Commenting on the latest results of Semmaris, the body in charge of managing Rungis Market, ceo Marc Spielrein stated that “the market totally fulfilled its mission as a public service”.

He provided some figures to underline his belief that 2008 was “a satisfactory year in the end”.

Spielrein said: “November was quite disappointing, but December was very satisfying, with tonnages increasing by 7.5 per cent and the number of buyers by 2.5 per cent.”

The end of the year is crucial for Parisian wholesalers, who sometimes save their marketing year with the sales achieved in the run-up to Christmas. Such an increase in tonnages and buyers may be seen as an expression of the resilience that the wholesalers mustered in the face of the economic turmoil that struck at the end of 2008.

This resilience is something that they will need a lot of in the coming months.

First of all, even if the crisis has been less hard on French families than on British ones, it will still impact on the trade, as consumers will be more focused on price than ever.

Fruit and vegetables have been at the centre of mighty battles between producers and retailers more than once. This summer, it should be a hot topic once again, especially with what is going on in the dairy industry.

Wholesalers who struggle to find decent products to source from French producers and who sometimes turn to imports to secure consistent, good-quality supply at reasonable prices might risk becoming scapegoats.

The second challenge is the emerging new format of distribution in big towns. Making the most of the consumer’s desire to shop within a short distance of their homes, the big retailers have developed medium- to small-sized outlets, located in urban centres, providing a compact and low-priced range of products.

Some years after their British counterparts, French retailers have discovered the convenience format and they have rushed into what they see as the next big thing.

These shops will certainly compete with the traditional independent retailers - Rungis’s core clientele. We may agree with Spielrein when he says that this trend underlines a real consumer need that the independents can fulfil. Nevertheless, it will sure give wholesalers some hard times.