Since 1869, the Adelaide Central Market has been a launching pad for small business. Discover why it's the perfect place to turn a pop-up into a storefront.

For Carla Alemao, getting her Portuguese tart business Saudade back into the Adelaide Central Market was a no-brainer.

However, following a bumper stint serving the homemade delicacy as the Market’s Producer in Residence back in 2017, it wasn’t for another five years that Saudade had its homecoming.

“We always wanted a permanent space in the Market but there weren’t any available,” Carla tells CityMag.

“When a space finally came up, we knew we had to take it.”

Now, Carla tells us Saudade’s Market location on Grote Street is her busiest shop (she has three other stores), drawing the eyes of people from across the state, interstate and overseas.

With more than 8 million people walking through the Adelaide Central Market each year, the Market’s popularity is one of its greatest selling points among local traders who want to expand their business.

Leah Trotta, who runs the family-owned distillery Flinders Gin out in the regional town of Quorn, also merits the Central Market’s unique setting.

In 2023, her small-batch distillery bookended the year by featuring in the tiled façade of the Producer in Residence, not once, but twice.

“We were a part of the Producer in Residence in January and then at the end of the year in December and both were really fun and different times for us,” Leah says.

During this time, Leah says she was selling not only gin but also Flinders-made soaps, teas and gin salts to marketgoers.

“As gin and alcohol producers, we know we’re a place for showcasing the Flinders, just as much as we are producers and purveyors of those things that we make,” Leah says.

“The Central Market offered a different flow of people for us, and it gave us reach into a new demographic and made us showcase our product differently.”

As the Adelaide Central Market continues its hunt for food-related businesses to join its ground-floor expansion, Leah is hoping Flinders Gin will become a permanent fixture of the Market.

“The Market community is such a lovely community and I think when we first went in, we were a little bit sheepish thinking we were the outsiders going into this amazing retail space,” she says.

“But we were welcomed and engaged with by the other traders and we’ve made so many great connections.

“And, the new expansion really touches on the combination of innovation and community that we like to bring.”

While the Adelaide Central Market is currently at 100 per cent capacity, the ground floor expansion that is slated to open in 2026 will welcome up to 53 new traders, taking the total number of traders to 125.

Carla says she’s keen to see more innovative food vendors join the Central Market community and offers some words of wisdom for businesses like Leah’s who want to apply to be a part of this new chapter.

“If you have a unique and different product, the chances of [leasing a space long-term] are obviously greater than if you have something that everybody has,” Carla says.

“I think it’s that uniqueness that makes the Market so special.”

The Adelaide Central Market’s EOI campaign for the new ground floor closes August 31, businesses can apply here.