Wholesale markets from Spain, Colombia and South Korea won awards at the 28th World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) congress in Santiago, Chile, on 25 October.
The Spanish wholesale market, Mercazaragoza, won the gold award for a logistics development and maritime terminal expansion. The project included expansion of the market’s railway facilities – doubling its capacity to receive trains and providing new infrastructure to receive the longest trains in the continent.
The silver award went to the wholesale market of Antioquia in Colombia for a new automated system solution to vehicle control. The RFID system reduced market entry time from around one hour down to 30 seconds per vehicle.
Gangseo Wholesale Market in Seoul, South Korea, took the bronze award for a market revitalisation scheme that introduced an efficient school meals programme.
The winners were announced during the closing dinner of the WUWM Congress, hosted by the Lo Valledor Wholesale Market.
Wholesale markets from every continent competed for the awards, which had a theme of ‘Logistical Excellence’.
The WUWM 2013 Market Award judging panel included Andrew Shepherd, of the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA); Marc Spielrein, former CEO of Rungis International Market; and Graham Wallace former managing director of City Markets, Glasgow.
The WUWM Market Awards are held annually and are open to all the wholesale and retail markets within the WUWM global membership.
