In keeping with the summer holiday season, I’ll start this month’s column with a mini quiz. What site houses 1,213 individual companies on 232 hectares of land, with an annual turnover that reaches €7.9 billion (£6.8bn) and a volume of 1.5 million tonnes? (The answer is provided for you at the end of this article.)
It is with great pleasure that I can reveal that WUWM has made the decision to hold its first annual conference for 2010 in the city of Palma de Mallorca in Spain. This is exciting news for WUWM, as we have not celebrated an annual member conference in Spain since the WUWM congress was held in Valencia in 1999.
Planning is already underway with colleagues in the MercaPalma wholesale market, as well as EN Mercasa, the Spanish national company of wholesale markets. The aim of the conference is to review issues of supply and demand in the modern wholesale market, addressing in particular the need for food markets to not only continue as solid support for traditional commerce, but also target new growth areas and customers. Discussion and activities related to market training and management will also be developed during this event, which is to be held from April 20-23, 2010.
A big thank you to those FPJ readers who have responded to my invitation to enter the WUWM market photo competition. I look forward to notifying the winning photographers by mid-August. The 12 winning photos will be published in the WUWM 2010 Markets Calendar, which is due to be distributed in September.
On a more sombre note, it is with regret that we note the recent passing of two WUWM colleagues in the UK: Ken Alexander, superintendent of London’s New Spitalfields Market, and Dan Johnston, former director of markets in Manchester City Council. Our sincere condolences go out to the families of both men, along with our thanks for their valuable participation and contribution to the world of markets, as well as the fellowship of WUWM.
And the answer to my introductory quiz? It’s the world capital of fresh produce, of course - Rungis International Market, in Paris. Not content to be one of the largest wholesale markets in the world in terms of volume and size, it is quite likely that Rungis is also the largest market for turnover. It is a dynamic, prosperous market and - whether a WUWM member or not - I hope you will join us in being part of the WUWM conference marking Rungis’ 40th anniversary this September.
