Also attending were representatives of the Catalan Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Action and the Mercasa National Company.
Organised by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM), the visit gave the consumer representatives a first-hand look at how the wholesale fresh produce trade works as one of the links in the food chain, particularly with respect to the pricing of foods, according to the law of offer and demand, and health and safety regulations.

Accompanied by Mercabarna management, the participants toured the facilities of the Central Fruit and Vegetable and Fish Markets, the Green Point, the new Mercabarna-flor, and several businesses in the Complementary Activities Zone (ZAC), such as the cold storage company, Frimercat-II; the added-value fish company, Barrufet; and the potato handling and packaging firm, Torribas.

International visits
Mayor Paco Moncayo of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, visited the Food Unit on 9 October, accompanied by several municipal representatives. Mayor Moncayo, who was on an institutional visit to Barcelona, wanted to find out about the Mercabarna model, since there is now a plan under way to transfer the Quito central market to the city’s outskirts. 

That same day, Mercabarna received the Secretary of State and Ministers of the Environment and of Agriculture of the government of Guinea-Bissau, in Africa. Accompanied by the Guinea-Bissau consul in Barcelona, the government representatives showed keen interest in initiating commercial contacts with Mercabarna-based businesses.