Time’s up for V&A Food Market traders after new lease is signed with global entertainment and media group

12 Dec 2022

Traders have been told the market is closing towards the end of January 2023, at the height of the high season, and they cannot be accommodated elsewhere. This would have been their first ‘good’ season in years.

Out with the old, in with the new — the V&A Waterfront’s Food Market will be closing on 22 January 2023, to make way for the Time Out Market, which promises to showcase some of the Mother City’s choicest food and drinks experiences.

Many would argue it’s high time that the Food Market undergoes a revamp because over the years, with a lack of investment in the building, the venue has become dated, the offering has thinned out, and it’s become less and less of an attraction for visitors.

But some stallholders accuse the Waterfront of forcing out niche operators in favour of a moneyed international brand that will be housing restaurants, bars and cultural experiences in an up-market food hall environment.

One stallholder, who has traded for years at the market but fears reprisal for speaking out, said many traders and their staff would have to close their V&A businesses because the tourist destination is already oversubscribed with food providers, and rentals in other parts of the precinct are unaffordable.

The Makers Landing market, positioned away from the main drag at the Silo District, is not an option as the Food Market traders told Business Maverick it is too far from the V&A foot traffic and tends to attract local support rather than tourists, on whom they are heavily reliant.

From mid-January, once the lease with the current Food Market landlord expires, the building will be closed for an extensive refurbishment and reopened towards the end of 2023.

Time Out, the new tenant, is a global media and entertainment company, which opened its first market in Lisbon in 2014. It now has markets in Dubai, Boston, Chicago, New York and Montreal.

Many of the existing traders at the V&A have applied for alternate spaces but there is none, says the operator. “So, in essence, the small guys are forced out and replaced by the big guys and once again small business plays second fiddle to the power of money.”

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The Waterfront is saturated with food outlets, the trader says, particularly at this time of the year; there is no space and there's a massive waiting list. Most of the traders simply cannot afford Waterfront rentals. “Ideally, we need a basic structure — somewhere which can house market-type stallholders — not a shop in the mall.”

Run down and lacking investment for a decade, the trader says the food market has been a money-spinner but the landlord, who was subletting from the Waterfront, spent no money on it. “Therein lies the problem. Of course, Covid didn’t help, and we’ve all come through 2½ years of appallingly bad trade — and in some cases, no trade.”

Another trader told Business Maverick they were disappointed not only that their first good season in years was being curtailed so abruptly, with three months’ notice, but that traders had been informed the market would close at the height of summer, when they had the potential to earn well into autumn.

“We were bouncing back and looking forward to a wonderful season, which would normally go right the way through to the end of April. And suddenly bang, we’re told, ‘you’re leaving in January’.”

Donald Kau, the head of communications and PR at the V&A Waterfront, explains that with the opening of Time Out Cape Town towards the end of 2023, the Waterfront will be bringing an international markets experience to South Africa that would present a line-up of the best of local food concepts to greet local and international visitors.

“Leading cities find [opportunities] to be exceptional and best in class. With Makers Landing as our space for food entrepreneurs, the Oranjezicht Food Market catering to artisanal tastes, our main restaurants providing for every taste and price point, it was time to refresh our food hall concept and to bring a high-quality international brand into our ecosystem. Time Out Market is for locals and travellers to experience homegrown talent, who in return stand to gain international exposure through the Time Out Market brand.”

Kau says Time Out Market will be responsible for the curation of the food market and manage the space under a contract agreement.

The new vendors have to be independent operators, with no chain restaurants allowed.

So far, only three of the current Food Market tenants have been accommodated elsewhere at the Waterfront: Knysna Oyster Company, Seven Colours Eatery and Royal Tea.

“We have had applications from the majority of the tenants in the Food Market and now have most of them on our waiting list should something appropriate come up — unfortunately, when we did have space, tenants were not interested in places offered to some, such as at the Clock Tower, and now we are fully let.

“The vast majority of the remaining tenants currently have alternative premises that they/the brand trade from, so this is also not the only income source.”

That’s not the case, say the traders, as many operators have focused on the V&A for years as their resources were already stretched, especially over the past three years. And while few can argue against a revamp for the tired old Food Market, it’s unclear why the traders’ season could not have been extended. DM/BM

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