Fill & Carry Fruit Market

Peter and Helen Lamaris bought Fill & Carry Fruit Market in 1987, bringing decades of experience from their earlier fruit and vegetable stores in Sydney, including one of the first self-serve produce shops in Kensington back in 1965. Their son Leo now runs the Kanwal market with his wife Irene, keeping it a genuinely family-run operation nearly forty years on.

A wholesaler as much as a retailer

Fill & Carry supplies more than walk-in customers. The business wholesales fresh fruit and vegetables to a number of schools, clubs, cafes and restaurants across the Central Coast and into Newcastle, alongside its retail trade on Wallarah Road. That dual role, part neighbourhood grocer and part regional supplier, is part of why it has stayed viable as a family business through decades of supermarket competition.

The gluten free range in particular stands out for a produce market of this size, with the business marketing it as one of the largest such ranges on the Central Coast, alongside organics and dairy-free stock aimed at shoppers with dietary restrictions rather than just fresh fruit and veg buyers.

Good to know before you go

Trading seven days a week with a long daily window means there is rarely a bad time to visit, though Sunday closes two hours earlier than the rest of the week. Schools, cafes and clubs on the Central Coast and in Newcastle can also arrange wholesale supply directly through the business rather than buying retail.