More local and ecological products at Barcelona’s markets

The Green Trade project is part of the World Capital of Sustainable Food programme.

11/06/2021 - 13:02 h

Six Barcelona markets (Concepció, Llibertat, Sarrià, Ninot, Sants and Horta) have launched a pilot test for the “Green Trade” programme, which will be extended to all the city’s 39 food markets in September. So far, 130 of the 232 establishments at the six markets have joined the programme. “Green Trade” is one of the main initiatives of the Barcelona 2021 World Capital of Sustainable Food programme and will mean a qualitative leap in the volume of local and ecological foods from small producers, farmers or the wholesale market that are consumed in Barcelona, as well as in the fact that it will be a lot easier for people to access those products.

This is a joint project between the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Markets (IMMB), the Barcelona City Council Social and Solidarity Economy and Food Policy Commissioner’s Office, and the Barcelona Federation of Municipal Markets (FEMM), which groups together the city’s market traders’ associations. Work on the project began in 2019 and it is now entering the operational stage. Both the FEMM and the food retailers’ guilds have been involved in its definition, implementation, dissemination and monitoring.

Barcelona’s status as World Capital of Sustainable Food must serve for the city to take a big step forward in improving the food its residents eat. To achieve that goal, it is essential for the general public to be able to get hold of these products easily and that their distribution reaches every district and neighbourhood. That means the role of the municipal markets as promoters of healthy food and a driving force for change among other traders in the neighbourhoods where they are located is a vital one.

We are talking about a project for the present and the future, which emphasises the character of municipal market traders as influencers, people their customers trust, who are now becoming advocates of local and ecological foods, from small producers, farmers or the wholesale market.

In addition, the Green Trade programme has another three big goals: to continue emphasising what makes market establishments different is the quality of their produce, to ensure the promotion of local and ecological products has a notable impact on the carbon footprint and the fight against the carbon emergency in Barcelona, and to enhance the viability of local and sustainable agriculture and livestock farming. To date, 130 out of a total 232 establishments at the six markets that are taking part in the pilot test have signed up to the programme: 124 with Green Corners and 6 that have received the Green Trade classification.

More and more people want local ecological products. Barcelona’s citizens increasingly value sustainable/responsible consumption. According to the 2019 Municipal Omnibus survey, 73.5% of them take proximity into account when considering a product’s source, 73.9% take account of whether it is the trader’s own production or comes as directly as possible from the farmer, and 58.3% whether it is an ecological product. These trends have speeded up and become more marked in the dynamics of changing consumer values and habits due to the pandemic. In this context, selling local and ecological produce, their own production or directly from the farmer, is a very good opportunity for market traders and the city as a whole to respond to public demand.

With regard to the reasons for attaching importance to the proximity of the place of production or whether a product is ecological, these are the responses that the survey shows.

Finally, the 2020 Omnibus Survey asked where people bought local and ecological products. The response was that 33% bought them in supermarkets, 31.9% in the neighbourhood shop and 24.7% at the food markets. In the case of ecological products, 40.6% buy them in neighbourhood shops, 28.9% in supermarkets or hypermarkets, and 15.5% in the food markets. So, the conclusion we can draw from the data is clear: increasing the presence of local and ecological products at Barcelona’s 39 food markets will be a decisive contribution to making them more accessible and increasing their consumption in all the city’s neighbourhoods. And in that way, the Municipal Markets will continue positioning themselves in relation to the new and accelerated consumer trends towards sustainable diets in other sales channels, thus helping to enhance the economic viability of small and medium-sized local and sustainable producers by prioritising accessibility to their products.

How does “Green Trade” work?

Any establishment will be able to become Green Trade or have a Green Trade Corner, depending on the number of references or percentage of local and ecological products available at that establishment, according to the established criteria (in press dossier appendix).

More specifically, three main criteria have been defined in relation to sustainable food .

  • Local product: source Catalonia.
    That way we avoid “kilometric food” from far-flung countries and reduce the carbon footprint associated with its transport. Indirectly it also means we can guarantee fresher products and respect seasonal food.
  • Ecological product: with CCPAE certification.
    That way we highlight and make it easy to identify those ecological agriculture and livestock products that are healthier for people as well as the planet, being aware of their growing demand, whether it is for reasons of health or shared responsibility for the health of the planet.
  • Product direct from the farmer or the wholesale market: own-produced product (in the case of fruit and vegetables), or bought directly from a producer or at the wholesale market. That way we promote those traders who know their own product first hand (because they have their own farm) and/or the producer they trust. Once an establishment has received this classification, various materials will be installed to identify it as such and to increase the visibility of trade and products with these characteristics.

A minimum number of references has been established for each of these criteria. Traders who meet the requirements of one or more of these criteria can join the project on a voluntary basis by making a declaration of compliance, thus showing their commitment to fulfilling these criteria and the possibility of verifying they do if required. Some posters and labels have been created to identify both the stalls and food products that comply with the requirements and also provide information for healthier, more sustainable food shopping.

When it comes to establishing and consolidating supply channels for local and ecological products from small producers, farmers or the wholesale market, it is just as important that people have access to them near their street or neighbourhood as it is for the traders themselves to have easy access to suppliers of this type of produce. In that regard, Barcelona World Capital of Sustainable Food plans to improve and facilitate the relationship between retailers, direct channels and specialist wholesalers like those at the Mercabarna Biomarket, which opened six months ago as Europe’s main wholesale centre for ecological produce, or at the future Local Agri-food Exchange Centre, where there are plans for a pilot test to start this summer, and which will incorporate a platform through which it will be possible to contact producers and centralise logistics.

The programme also provides for offering specialist support to retail businesses that join the programme, ranging from information services, mentoring and training for traders to strengthen the business of these establishments, to helping them develop customer loyalty to these types of products and boost their communication channels.

At the same time, the FEMM, City Council and Institute of Markets will support the roll-out of the programme of publicity campaigns and other communication initiatives, such as the latest episode of “Masterchef” dedicated to Barcelona World Capital of Sustainable Food, where the chefs Jordi Cruz and Oriol Castro did the first shop at a Green Trade stall to get the food for the well-known TV series.

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