Lettuces sold with the root intact, banana crisps, new packaging that boosts tuna and fresh mushroom consumption, innovative meat dishes…these are some of the new products that the 15 Mercabarna businesses which took part in Alimentaria promoted at the fair. Mercabarna also decided to take part in the fair again, this time presenting two initiatives aimed at boosting the Catalan food sector.

Throughout March, numerous agrofood institutions and professionals from around the world made the most of being in Barcelona for the Alimentaria fair to visit Mercabarna and learn first-hand about its management model and the way it operates.

Around 20 journalists attended the press conference organised by Mercabarna-flor on 19 April to present the forecast for rose sales on St George’s Day. Both the Mercabarna Markets and Promotions manager, Joaquim Rosa, and the head of Mercabarna-flor, Jaume Esteve, said they expected sales to be very positive: “We hope to return to the magic figure of over six million roses sold, around 20% more than last year,” Mr Ros said.

Conxemar, the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of Fishery and Aquaculture Products, organised a seminar on exporting fishery products, held at the Fish Wholesaler’s Business Association (GMP) central offices on 21 March.

Faustino Mora has been the new chair of the Barcelona Province Fruit and Vegetable Retail Business Association since 28 March. He takes over from Ángel Juny, who retired for health reasons. Àlex Torras has also stood down as the manager of the Association for the same reason.
Josep Fabregat has joined the Board as the new vice-chair and Constantino Mora will take over as treasurer. Jesús Puente remains as secretary.

The Mercabarna stand became one of the points of interest during the opening day of Alimentaria of the tour that a retinue of distinguished authorities took around the fair’s facilities.

With a degree in Business Administration, Mr Noguer is a professor in the Marketing Management Department at ESADE Business School and runs a company in the communications sector. On 13 March he gave a course in Mercabarna in which he explained a number of key points about how a company can manage its customer portfolio more effectively.

The Central Fruit and Vegetable Market firm Capdevila e Hijos hosted a promotional event run on 8 March by Saladmaster, a company that markets kitchen utensils to prepare fruit and vegetables in a healthier way.

The Barcelona Food Cluster Association has had its own online calling card since March. The website www.clusteralimentari.cat is a portal for promoting the Association’s work and goals, as well as the businesses and institutions that belong to it.

Eduardo Ameijide y Montenegro has been the new chair of Mercasa since 30 January, after taking over from Ignacio Cruz Roche.