22 years ago Capel Shire Council began Boyanup markets

The idea came from Capel Shire Council community development co-ordinator Liz Kerr, who had just completed a tour of the Eastern States, looking at popular and purposeful innovations of their rural communities.

Boyanup didn't have a running farmers market, supporting the local farmers and producers in the area.

The inaugural market was hosted in November 2002 and by 10am multiple stalls had already sold out of produce.

The market remains a relaxing experience where consumers get to socialise with the growers and with friends - and the sounds of bird signing is a welcomed change to a supermarket radio.

For stall owners, the market is an opportunity to have face-to-face customer interaction and see first-hand what consumers like about their product.

The market now has 65 stalls, triple the original 21.

As the first boutique cidery in Western Australia, it was fitting The Cidery was one of the first stalls at the Boyanup markets.

The Cidery was born from three mates who were dissatisfied with the ciders on offer, said The Cidery partner John Lucey.

"Eighty per cent of ciders in Australia are made from juice concentrate bought on the world market," Mr Lucey said.

"Ours uses apples from Manjimup, we use the pink lady because it was developed down in Manjimup.

"The other thing is a lot of ciders is they are artificially sweetened, they are like alchopops, whereas these are traditional."

The market encourages people to shop and cook seasonally and understand what life is like as a farmer, Mr Lucey said.

"Farmers are salt of the earth people and all they are looking for is a fair price in the marketplace, that allows them to educate their kids and take their mum and dad off the farm," he said.

"A lot of businesses these days and food are managed and owned by multinationals and corporations.

"You just don't get that same level of interaction and understanding and passion, you can see it talking to the people here."

OTHER GREAT READS:

COVID-19 has been good for the inland regions and businesses such as The Cidery, as people decided to travel inland rather than 'typical' holiday destinations such as Margaret River.

"They came inland to the southern forest, into our regions and our valleys and they've been blown away by the experience," Mr Lucey said.

"When I say to them that 80pc of the food grown in Margaret River is grown in our region, they start to understand why our region is a great destination.

"They've only got to come into town and try some of the restaurants, they will get fantastic food and look at the beverages, the small breweries."

Boreham Valley Nursery owner Derrick Thompson has also been attending the markets since the beginning.

They began their business selling from home "once upon a time," but now operate a fully functioning nursery business that wholesales all across the State.

Mr Thompson said the event was extremely positive for the nursery and acted as marketing for it as well.

"People walking past will see the sign, get your business card and give you a ring in 12 months time and say 'I saw you at the markets'," he said.

"Somebody will come here to buy one tree, and then they want 10 of them, so they will come to get the other nine."

Mr Thompson said he was a pretty quiet character and kept to himself, so it was good to talk to customers and socialise.

"A lot of talking goes on here, it is good, that side of it as well," he said.

The business has changed over the past 20 years, where originally Mr Thompson sold "all sorts of roses" and little plants, now they just grow trees.

Mr Thompson said the Boyanup markets had grown but, in essence, its format had hardly changed at all.

"All the stalls have changed since we've been here, some have come and gone, a lot have used it as a launching pad to start their business and gone to a shop," he said.

Taralea Farm Macadamias owner Bill Nuske said the Boyanup market was great to interact with customers and tell them where the produce comes from.

Taralea Farm grows most of its own macadamias and buys from three different farms in Harvey, Vasse and "the other side" of Donnybrook.

There is also traceability with the nuts, as they all have numbers on the bags, so Mr Nuske is always able to ensure his macadamias are to the highest quality.