Mercabarna

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Port of Barcelona provides integrated logistics

The Port of Barcelona, the Mercabarna wholesale market and the Italian shipping company Grimaldi Lines will be taking part jointly in Fruit Logistica 2016, in Pavilion 10.2 - stand B-04.

The Catalan port will be participating in Fruit Logistica with a joint stand with Mercabarna and Grimaldi Lines.

Under the slogan “Integrated Trade & Supply Chain”, the Port of Barcelona and its partners, Grimaldi Lines and Mercabarna, will be present for the third year in a row at the fair in Berlin with a range of integrated logistics that is unique in the region.

Their logistics have complete connectivity, supply and distribution solutions to meet the needs of importers and exporters, as well as logistics operators specialising in fresh produce.

The collaboration between these three major players enables them to offer a combination of the biggest supply and variety of fruit and vegetables in Europe, which is currently in Mercabarna, together with logistics solutions adapted to fresh produce, allowing them to transport it with the utmost guarantees via the maritime services offered by the Port of Barcelona.

Among the services the Port of Barcelona will be promoting, the short sea shipping (SSS) lines are particularly noteworthy. Combined with road transport, these sea routes optimize logistics to the maximum for exports to Italy, the countries of Northern and Central Europe, and North Africa. Moreover, the regular container lines with major counterseason fruit source markets have been changed in recent years to improve transit time and make importers more competitive.

This advertorial appeared on page 63 of edition 141, Jan/Feb 2016, of Eurofresh Distribution magazine. Read that issue online here.

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New project to cut food waste at Mercabarna

Food waste is in the firing line as Mercabarna commissions study on why it happens and how to reduce it within the precinct.

How to reduce food waste is the end goal of a study Mercabarna has commissioned from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the Plataforma Aprovechamos los Alimentos (Let’s Make Use of Food Platform, PAA).

In a press release, Barcelona’s wholesale food hub said the study, expected to be completed toward the end of the year, will establish the volume and causes of food waste produced within its precinct and suggest areas of work and specific actions to reduce it to a minimum.

“This project shows our desire to keep looking for solutions that help us in the fight against food waste. The actions resulting from it will be added to those that we have been carrying out for many years, such as working with the Food Bank,” said Mercabarna managing director Josep Tejedo.

Photo courtesy of http://www.mercabarna.es/sectors-activitat/fruites-i-hortalisses/en_index/

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Mercabarna is modernising its facilities and improving air and sea connections

Fruit and vegetable exports from Mercabarna rose by 9% in the first half of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, according to data from the Catalan market.

Fruit and vegetable exports from Mercabarna rose by 9% in the first half of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, according to data from the Catalan market. Indeed, in 2014 the companies in Mercabarna’s horticultural sector sold 1.7 million tons (between the Central Market and the Complementary Activities Zone).

A successful “Mercabarna Export” cluster

The market hub in Barcelona attributes the export boom in the first half of 2015 to promotion by the Mercabarna Export cluster and presence in international fairs like Fruit Attraction and Fruit Logística, which have made Mercabarna a benchmark for suppliers around Europe. The market currently has business relationships with all corners of Europe. In 2015, the cluster has carried out studies to determine the feasibility of exporting to Algeria, the Arab Emirates and Ireland, where they have carried out direct missions that will be bolstered in 2016 “for importers interested in learning about Mercabarna,” said Josep Tejedo, director general of Mercabarna. Another relevant fact is that more and more shoppers are going directly to buy at the market, mainly from France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland and Ireland. “The ease of management, storage and transportation as well as the range, freshness and quality of the produce, allow for convenient and efficient purchases,” said Josep Tejedo.

Sea and air connections to Paris, Germany and Dubai to improve

Transportation has also become a significant aim for the Mercabarna Export cluster, which supports the rail terminal for lorries that is to be completed in 2019 on land owned by the Port of Barcelona, 2 km from Mercabarna. The first lines to be launched will be Barcelona-Paris and Barcelona-Germany. “This means of transport will lead to improved logistics efficiency and a reduction of 10% in the cost compared to road transport, along with a significant decrease in environmental impact,” said the general manager of Mercabarna. As for air transport, improvements have been made in the range and price of flights to the United Arab Emirates. In addition, working groups have been created involving large South American exporters and fruit importers from Mercabarna to optimize routes and improve logistics prices. Mercabarna has also launched the Trends Observatory in 2015 to present new business opportunities for companies located in their food hub. These include an increase in local products in the market, linked to the growing awareness about zero kilometre food and slow food.

Espai Food and Food Trade Center as of 2016

Another project in the works, which will be ready later this year or early in 2016, is the Food Trade Center, a space for the increasingly numerous foreign buyers who regularly visit these markets to supply other countries. This space will have all the services these purchasers may need for their activities, such as telecommunications, offices, meeting rooms, etc. There are also plans to launch Espai Food in 2016, an area with all the infrastructures and services necessary for Mercabarna’s companies to be able to give presentations for their products, present new recipes, tastings, etc. Finally, it is worth noting that Mercabarna intends to go a step further in its policy against wasting food. To do so, it has commissioned the Autonomous University of Barcelona to carry out a study—to be completed in late 2015—that will classify the kinds of food losses caused by the activities of all the operators that come to Mercabarna every day, and will suggest ways to reduce them. Another ongoing challenge is the modernisation of Mercabarna’s complex, which looks set to be finished in 2020. 

MP

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Mercabarna fun run & open day a resounding success

The inaugural Mercabarna fun run attracted more than 3,000 people to Barcelona’s wholesale market on Sunday. Along with the race itself - in which 1,520 runners participated – there were a range of activities related to fresh food and designed to showcase the key role of the Mercabarna food complex, one of largest in Europe.

The inaugural Mercabarna fun run attracted more than 3,000 people to Barcelona’s wholesale market on Sunday. Along with the race itself – in which 1,520 runners participated – there were a range of activities related to fresh food and designed to showcase the key role of the Mercabarna food complex, one of the largest in Europe.

Runners passing through the Central Fish Market

 

Of the runners, 770 covered 5 km and 750 a 10 km route. Starting at 11am, the race took them through the central fruit and vegetables and fish markets.Though closed on a Sunday, some fruit and vegetable wholesaler stalls displayed produce to provide a taste of a typical day at the market.

And though no fish was on sale in the central fish market, loudspeakers reproduced the din usually found there when 2,000 or so buyers and sellers gather in the wee hours.

Runners collecting their numbers in one of the 7 buildings forming the Central Fruit and Vegetable Market

After the race, runners and their companions tucked into a breakfast based on sardines, sausage and fruit.

In a press release, the market authority said the visitors had been surprised at just how big the market is. Covering 900,000 m2, it shifts 2 million tons of fresh produce a year.