On 2 March, Mercabarna and Fedelatina – an organisation that includes 85 Latin American associations in Catalonia – signed a collaborative agreement fostering the labour and social integration of the Latin American community through agrifood professions.

Present at the signing were Jordi William Carnes, president of Mercabarna and deputy mayor of Barcelona for Finance and Economic Promotion, Javier García Bonomi, president of Fedelatina, and Montserrat Gil de Bernabé, managing director of Mercabarna. This agreement is aimed at greater participation by the Latin American community in courses for unemployed persons provided by the Mercabarna Training Area. These courses offer the chance to learn a trade (fishmonger, greengrocer, butcher, etc.) in a sector that, despite the economic crisis, has a high rate of job placement.

“This agreement offers the necessary tools, through training and advising, to provide good opportunities in businesses in the food service sector for persons looking for work,” assured Bonomi.

Support for “entrepreneurs”
The agreement also includes advising immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to open food-related businesses, offering them training and information about the requirements for doing so. In this sense, the president of Mercabarna maintained that currently, the Municipal Markets present good job opportunities. Carnes remarked, “There is a need for generational renewal at many Market stands, and this opens the way for interesting labour prospects for persons who want to run a business.”

In addition, the agreement includes informing Latin American shop and restaurant owners about Mercabarna as a supply centre for fresh products, so as to help them better manage their purchases.

Membership in retailer trade associations
Following the signing of the agreement, the Provincial Fruit and Vegetable Retailers Association of Barcelona gave a presentation to around twenty members of Fedelatina, explaining the services they offer to greengrocers and owners of other food-related shops.