A West Australian mandarin grower is shutting his seasonal roadside stall after 17 years due to people stealing up to 40 per cent of the stock laid out each day.
Bruce Crain said 70 bags of clementines were recently stolen from a stall at the end of his driveway near Capel, 200 kilometres south of Perth, in just one weekend.
The thefts have prompted Mr Crain to close the stall just a week into his usual season.
A feature of food-producing regions across Australia, stalls are set out by growers on the roads outside their farms.
But they depend on customers’ adherence to an honour system, ranging from a locked tin to deposit money in, to visible bank transfer details, to turn a profit.
Mr Crain said the roadside sales represented less than 1 per cent of total revenue, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
“We have never seen this level of theft from the honesty box,”
he said.
“The traffic has doubled, and unfortunately, it has brought with it a level of dishonesty.”
Bruce Crain owns a family-run orchard in Capel in the state’s South West. (Supplied: Bruce Crain)
Shutting up shop
Mr Crain said some theft was not unusual, but the level of dishonesty this year was “insane”.
“I’d often get text messages during the day: ‘Bruce, the stall’s empty, can you get more fruit down there?'” he said
“And we’d race down there and put more fruit down there, only to find out it wasn’t being paid for.
“It’s just painful.”
Mr Crain said he ran the stall to give locals and visitors the chance to buy his fruit directly.
“We love the fact that a lot of people … come down and buy our fruit and are very happy to get it from the end of the road,” he said.
Mr Crain said he would consider reopening the stall next year, but any restart would come with stringent security measures to help prevent further theft.
The clementine mandarin season runs for just six weeks a year. (Supplied: Bruce Crain)
Bad apples
The operator of a local guide to the South West’s roadside stalls said Mr Crain’s experience was not an isolated one.
Christine Martins founded an online roadside stall directory, the Backyard Pantry, in 2021.
Back then, stall numbers were on the rise, with honest consumers credited for the roadside boom.
Ms Martins said the trend had taken a sour turn and estimated the region had lost up to half its stalls.
Some roadside farm stallholders rely on the honesty system to turn a profit. (ABC Great Southern: Sophie Johnson)
“Some people come through and steal, and these producers can’t afford to just keep providing these products … and sharing them for free,” she said.
“There’s always a few bad apples who spoil it for everyone else.“
Ms Martins said roadside stalls were an integral part of the region’s identity.
The Crain family has been operating the seasonal roadside stall for 17 years. (Supplied: Bruce Crain)
“It’s part of the charm,” she said.
“It would definitely take away some of the experience of driving and stopping at all these stalls, so it would be a huge loss.”
