The closure of the wholesale market on Ulmenstraße in Düsseldorf is already a foregone conclusion. Traders in Cologne are also fearing for their future. Without Cologne and Düsseldorf, only six wholesale markets will remain in NRW. This has prompted the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament to request a hearing in the Committee for Environment, Consumer Affairs, and Agriculture, under the title: "No wholesale market, no weekly market". The consensus among the invited food and producer associations is that wholesale markets are indispensable for selling fresh, regional fruit and vegetable products with a reasonably reliable price commitment to customers.
Wholesalers from Cologne and Düsseldorf.
There are currently 20 businesses in the Düsseldorf area that handle their entire vegetable sales through the Düsseldorf wholesale market, said Peter Muß from the Rhineland Agricultural Association. "They now have a huge problem if the Düsseldorf wholesale market no longer exists." For fruit and vegetable producers, the wholesale markets are an important place for marketing: Unlike sales to large discount chains, prices on the wholesale market are determined by supply and demand. "This results in a certain price commitment," says Muß. In contrast, when selling fresh goods to wholesalers or retailers, there is "more or less a price dictate".
For more information:
www.grossmarkthallen-duesseldorf.de
www.koelner-grossmarkt.de