News

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 at the World Union of Wholesale Markets Conference in China

Around 260 representatives of wholesale markets from 23 countries attended the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) conference held in China from 18 to 21 October.

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.

A Poor Autumn for Mushrooms

The Central Fruit and Vegetable Market’s mushrooms campaign has got off to the worst start in the past five years. The lack of rain and the high temperatures recorded in September and October led to a mushroom shortage in a season when mushrooms play an important role at the Market.

"The Fish of Mercabarna" Exhibition to Open at the Food Unit

An exhibition entitled “The Fish of Mercabarna” is set to open in the lobby of the Management Centre on 15 December. The exhibition will feature the laminate sheets created by the artist and director of the Capellades Paper Mill Museum, Victoria Rabal, with images of the fish that arrive at the Central Fish Market each day.

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.

Barcelona Food Cluster Association: Cluster Businesses Discover Latest Fresh Produce Technologies at IRTA

The Barcelona Food Cluster Association, an organisation spearheaded by Mercabarna, is continuing to promote actions that can improve the competiveness of its food business members. The latest involved organising a visit to the Institute for Agrofood Research and Technology (IRTA) in Monells, Girona on 20 September, attended by nine companies. The visit was part of the activities scheduled within the innovation group the Association promotes.

Code of Business Practices for Entire Food Chain

Representatives of Catalan agricultural production and distribution have joined forces to create the Code of Good Business Practices throughout the entire food chain. The code is a memorandum of understanding with 54 commitments aimed at bolstering and improving relations among the parties in the chain.

Barcelona Food Cluster Association: New Technology Presented at Mercabarna to Manufacture Pre-Cooked Convenience Food

Can you imagine a machine that cooks food in industrial quantities in a minimum of time and maintains the same taste as homemade food? This is the pioneering technology that goes by the name ‘T’ developed by Foodtopía, a business which creates technology applications to manufacture pre-cooked convenience food for the foodservice channel.

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.

'5-a-Day’ Launches New-Look Website

The ‘5-a-Day’ campaign promoted by Mercabarna and the Barcelona and Province Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers’ Business Association (AGEM) is kicking off the 2011-2012 school year with an important new feature: a new-look website www.5aldia.es.

Market Businesses to Take Part in Fruit Attraction

Once again, Mercabarna and the Barcelona and Province Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers’ Business Association (AGEM) will organise the joint presence of five market firms in the Fruit Attraction trade fair to be held this year at the IFEMA centre in Madrid from 19 to 21 October.

Presentation of the New Fishmongers' Association Board

On 15 September, Mercabarna managers and representatives of the new board of the Fishmongers’ Association of Catalonia, chaired by Carlos Galve, held the first work meeting organised since the board was elected in June.