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Is it the end of the honesty box?
Page 1 of 2 5:00AM Sunday June 10, 2007
By Jared Savage
Ross Mackay says stall thieves cost him $1500 a year. Photo / Doug Sherring
A few bad apples have spoiled it for everyone, says a West Auckland orchardist who has had so much fruit stolen from his front gate that he has resorted to video surveillance of his "honesty" box.
Ross and Jenny Mackay say most days fresh fruit is taken from their stall without being paid for - costing the couple up to $1500 each year.
The horticulture industry says the Mackays are far from alone, and the trend has meant the death knell of the traditional Kiwi honesty box.
Growing apples, avocados, mandarins, feijoas and passionfruit on their 12ha property near Helensville for the past 16 years, the Mackays said fruit thefts had become progressively worse.
"It's fresh, cheap fruit and people still insist on stealing it. We work bloody hard to get a product - that's what gets me so wild, so angry," Ross Mackay said.
When the couple first started selling fruit on the roadside in the 1980s, an open yoghurt container held the money so that people could take the correct change.
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