Anokye with mentor Eric and proud dad Kwame making frames in his early days at the market – summer 2022
The farmers' market is proud to serve as a launchpad for young people to gain expertise in sustainable food, and has encouraged new food producers to test out business ideas and learn new skills. A perfect case in point is Anokye (pronouned ah-naw-chay) Appau, son of market manager and barista Kwame. For the past four years, Anokye has been a fixture at the market, working alongside Eric at the honey stall. In that time, he has risen from trainee hive maker to experienced beekeeper, while building strong sales skills into the bargain. Now he is spreading his wings, heading to Falmouth University to pursue a degree in Games Design. Saturday 5 September will be his last market for a while.
It's clear that the mentorship went both ways: Eric reflects that he gained just as much from the experience as his protégé. Here he shares his perspective on their time working together.
Anokye started working for me in 2022 aged 16, after Kwame asked stallholders if they could give his son a job, so he didn't spend all his time in his room on a computer. The only job I could offer was unexciting and repetitive – to assemble the frames that go in a hive, 11 to a box and made of six parts nailed together.
The boy turned up, I gave him a table and explained what was needed, showed him how to hold a hammer, put a nail in correctly, and emphasised the need for constructional accuracy. He sat through the whole market – headphones on, of course – and made a pile of 60 frames perfectly. I was so impressed I gave him a pay rise.
By 2023 he was on the main table and he began to talk to customers and sell honey. After a couple of years the frame production slowed and it was clear that he was as bored as I was with making them, but by then customers loved him, he was an integral part of the team and gave far more to market days than labour.
Mastering beekeeping
For the last three years Anokye has been beekeeping with me, taking nests out of bedroom ceilings, bathrooms and barn walls. We have cleaned equipment, worked bees on a hot church roof, climbed scaffolding and recently removed a wild nest from inside a pavement manhole. He has done this with increasing good humour and curiosity, and I treasure our work together as the most enjoyable of my working life.
Shared interests
Anokye's talents range far and wide and I realised that we had a lot in common – both creatives of Polish heritage, with a love of art, jazz, architecture, and all things in between. A bond emerged between us (we were often seen as a double act, or father and son) that revived my dormant creative interests and we began to go to jazz clubs and the cinema. He rated The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as 'peak film', which it is, and our trip to see jazz pianist Monty Alexander at Ronnie Scott's as his favourite gig... so far.
Kwame was excited to take up beekeeping in 2025 and it coincided with Anokye's decision to go to Falmouth University to study Games Design and Development, after two years studying the same subject at college in which he achieved Distinction grades in both years.
Turning honey into vital university funds
It dawned on me that we could sell Kwame's honey at the market, produce bees for customers and raise money for Anokye's university fees. This season we have raised nearly £900, with more to come as the Ponders End honey sells, and we aim to reach £3k by next summer.
I will miss Anokye's charm, his critical intelligence, creative spark, good humour and calm support, and know that he will always have a place in my heart.
Eric Beaumont, September 2026
Anokye with Eric and his brother Asante, who you may also spot working with Eric on the honey stall