On December 12, the fruit trade association invited all companies operating at the wholesale market to a public event. They unanimously rejected the plans of investor Büschl for a new building on Schäftlarnstraße. "We believe it is very important that not only the fruit trading companies organized in our association, but all companies operating at the wholesale market are asked for their opinion. That is why we presented the Büschl Group's plans to all companies at a public event. The unity and unanimity in rejecting the current plans did not really surprise us, as the reasons for the impossibility of the current plans are obvious," explained Günther Warchola, President of the Association of Bavarian Fruit Importers and Wholesalers, after the event on December 12, 2023.
At the moment, the companies on the wholesale market site would use around 72,000 m² of sales and storage space, plus a further 5,000 m² of open space, the waste disposal station and the filling station - a total of just under 80,000 m².
The newly planned hall would have a floor area of approx. 50,000 m², of which approximately 13% would have to be deducted for traffic routes, waste disposal, space for empties logistics and space for the charging stations. This would leave around 40,000 m² for sales and storage space. That is almost exactly half of the space currently available. In addition, parking spaces for trucks, whose drivers have to observe rest periods, were completely missing from the planning. The wholesale market hall cannot function without sufficient space for parking lorries and without sufficient access for the traffic of catering suppliers.
Traders in the Munich wholesale market hall.
Reduction of the usable area
"With these plans, our wholesale market will be reduced from 26 hectares to around 8.5 hectares. That is a third of the current area. This is an unacceptable downgrading of the fourth largest wholesale market in Europe. We need a functioning wholesale market - after all, we supply around 20 million people in Bavaria and Austria with fresh, high-quality food. We guarantee an enormous variety and the highest quality and freshness. The city council's original planning brief was to accommodate all retailers and the wholesale flower market in the new hall. However, this is not possible on this site, as is it is far too small. In order to realize the planning mandate, the entire area of the wholesale market hall would have to be redesigned or the current planning would have to be completely revised," says Warchola. This and the fact that it is unclear how the construction phase is to be managed without the wholesale market hall coming to a standstill are the main reasons for rejecting the plans.
Sufficient logistics space is not available for the freight forwarder operating on the market, nor has the question of which access road to the wholesale market hall could be used during the construction phase been clarified. The central entrance currently in use would no longer be available when the first construction phase of the development to the north begins. Customers of the wholesale market hall would perhaps put up with traffic chaos and a lack of parking spaces once or twice. After that, they would look for other shopping opportunities.
"Not only our members, but also many other well-known companies operating on the wholesale market site have also noted with concern that the current plans mean an extremely costly construction project. The amount of soil that will have to be moved to compensate for the differences in level between the eastern and western premises alone will cause enormous costs and prolong the construction phase, which is in any case inconceivable when the wholesale market hall is in operation. The main reasons for rejecting the current plans, however, remain the shortage of space with a simultaneous increase in costs and many unresolved logistics issues," says Warchola.
"Despite all the dissatisfaction with the planning and the lack of prospects for our member companies, there are positive aspects as well: the unity and unanimity within the association, but also the uniform opinion of the companies outside the association, encourage us to walk the right path. Of course, we hope that at the end of the current process, our member companies will be given a perspective on how the approximately 3,000 jobs in Munich can be retained. Also we want to know how the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to the Munich population, but also to the wider region as far as Austria, can be ensured in the future. To achieve this, however, it will be necessary to make significantly more space available and to plan meticulously how the construction phase can be managed without disrupting the operation of the wholesale market hall," Warchola concludes.
For more information:
fruchtverband.de/leistungen