Sustainable Food

In January, Mercabarna launched “De Proximitat Mercabarna”, [Local Mercabarna], a campaign whose main aim is to continue highlighting the value of the work of local farmers and the fruit and vegetables they sell through this large market. They also wish to recognise the work of the small- and medium-sized local businesses as the main prescribers of these products.

Video podcast with Marc Ribas

In this context, the video podcast ““Converses de Proximitat” [Local Conversations] was introduced, a podcast with five episodes in which Marc Ribas, chef and presenter of the TV3 programme “Cuines”, interviews members of the local community – Mercabarna farmers, experts in public health, nutrition and catering, and wholesalers and retailers – who explain from different perspectives the values of local producers and foods, the need to support them, and how to improve our eating habits. These shows will be distributed to the entire Mercabarna community (wholesalers and customers) and to institutions, fresh food entities, restaurateurs, journalists and influencers in order to reach the widest audience possible.

The first show “El producte de proximitat” [Local products] has already been distributed and is available on Youtube and Spotify. The other four shows “Salut i producte de proximitat” [Health and local products], “Innovació i sostenibilitat” [Innovation and sustainability], “Família Mercabarna” [Mercabarna family] and “Amics de la gastronomia” [Friends of gastronomy] will be distributed one after the other every two weeks.

Signage for local products

As part of the campaign, signs have been put in place in the common local product selling zones – the “Situat de Productors”, where there are 25 small farmers, and the “Zona de Cooperatives Agràries”, with nine cooperatives and one more located in the Biomarket, the 11 retailers that are also local producers (10% of the Market’s 123 companies); and 12 specialised retailers, who sell at least 30% or more of 4 million kilos of Catalan fruit and vegetables.

In addition, since November and until the end of March, the seven warehouses of the Central Fruit and Vegetables Market and the zones where the people of Mercabarna are concentrated (commercial zone and restaurants) have Mupi outdoor advertising and posters to create awareness about the campaign and to highlight the values of local producers and their products.

Plan to promote farmers and local products

This campaign can be added to a series of initiatives that Mercabarna has been carrying out for years, and which have become more pronounced in recent years with their “2021–2026 Strategic Plan”, where the objective was set, among others, to become a point of connection between the rural and urban world, and to promote farmers and local products.

In order to promote Catalan farmers and their products even more, Mercabarna has implemented a series of initiatives in the last three years. Amongst the most important, the following can be noted: the Mercabarna Farmers Association (APAM) promotion; the implementation of incentives to incorporate new farmers into an exclusive space (Situat de Productors), with discounts and benefits the first six months; B2B periodic networking workshops between fruit and vegetable retailers from Mercabarna and local producers from around Catalonia, the reform of the Situat de Productors, with the aim of updating the infrastructure and giving more emphasis to this zone inside the Central Fruit and Vegetables Market, and the creation of the Support Area for Farmers, the Farmers Guide and the Mercabarna website section “Pagesia de Proximitat” [Local farming], which offer information to local farmers such as the best way to sell their products in Mercabarna, the loading and unloading schedule, and advantages.