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Cooks on the Coast looking for those hard-to-find ingredients for their Asian dishes will welcome the opening of Joy Mart, on the corner of Wainui Road and Silverdale Street, in Silverdale.
The store stocks a full range of grocery items, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen food, bread and eggs. But its specialty is its range of Asian food sourced from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.
Owner Gene Jiang says he recognised the need for the store when he joined the Chinese Church, based at Kingsway School.
“Up until now, people have had to travel to Albany to buy the goods that are on my shelves,” he says. “We already have more than 500 Chinese people on the Coast following us on WeChat so we are confident the store will be meeting a need.”
The well-stocked shelves include everything from dried mushrooms, seaweed and bitter melon to jellyfish in sesame oil and dried pork skin. There is a large range of vinegars, sauces, herbs and spices, and snacks, and rice can be bought in 10kg sacks.
“In China, I was a news presenter and journalist in the Sishuan province and then in Zhejiang, near Shanghai, so retail is new to me. I hope my customers will give me plenty of feedback and suggestions. I will need their help to give them the best service.”
Gene moved to New Zealand with his wife Helen and daughter Grace in 2013.
“Helen and I met in the United Kingdom in 2006, where I was studying and she was working as a senior carer. When we returned permanently to China in 2009, I found I missed the western lifestyle.
“At first, we tried to emigrate to Canada, but then God opened the door for us to come to New Zealand.”
Before buying the Silverdale business, Gene worked at a Chinese news website based in Auckland.
He says that as he settles into the business, he will expand his range of goods to include other cultures such as Indian.
