On 27 March, Joaquim Ros, Mercabarna’s director of Markets and Promotion, participated in the sessions “Vegetable Horticulture: The Technical Bases of Growing Vegetables”, organised by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Madrid.
Every year, future hospitality sector professionals visit Mercabarna as part of their study programme. Once the academic course finishes in June, close to 1,200 students from universities and restaurant schools will have toured the Food Unit, at Mercabarna management’s invitation.
“Barcelona has become Spain’s food industry capital, in which Mercabarna and the Municipal Markets play a fundamental role.” With these words Jordi William Carnes, Barcelona’s deputy mayor with responsibility for Finance and Economic Promotion and chair of Mercabarna defined the city’s role in the overall Spanish agro-food sector at a function held during the Alimentaria trade fair on 12 March.
Mercabarna and the Reinsertion Initiatives Centre (CIRE) have signed a collaboration agreement that will enable them to carry out joint actions for the training of penitentiary inmates in the field of food handling and distribution.
Alimentaria is now unquestionably one of the world’s leading food trade fairs. The close to 160,000 agro-food professionals from the world over who took part in this year’s event (4% more than in 2006), its 130,000 m2 of exhibition space and 5,000 exhibiting companies (1,500 of which were foreign) attest to this.
Mercabarna was amply represented by its stand at Restaurama, its participation in different activities, its sponsoring of some of the trade fair events and, above all, by the more than 20 Food Unit companies that took part on an individual basis.
Mercabarna’s model of management and operation continues to be a point of reference worldwide. Proof of this can be seen in the numerous visits the Food Unit has received this month by delegations from around the globe.
On 13 March, Mercabarna and the Municipal Markets honoured the late journalist and gastronome, Llorenç Torrado, at a tribute held at the stand shared by the two entities at the Alimentaria trade fair. People from the food and nutrition world attended as well as members of Mr Torrado’s family.
On-the-job employee training is a growing value. Proof of this lies in the fact that in 2007 Mercabarna’s Training Centre imparted a total of 2,745 hours of ongoing training, a 70% increase over 2006. Close to 1,700 employees benefited from these courses.
After 21 years as General Director of Mercabarna, Jordi Maymó has left the company to devote his energies to the development and promotion of an innovative food industry project. Maymó’s place will be taken by Montserrat Gil, currently president of Promotora d’Exportacions Catalanes (Prodeca – Catalan export promotion organization) and member of the Mercabarna board, in mid March.
Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay, the second smallest country in South America, which borders Argentina and Brazil and also looks out onto the Atlantic Ocean. With over two million inhabitants –half of the country’s population– it is home to Uruguay’s only wholesale market. This is the Mercado Modelo (Model Market), a fruit and vegetable market spread out over five hectares and located in the city centre. The difficulties arising from its being right in the hub of the city, compounded by the need to update obsolete facilities, have led municipal authorities to the decision to move the Market. Montevideo has sought Mercabarna’s advice to meet this challenge.
