Wholesale heads to Denmark

FISCHER BOEL PLEDGES SUPPORT

European commissioner for agriculture and rural development Mariann Fischer Boel, last week pledged her support to wholesale markets.

This is the latest win by WUWM in its quest to push the trade to the top of the national and international food agenda.

Fischer Boel, pictured, was set to open the WUWM congress in Copenhagen last week, but was unable to attend at the last minute and instead sent a personal video message.

She singled out the “huge importance” of wholesale markets in the supply and distribution of fresh produce and claimed that wholesale markets could have a “crucial role” in many of the European initiatives on the table, aimed at improving consumption and public health.

She said: “During my time as European agriculture commissioner, the future of the markets has been of major interest to me.”

WUWM chairman Graham Wallace is keen to establish an ongoing dialogue with Fischer Boel. He has already sent the European commissioner a letter explaining the economic benefits of the member wholesale markets, their support of small and medium-sized businesses and the importance of access to high-quality fresh produce.

Wallace said: “She has shown an understanding of the work of WUWM and we will make the most of her offer of further contact…

“We are putting markets back on the national and international food agenda, by working with the government and non-governmental organisations, which is important in these days of rising food prices and shortages.”

LEADERS NEEDED IN MARKETS

Wholesale market authorities have been urged to become leaders rather than managers if they are to take the sector forward and find a new role for it in the changing grocery market.

Representatives at the WUWM congress last week were warned that attitudes will have to change to make the most of the opportunities in the sector.

Candid confessions about mistakes made at management level helped to fuel the discussion.

Donald Darnall, former WUWM chairman and managing director of the Maryland Food Center Authority, Baltimore, urged market operators to be more proactive, rather than reactive. He said: “We often refer to ourselves as market managers, but in fact we need to be leaders. There are several differences between this. A manager is task-oriented, but leaders are strategic thinkers and visionaries with long-term goals.

“Management is risk-oriented, but leaders understand risks and are willing to take them.

“The goal of WUWM is to get us to think as market leaders.”

Darnall is keen for WUWM members, each at different stages of development, to learn from the mistakes made by longer-established markets. “One of the biggest mistakes we made in managing our market is we put too much emphasis on what traders wanted and we failed to identify what suppliers and customers needed,” he admitted.

“If we had been more pro-active, we would have been in a much better position. We failed the retail and the wholesale industry because we did not keep up with the changes and we did not invite them to the table to see how we could be better.

“We are now in a reactive mode and we have to educate our traders as to why they have lost business.”

Jean-Paul Auguste, chairman of GroupeGeraud, instructed market managers to “anticipate and adapt” to keep the sector alive. He said: “We do not want to end up in a situation like the US where farmers’ markets are the way forward and we have to create a new market scheme. In France and in the UK, we are losing market traders and they are not being replaced by new ones.

“Our business is not like any other - we are between two levels and sometimes we ask too much. Leadership is badly needed in our business, as is a strategy…

“We have to invest time and effort in surveys so that we can convince local governments that markets are a tool for regeneration.”

ZASADA: CHANGE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE

The wholesale trade has reached a crossroads and will have to act to take advantage of the opportunities it is presented with, or face continued decline, the sector was warned last week.

Krys Zasada, policy development manager at the National Association of British Market Authorities, told market representatives at the WUWM congress that immediate action is needed.

He talked through the main obstacles that have set back the UK trade, with complacency at the top of the list, followed by resistance to change from the traders, poor management and the local government perception that markets are a nuisance.

Zasada, pictured, said: “Charles Handy, who wrote The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future, told us that for businesses to survive and modernise, they need to intervene while still in their growth curve. In the UK wholesale sector, we passed this before it dawned on us that things were going profoundly wrong.

“There are WUWM member markets that are at different stages of development, but don’t wait until you are in decline before you start thinking about what you need to change.”

But he was keen to emphasise that the tide is at last turning in the UK at least, once a number of market leaders started to emerge “out of desperation” and celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall backed markets as vibrant sources of fresh food.

Tools from the high street such as footfall counters and mystery shoppers are now being used to push the retail market sector forward.

A series of government reports referring to the role and value of markets are also gaining momentum.

WUWM CONFERENCE SET FOR LONDON

London is to host the second WUWM retail conference next summer, it was revealed last week.

Proposals for the main theme of the one-day event include the image of retail markets and the importance of weekly markets, to emphasise the quality of retail markets across Europe.

The event, which is expected to be held in June 2009, will allow visitors to see how retail markets can be used as a tool for regeneration and the revival of the surrounding areas.

Representatives from the London markets said they would pull together and work with the National Association of British Market Authorities to organise the event.

The conference will be the next step for markets in the capital following the London Markets’ Symposium this month, and will build on their mission to highlight the value of retail and wholesale markets.

A number of other promotional events were proposed at the member meeting in Copenhagen last week.

