One of the key areas of research for the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) in 2010 will be related to the issue of ‘marketing the market’. It is our intention to better understand the current marketing initiatives and activities underway in our affiliated markets, in order to develop and disseminate information that can be of support to all those within the membership, whether in the wholesale or the retail sector.

With so many markets publicly owned and managed, historically the marketing of the market (especially in wholesale) was often insufficient, either being neglected or under-invested in. It is clear that many markets still struggle, even today, to obtain the necessary support and investment from their relevant authority.

In late 2009, WUWM decided to launch a Marketing the Market technical committee and distribute a questionnaire in order to ascertain the activities being undertaken. While the results of that survey are by no means complete right now, the initial response from member markets situated in 11 European countries has been interesting.

To start, just 68 per cent of those surveyed to date have a formal marketing plan for the market. The overwhelming number of these constitute an annual marketing plan, with limited scope for any medium- to long-term vision. The funds made available range from a few thousand euros through to €300,000 (£263,000) a year. And as one would expect, these marketing budgets tend to be primarily used in the production of the market’s annual reports, website, advertising and promotional brochures.

Despite that, and while most wholesale markets do not open to the public or even hold public open days, it seems that student educational visits are increasing annually, with more than 16,500 students touring 21 European member markets alone in 2009. Additionally, all of the markets responding to the survey inform of regular visits now being made by chefs or other industry professionals, and over 70 per cent of them actively support a national healthy food programme such as 5 A DAY.

Sponsorship of local food events is also popular, including live demonstrations, prize-giving, food tastings, local produce exhibitions and flower-arranging classes. Some markets now also have cooking schools, food museums or laboratories on site to foster greater community and food sector integration.

A good number of the survey respondents were dedicating funds (albeit sometimes via employee time and/or facility support) to promoting the market in various innovative ways - benefiting the local community, the traders on the market and the fresh produce industry in general. I look forward to sharing news with you from some of these programmes as the year progresses.

Maria Cavit is secretary general of the World Union of Wholesale Markets.