On 4 June, more then 200 professionals connected to the world of markets, including executives from Mercabarna, attended the 1st Symposium on Mediterranean Food Markets, organised by the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Markets as part of the European MedEmporion project (also involving Markets in Turin, Genoa and Marseille).

The Managing Director of Mercabarna, Josep Tejedo, and the Director of Industry and Services, Lluís Alberich, attended the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) Conference held in Berlin from 22 to 25 May. Environmental and sustainability initiatives were the central themes of the event, which brought together 170 international professionals.

On 14 June, the Catalan Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and the Environment, Josep M. Pelegrí, presided over the award ceremony for the first edition of the "Villas Floridas" campaign, run by the Confederation of Ornamental Horticulture of Catalonia (CHOC), an entity which involves Mercabarna-flor and the Association of Wholesalers (AEM).

To find out more about Mercabarna’s experience in creating clusters, on 11 June a delegation from the government of the Brazilian state of Mina Gerais and the Directors of the wholesale market in the capital visited the Food Unit.

Josep Tejedo, Mercabarna managing director for the past three months, will bring his professional experience in the private sector to the public company. In this interview, the new managing director looks at the main challenges he faces as head of Mercabarna.

Josep Tejedo, Mercabarna managing director since March, is the new chair of the Barcelona Food Cluster Association, replacing Montserrat Gil de Bernabé, former managing director of the Food Unit.

Two months on from the foodservice sector’s Strategic Immersion Congress, organised by the Barcelona Food Cluster Association and ACC1Ó and held in Món Sant Benet in the Bages region, around a dozen of the businesses that took part have met again to define specific actions based on the strategic challenges agreed on at the Congress.

On 22 May, businessman Joan Llonch was unanimously re-elected chair of the Mercabarna Concessionaires’ Association (ASSOCOME) for the fourth consecutive term. Casimiro Llorens, chair of the Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association, Leandre Serra, chair of the Fish Wholesalers’ Association, and Antonio Manzano, manager of Frimercat, were also re-elected to their vice-chair posts. Miguel López, from Moray Fish, makes his debut as Association secretary.

Meetings to settle and boost the participation of Mercabarna fish sector businesspeople in the first international fisheries trade fair Seafood Barcelona are continuing. The fair is due to be held in the city from 15 to 17 October.

On 27 April, a delegation from the Government of Chile, comprising the Under-Secretary for Fisheries, P. Galilea, head of the Undersecretariat Office, E. Bonilla, and executive director of the Fisheries Administration Fund, María J. Gutiérrez, visited Mercabarna to learn about the initiatives run at the food estate to promote fish consumption.