Friday of last week (8/21) we visited the wholesale market in Munich. Despite the fact that it was still the holidays in Bavaria, it was fairly busy in the market. The supply of summer fruit was pretty large, but traders were right in the middle of the transition period from summer to fall. Munich has the largest 'Grossmarkt' (large, wholesale market) of fruits and vegetables in Germany. This one is the third largest in Europe, after Barcelona and Paris, with an enormous supply of fresh products. This wholesaler was founded in 1912. In total there are around 120 traders and importers present in this wholesale market. These traders don't always have a table in the hall, sometimes they just have an office in the large building next to the market.
Hall 1-4
We took some pictures of the most important halls: hall 1-4. In these halls there are around 40 exhibitors established and these are the oldest halls in the market, and also where the classic fresh produce trade occurs. In addition to these halls, we also looked at 'Gärtnerhalle' where several farmers present and market their products. The wholesale market has a good location. Many products come from Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. Many of the products are imported directly, or they go through agents. Right now you can find a large volume of grapes from Italy and stonefruit from Spain. We also saw that the top fruit season has just started. The product range from their own country was quite large, especially the production of greenhouse vegetables, which is increasing annually in Germany. Even still, the domestic products are often more expensive than the imported products. Even though living in Germany is already expensive, some people talk about paying more for local products. There were a lot of tomatoes, bell peppers and strawberries from Belgium and the Netherlands. Poland is also becoming an increasingly important supplier; they export many products, including fruit and greenhouse grown vegetables to Germany."
Customers
The wholesalers in Munich supply mostly to retail trade and the culinary industry. Also, wholesalers from other wholesale markets in Germany buy from these traders. People in the retail sector do not have high spirits. Less is being supplied to supermarkets since large chains are increasingly importing directly themselves, or using their own lines to import to countries.
The future
No one knows what the future will look like for the wholesaler in Munich. Right now trade is doing well, but some companies are not so optimistic and expect the follow-up to be slack in the future. The younger generation has little interest in a job in which you only work at night. For these reasons, and other reasons as well, there will be a lot less wholesalers 20 years from now.
