June was open-air markets month in Paris. For the second time the municipality ran a seven-day promotion of the dynamism of the 2,700 retailers working every day on the 81 markets remaining in the inner city.
Though facing harsh competition, open markets are still very lively in the French capital, mostly because of restrictions placed on the expansion plans of big retailers, but also as a result of consumer demand for a more “natural” and “authentic” approach to fresh produce shopping.
Paris City Hall is developing plans to give open-air markets a second breath: the creation of an afternoon market in the very fashionable Saint-Honoré area, for instance, has already proved a success. Parisian markets work mostly from early morning to noon. But in mid-June another new afternoon market was launched in the more popular north of the city.
Rungis market was a partner in the operation, emphasising its commitment to this part of its client portfolio. Rungis teamed with the Parisian packaging union to provide more than 200,000 cotton shopping bags to customers: in line with the topic of this year’s promotion - the environment and limiting the use of plastic shopping bags.
Consumers were able to win a galaxy of prizes; from TV sets to gastronomic weekends and organic product hampers. Alongside this, the fresh produce industry promoted its national consumption programme “from 5 to 10 a day” with POS material and, in some markets, stands with dieticians promoting the health benefits of consuming fresh produce.
Meanwhile, wholesale markets have long proved themselves to be good communication platforms. In 1995 the French fresh produce industry’s technical centre (CTIFL) located a structural tool in the main wholesale markets to help small retailers benefit from national promotion projects.
The principle is simple: a committee composed of one retailer, one wholesaler and one from the market authority acts as a relay for promotions. They centralised wholesaler demands for POS material to dispatch to their clients. Interprofessional body Interfel is responsible for sourcing, storing and distribution of materials, although this is a very light structure based on voluntary help.
The small retailers - or “proximity retail” as it is coined in France - are very independent and generic promotional activities are a delicate matter, especially practically. But the industry is alive to the role they play and wants them to be involved.
The overall task is difficult to achieve and requires real commitment, but these committees have already succeeded in leading communication and promotion projects with different domestic fruit and veg categories, including tomatoes, strawberries summer fruits and potatoes and with imported kiwifruit through the New Zealand kiwi promotion board.
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