The idea for an official Europe-wide market day or week was put forward. WUWM secretary general Maria Cavit said it would take between one and two years to organise this. She said: “We could go for an existing market day and extend it out across Europe, but the only country I know of that does that is the Netherlands. If there are any other suggestions, please let me know.

“It could give us the opportunity to invite whole communities to markets, bring in local mayors and highlight the role that markets play.

“We should hold hands with other organisations and move this forward.”

US MARKET SECTOR UNDERGOES REJUVENATION

The US retail market sector is being reborn as part of a backlash against the multiples, it was revealed last week.

The government has backed this movement with a $35 million (£20m) farmers’ markets promotion programme, for the next five years.

The industry has in many cases had to be rebuilt from scratch, following the conversion or demolition of a number of traditional market halls over the last few decades.

Steve Davies, senior vice-president of New York-based Project for Public Spaces, told the WUWM congress that the regeneration of a string of markets and their surrounding areas is a response to consumers re-evaluating their shopping experiences and values.

Back in 2000, there were 2,863 farmers’ markets operating in the US and this had jumped to 3,700 by 2006.

Chelsea Market and Greenmarket in New York, Ferry Terminal Market in San Francisco, Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and Eastern Market in Detroit are just some of the markets that have been revitalised and in turn given their surrounding areas a boost.

Davies, pictured, said: “There has been investment in markets because of their broader benefits, as well as the access they provide to healthy food.

“Markets need to be seen as part of the local economic strategy and we need to build up farmers’ markets as the most viable part of our local food system…

“Buying food was originally a social experience. Markets are a wonderful way to assimilate a street, town or city, but they are so much more complex than that and can be the heart of the community.

“The desire for people to come together in public spaces has never been stronger, as consumers try to counter the globalisation of supermarket chains and malls. That personal service is what people want.

“Public markets have public goals and achieve something other than the purchase of food. Consumers like social experience, as opposed to the lack of this in supermarkets.”

NEW SPITALFIELDS MAKES ITS MARK

New Spitalfields Market was highly commended for its green credentials as part of WUWM’s first set of awards, revealed last week.

The three categories - Community Support, Environmental Sustainability and Market Innovation - were open to all WUWM member markets.

The London market just missed the top green prize, but the judges were so impressed by the entry that they gave the market special recognition.

David Smith, director of markets at the Corporation of London, said: “Three years ago, we recycled five per cent of our waste and we decided we needed to do better, both to be more sustainable and to save money, because the costs of landfill and transport to the site are rising.

“The first thing we did was to consult our tenants. We set up a recycling area and even though we still get through 12,000 tonnes of rubbish ever year, we now recycle 65 per cent.”

Some 2,100t of cardboard are recycled every year and timber pallets are recycled if they cannot be repaired on site. Around 2,500t of organic waste is separated and anaerobically digested.

The Community Support Award was given to Garak Market in Seoul, South Korea, where all members of the workforce work with the community at different times.

Sydney Market, Australia, won the Environmental Sustainability Award for its constant green assessments and its success in increasing recycling from 15 per cent to 50 per cent in three years.

The Market Innovation Award went to Hamburg Wholesale Market, which has built a school laboratory, a pesticide laboratory and an additive museum in the last year.

A new set of awards will run next year, with gold, silver and bronze prizes likely to be given.

SURVEY REVEALS INDUSTRY SCOPE

Preliminary results for a survey by WUWM were revealed at the congress.

The study aimed to update the last survey undertaken in 2004 and promote the importance of the wholesale market sector, presenting the true size and range of activities undertaken by WUWM members.

The results will be sent to decision-makers at international, national and regional levels.

The survey, completed in September 2008, received questionnaires from 128 markets in 38 countries, with updated data for 2006 or using what was received in 2004.

The responses represented more than 90 per cent of the total number of WUWM wholesale market members, so can be regarded as representative of member activities.

The survey found that WUWM member wholesale markets turn over more than €55 billion (£31.3bn) and market more than 54 million tonnes between them.

The sites cover a total area of 14m square metres, receive 550,000 visitors every day and serve 20 per cent of the world population.

Fruit and vegetables are sold on almost all member markets (98 per cent), meat is sold on half the markets, fish on two-thirds of the markets and flowers on more than 50 per cent of the sites. Non-food products are available on 58 per cent of the markets.

Around half the markets belong to the public sector, 32 per cent are semi-public entities and 13 per cent are fully privatised.

The survey found that more than 70 per cent of WUWM wholesale market members are seen as providing a public service.

An average of €200m has been invested in markets every year from 2000 to 2006, mainly in Europe, for the maintenance of buildings and upgrades to meet health and safety requirements.

WUWM secretary general Maria Cavit said: “These findings have stirred up significant interest and are valuable in determining the role of markets in Europe and globally.”

Jean-Paul Auguste, chairman of GroupeGeraud, is keen for WUWM to improve its survey next year. He said: “We should begin to write a framework to organise our future…

“We are not beggars; we will not need to beg for help. We are a business for the future, but we have to adapt.”