News

Flowers and Plants Every Day!

This is the name of the campaign for schoolchildren that Mercabarna management, the Wholesale Businesses’ Association (AEM) and the Rosa Valls-formació School have implemented. The goal is to encourage the boys and girls taking part to discover the world of flowers and plants, and to raise awareness of the emotional-wellbeing benefits they can bring and their importance with regard to the environment.

Sònia Recasens, New Chair of Mercabarna

Sònia Recasens was appointed the new chair of Mercabarna at the company’s Board of Directors meeting on 3 November. Ms Recasens, who succeeds Jordi William Carnes, is the deputy mayor of Barcelona for Economics, Enterprise and Employment.

Pere Brachfield: "There are three types of defaulters..."

With the crisis, late payments have become one of the biggest headaches for businesses. Pere Brachfield (www.perebrachfield.com) has been studying this problem and teaching people how to handle defaulters for over 20 years, working with different universities and business schools. He is also the director of the Centre for Default Studies and has written more books on this topic than anyone else in the world. Mr Brachfield gave a course on bad debtors at the Mercabarna Training Area in November.

Mercabarna-flor Gives Carnations to the Elderly

The Mercabarna-flor Wholesale Businesses Association (AEM) collaborated once again this year in International Day of Older Persons, held on 1 October. The collaboration consisted of donating 2,000 carnations which were distributed to passing senior citizens during a solidarity march through the centre of Barcelona. More than 150 people including volunteers, partners and collaborators of Amics de la Gent Gran (Friends of Senior Citizens) took part.

Mercabarna Represents the World's Wholesale Markets before the European Commission

Mercabarna managing director Montserrat Gil de Bernabé represented the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) when she took part in the high-level meeting organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry on contractual practices in the food supply chain.

Mercabarna Presents Food Safety Model to Sector Professionals from across the Mediterranean

The 4th International Green Med Forum, an annual event organised by the prestigious publication Green Med Journal that brings together parties involved in the fruit and vegetable sector from across the Mediterranean, was held in Tunisia from 28 to 30 September.

Mercabarna-flor Architect Named New Head of Barcelona Regional

Architect Willy Müller became the new general manager of Barcelona Regional, the agency responsible for urban development and metropolitan infrastructures, in an appointment announced on 12 September.

Mercabarna-flor Inspires Future Wholesale Flower Market in Rome

A delegation from Rome, comprising technical officers from the company Centro Ingrosso Fiori, visited Mercabarna-flor in the company of market managers on 26 July to learn about its facilities and technical features. Centro Ingrosso Fiori, created by the Italian capital’s Chamber of Commerce and City Council, is responsible for the design and construction of a new wholesale flower market in Rome that will be more modern and functional than the present one.

Graduate in Business Management Wholesale Food

On July 7, will be held an information day on the 7th edition of the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management Wholesale Food, course organized by the Association of Dealers Mercabarna (ASSOCOME) Triptolemos Foundation and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), which will begin in mid-October.

The Food Bank increases presence in Mercabarna

The Food Bank Foundation expands its schedule to Mercabarna store and opened a new office building of Banks. All with one goal: to achieve maximum cooperation by companies in the food sector Mercabarna, and thus respond to the growing number of people, following the crisis, they need the help of organizations charities to survive.

Good Results for Florists Participating in Barcelona Opportunity Week

The 37 flower shops that took part in the 2nd Barcelona Opportunity Week (BCNOW!) sold nearly 650 bunches of flowers thanks to the promotional campaign held between 28 January and 6 February.

Mercabarna-flor Restaurant Reopens

Restaurante Lore has changed owners and is once again offering its services from Mondays to Saturdays during Market hours. As well as brunch, the restaurant offers a tasty home-style set menu at lunchtime for €10. Diners can park for free at Mercabarna-flor.
For further information and to reserve a table, call 93 556 81 00.

Improved Job Placement Levels of Training Area Students

Students undertaking occupational training courses at Mercabarna’s Training Area aspire to learn a trade that will help them find a job. This goal was achieved by 27% of the students in 2010, i.e., more than one in every four who enrolled. As Training Area manager Maite Palat pointed out, “This is a really heartening figure, particularly if you consider how hard it is to get into the job market today.”

Fountain and Pond Design Course

The Gardening Association of Catalonia has asked the Mercabarna Training Area to offer a course on “Designing Ponds, Fountains and Cascades”, set to be taught on 17 and 24 March at the Mercabarna-flor facilities. This brand new course is targeted at gardeners who want to learn about the construction, types and maintenance of water gardens and the most suitable plants to use with them.
Further information on the course is available at:
www.mercabarna.cat/servicios/formacion or by phoning 93 556 34 56

Mercabarna’s Increased Media Profile

Mercabarna is becoming increasingly better known to the public. To a large extent this is because the work it does and the events it has hosted in the market have been picked up on by the media more and more in recent years – a trend that was clearer than ever in 2010, when mentions in the press were up 54.5% on 2009.