New Covent Garden Market and Paris’s Rungis market are seeking out greater co-operation.
Covent Garden Market Authority representatives have visited Rungis to investigate the workings of a composite market and reciprocated with a tour of the Nine Elms market for a delegation from Rungis.
“It was a very fruitful meeting,” said a spokeswoman for the CGMA. “The Rungis delegation had a good look round and we had a brainstorming session at which lots of ideas came forward.”
Rungis representatives are now keen to develop business with their UK counterparts and one idea is to open a permanent office at the south London market site to bring about greater flows of produce between the markets.
“In general, that is one of a number of things that we would be very happy to talk about,” said the CGMA spokeswoman.
There is much that both markets can learn from one another and the CGMA spokeswoman indicated that Rungis representatives had been encouraged by the level of trade already between the two markets. “There are a large number of imports already from Rungis into Covent Garden, and I think they were very gratified to see that,” she said. “And I think the integration of catering supply at Covent Garden is much more developed than at Rungis.”
As far as next steps are concerned, the CGMA said it would be keeping in “close contact” with Rungis.
