherwise handle connections to power. The safety of the stringing of power cords is your responsibility. If they pass through any open areas they must be strung high in the air or covered with a safety mat. You must implement any instructions the market manager gives you concerning safety of such wires. Power supply is NOT guaranteed. We accept no responsibility for interruptions in power supply. If security of your supply is critical, you should bring your own generator, or use gas.
Good presentation is essential. You must bring tables, with table cloths to go down to the floor on all sides, and some form of shade cover. We recommend a gazebo. They are mandatory for all food vendors, and at Leichhardt, Hornsby, Kings Cross, gazeebos are required by the council.
AT HORNSBY YOU MUST USE A GAZEBO THAT WE SUPPLY FOR $229 UNLESS YOU HAVE A SATISFACTORY ENGINEERS REPORT ON THE GAZEBO YOU WISH TO USE. YOU MUST WEIGH EACH LEG WITH 20 KILOS At Hornsby you must use a gazeebo that we can supply, (for $340) unless you have an engineers report on the particular Gazeebo you wish to use. You must weigh each leg of the gazeebo with 20kilos.
Market stall insurance is available 24/7 at www.netinsure.com.au over the internet from $105 up. This INCLUDES product liability cover for food vendors.
If you don't have internet access, phone Russell Chegwyn at netinsure on 9604 6166.
We are happy to accept cover with from other companies but only if they are authorised to do business in Australia.
If you come to one of our markets and you are not able to demonstrate that you have cover you will be charged $20 (except in the Hall at Marrickville where it is $15) and covered under our policy for the day. This cover only extends to public liability and NOT product liability.
We do not want traders to shop around our markets (cherry pick). In consequence we have a policy which may stop a trader joining at one market and then after adding a further market giving up the first market. This kind of action brings into question the viability of the first market without any benefits for the markets as a whole. Equally, we may offer a trader a package (eg one very busy market and one quieter market). Again we would not allow the package to be broken.
NSW Food Authority have published a leaflet written from the food vendors point of view concerning what you need to know about food allergens. You can download Be Prepared Be Allergy Aware by clicking on the link.
The take home message is that you must either have a sign or the info on the label (if packaged) or tell potential customers when asked if food contains: peanut, tree nut, egg, milk, fish, crustacean, sesame, soy, gluten or sulphides.
Disabled access is available at all venues.
You have to take handling food seriously. Unless you are experienced you should contact your local authority and see if they do any courses for food stalls or know where you can undertake one.
There is a really great illustrated two pager published under a Government initiative that any food trader should print off and review. You can download a copy here
All local authorities will expect you to comply with health regulations and you can phone your own local authority and discuss their requirements. Some councils will expect you to apply before you trade and we can normally advise you of this and provide the papers.
If you are handling foods that require to be kept cool or hot you should also read the Federal Food Standard's Food Safety: Temperature control of potentailly hazardous foods.
You MUST also read our own Safe Food Manual. It is a condition of trading that you operate in accordance with it. If you want to download the final page of the manual - THE DAILY REPORT - it can be found here.
You also have to comply with labelling requirements. Unpackaged goods are generally exempt, but a good starting point is to review the NSW Food Authority leaflet on labelling here.
You MUST appoint a Food Safety Supervisor if you sell/serve food that is:
It is obligatory for eggs to be stamped with an identifying number by producers in NSW. If you are involved in the sale of or production of eggs you should read NSW Food Authority's leaflet on egg stamping for egg producers.
The fees for a standard stall at each market can be found on the Quick Guide to Markets. In addition:
At Hornsby you are required to pay for a Mall Access Permit (covers three months) the first time you attend.
Stalls occupy space in the market under license, mostly on two weeks notice, and we are unable to offer any other terms. These licenses are NOT transferable but we try and work cooperatively with stallholders who wish to sell their business. There is a fee of $150 payable in advance for the time we have to take on the process.
If you want to sell your stall the first thing you should do email us to see that we are willing to someone else taking your place.
While potential purchasers principal point of contact remains with you, inevitably they wish to contact us and discuss the stall and their security of tenure. Once you have advised us of a potential sale and paid us the $150 fee we are happy to provide this service.
We do reserve the right to approve who trades on the market, and will have to agree to the potential purchaser. Normally this means we wish to see the person is presentable and organised and commits to attend the market as a permanent weekly trader.
Your trading must continue up until the new trader takes over and any bond you may have paid is not transferable or refundable in the event of a sale.
We have two types of traders at our markets. The market rules (which can be reviewed in detail on our booking page) explain the differences in detail but basically Permanents enjoy lower rents, can enter the market earlier and keep the same spot,, but have to keep their rent two weeks in advance and cannot miss markets, rain or shine. Casuals come by the week, enter the market later, pay a higher rent in advance and are placed to suit the day.
On our monthly markets in order to obtain the lower permanents rate you have to be trading at one market and pay for the next market on that day.
Food traders coming to our markets must be willing to give it a three month run. You have to give anything a fair go; every business takes time to grow; you have to build strong customer relations. It is because of this we insist that all food traders are permanents.
There are several sites we operate on where look and feel are considered critical by the land owner. We refer to these as Silver Service Sites. At Silver Service Sites the following standards have to be complied with:
1. You must use a 3 by 3 (or 6 by 3) gazebo with our standard blue top. We strongly recommend you use our standard supply gazebos but if you already have a similar gazebo we will accept it with one of our standard blue tops or a top of exactly the same colour. We can supply these tops at the special price of $75 for use at Silver Service Sites. Make sure your gazebo is free of dirt and grease and not damaged.
2. If you want to use side hanging for shade or shelter from the wind, you should purchase a proprietary side wall and not simply hang a sheet.
3. You must use tablecloths down to the floor. You must use at least one of our standard market tablecloths. We are willing to supply one of these free of cost to permanent traders and further ones for $20 each for use at Silver Service Sites. Make sure your tablecloths are clean.
4. Make sure your staff are clean and presentable.
5. You must make sure waste, empty boxes, etc are out of sight.
It is difficult to negotiating the availablility of Silver Service Sites and the landowners will not allow trading there if the required standards are not complied with.
3 by 3 meters in most cases.. Bring everything you will need including tables, covers, etc.
Working at high temperatures (over 36 degrees) is a growing problem. Of course it can be dangerous although it would not normally be for healthy people who avoid strenuous activity, drink lots of water and stay in the shade.
If you are not well or have some chronic condition it may be unwise to work at over 36 degrees. You must consider your own condition and make your own decision on this. The vast majority of traders prefer for us to carry on.
Bookings are firm and not weather dependant so your decision does not absolve you from your stall fee.
Bad weather can affect markets. However, the only reason for not trading is WHS.
Weather can basically only represent a hazard owing to high wind. Rain in itself is extremely unlikely ever to be a hazard. So that we can view the dangers that wind can cause objectively we have purchased wind speed equipment and now will work to the following rules derived from http://andvari.vedur.is/english/wind_eng.html:
The market will be abandoned if the average wind goes consistently over 7 on the Beaufort Scale (61k per hour).
The decision to abandon is in the hand of the market management. ALWAYS COME TO MARKET. WE TRADE EVERY WEEK! CUSTOMERS AND OTHER TRADERS EXPECT IT.
Hail and lightning also represent hazards. In the former case take cover as hail storms are typically short lived. In the latter case ensure that you do not try and take tents down or walk with poles or umbrellas up. Lightning tends to ground itself between a high point on the ground and the cloud.
Always bring your current insurance to the market. If you sell food also bring your registration with NSW Food (See what about Food Regulations below)
If you use a vehicle to handle meat, dairy, smallgoods or poultry (animal products] as your business and not simply as part of a catering operation you have to register your vehicle with NSW Food.
All vehicles used to transport food must:
There are good reasons why deep fat fryers are not commonly seen on markets. There are documented cases of sever injury being sustained from not just improper use but poor deployment of these devices.
In addition to this the electrical requirements of deep fat fryers often exceed that available at market sites. If you have to use a deep fat fryer buy a gas one. Please do not assume we can power electrical unit. If you do have an electric unit remember you must bring mats to manage any trip risks from trailing wires.
Beyond that set out above, if you are using a deep fat fryer you must comply with the following points:
In addition to fire/burning hazards deep fat fryers also need to be sheltered from rain as hot oil reacts badly to water.
Normally you can park on site, and often a trading pitch will be available behind which you can park your vehicle. No parking on site is available at Hornsby, or Kings Cross. Multi story parking is available at all Mall locations and we have negotiated special low cost deals for standard vehicles at the last two sites.
Australian Law endeavors to prohibit agreements to restrict market access, reduce competition and create exclusive dealing agreements. We operate in an open competitive system and all businesses must recognise and accept this.
In consequence we cannot offer exclusive arrangements or other measures to stop market access. We do try and balance the range of stalls at the market but no trader should expect new competition to be excluded at the market.