2009-04-16 · Gauteng
Fruit and vegetable mart founded in 1893 will become a ‘food hub’, writes Nicola Mawson
WELL before 5am, boxes of tomatoes, lettuce, other vegetables and fruit are being stacked at the 63ha Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, waiting for retailers to sift through and strike a price with the sellers, who market on behalf of 15000 producers around SA.
CEO Kgosientso Ramokgopa has plans to expand the market, which is owned by the Johannesburg City Council. He sees “the market of the future” where prices are displayed in real time like the JSE’s ticker, producers can log on to the website and track their produce and consumers can shop at what will become a food hub.
“It’s a city on its own,” says Ramokgopa, who aims to make best use of the virgin land that the market owns, which is close to Transnet’s depot. The market has its peak time at 7am, but by is empty by 1pm.
Hopefully, Ramokgopa says, the market will be able to operate beyond those hours when a retail component comes into play. There are also plans to open an organic market one day a week.
An additional 30ha will be added to the existing market, as part of plans to create a food hub as opposed to a fresh produce market. A meat and fish market will be introduced to supply small, medium and large butchers who want to buy in bulk and not on the small scale available at the moment.
A fruit and vegetable section will be introduced for household customers, who will be able to save based on the average market price.
“The driving consideration is the consumer,” says Ramokgopa. About R300m will be spent to turn the market into the “market of the future”. Funds will be raised on the open market.
More than 17000 buyers buy produce at the market — 10000 of whom are regulars. Turnover for the past financial year was more than R2,8bn and the average value of sales per month is R235m. The record for a single business day is R16m.
A million tons of fruit and vegetables pass through the market each year, making it the fifth-largest market in the world. Volumes are higher than at Rungis International, in Paris, which sells 884706 tons and has been deemed to be the largest wholesale market .
The site in City Deep also hosts several other businesses on a “one-stop-shop” basis. The complex has shops where wholesale and retail meat, fish, eggs, groceries and provisions are sold.
The market, which works on a fixed commission basis, dates back to 1893, but started trading on a commission market system in 1974. It is now the largest fresh produce market in Africa. It has a diversity of buyers who come from all over SA, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The original market was in the centre of Johannesburg at what was known as Market Square, where trading mostly took place by barter. By 1913, the market had outgrown Market Square and moved to Newtown, where trade took place by auction, and all sorts of fresh goods were sold, including poultry, game, hay, lucerne and pheasants. The last year that the market traded in Newtown, 1974, turnover was R2,4m.
The market was established on the site at City Deep in 1974 and about 60% of the property has been developed. The three sales halls are used for vegetables, fruit and potatoes and onions and measure a total of 65000m² . It has 55 cold rooms that can accommodate 4561 pallets of fresh produce, while 50 banana ripening rooms can handle 1590 pallets of bananas at a time. ruit and vegetable mart founded in 1893 will become a ‘food hub’, writes Nicola Mawson
WELL before 5am, boxes of tomatoes, lettuce, other vegetables and fruit are being stacked at the 63ha Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, waiting for retailers to sift through and strike a price with the sellers, who market on behalf of 15000 producers around SA.
CEO Kgosientso Ramokgopa has plans to expand the market, which is owned by the Johannesburg City Council. He sees “the market of the future” where prices are displayed in real time like the JSE’s ticker, producers can log on to the website and track their produce and consumers can shop at what will become a food hub.
“It’s a city on its own,” says Ramokgopa, who aims to make best use of the virgin land that the market owns, which is close to Transnet’s depot. The market has its peak time at 7am, but by is empty by 1pm.
Hopefully, Ramokgopa says, the market will be able to operate beyond those hours when a retail component comes into play. There are also plans to open an organic market one day a week.
An additional 30ha will be added to the existing market, as part of plans to create a food hub as opposed to a fresh produce market. A meat and fish market will be introduced to supply small, medium and large butchers who want to buy in bulk and not on the small scale available at the moment.
A fruit and vegetable section will be introduced for household customers, who will be able to save based on the average market price.
“The driving consideration is the consumer,” says Ramokgopa. About R300m will be spent to turn the market into the “market of the future”. Funds will be raised on the open market.
More than 17000 buyers buy produce at the market — 10000 of whom are regulars. Turnover for the past financial year was more than R2,8bn and the average value of sales per month is R235m. The record for a single business day is R16m.
A million tons of fruit and vegetables pass through the market each year, making it the fifth-largest market in the world. Volumes are higher than at Rungis International, in Paris, which sells 884706 tons and has been deemed to be the largest wholesale market .
The site in City Deep also hosts several other businesses on a “one-stop-shop” basis. The complex has shops where wholesale and retail meat, fish, eggs, groceries and provisions are sold.
The market, which works on a fixed commission basis, dates back to 1893, but started trading on a commission market system in 1974. It is now the largest fresh produce market in Africa. It has a diversity of buyers who come from all over SA, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The original market was in the centre of Johannesburg at what was known as Market Square, where trading mostly took place by barter. By 1913, the market had outgrown Market Square and moved to Newtown, where trade took place by auction, and all sorts of fresh goods were sold, including poultry, game, hay, lucerne and pheasants. The last year that the market traded in Newtown, 1974, turnover was R2,4m.
The market was established on the site at City Deep in 1974 and about 60% of the property has been developed. The three sales halls are used for vegetables, fruit and potatoes and onions and measure a total of 65000m² . It has 55 cold rooms that can accommodate 4561 pallets of fresh produce, while 50 banana ripening rooms can handle 1590 pallets of bananas at a time. Watermelons are the only product still auctioned, and have a separate under-cover trading area of about 3500m² .
WELL before 5am, boxes of tomatoes, lettuce, other vegetables and fruit are being stacked at the 63ha Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, waiting for retailers to sift through and strike a price with the sellers, who market on behalf of 15000 producers around SA.
CEO Kgosientso Ramokgopa has plans to expand the market, which is owned by the Johannesburg City Council. He sees “the market of the future” where prices are displayed in real time like the JSE’s ticker, producers can log on to the website and track their produce and consumers can shop at what will become a food hub.
“It’s a city on its own,” says Ramokgopa, who aims to make best use of the virgin land that the market owns, which is close to Transnet’s depot. The market has its peak time at 7am, but by is empty by 1pm.
Hopefully, Ramokgopa says, the market will be able to operate beyond those hours when a retail component comes into play. There are also plans to open an organic market one day a week.
An additional 30ha will be added to the existing market, as part of plans to create a food hub as opposed to a fresh produce market. A meat and fish market will be introduced to supply small, medium and large butchers who want to buy in bulk and not on the small scale available at the moment.
A fruit and vegetable section will be introduced for household customers, who will be able to save based on the average market price.
“The driving consideration is the consumer,” says Ramokgopa. About R300m will be spent to turn the market into the “market of the future”. Funds will be raised on the open market.
More than 17000 buyers buy produce at the market — 10000 of whom are regulars. Turnover for the past financial year was more than R2,8bn and the average value of sales per month is R235m. The record for a single business day is R16m.
A million tons of fruit and vegetables pass through the market each year, making it the fifth-largest market in the world. Volumes are higher than at Rungis International, in Paris, which sells 884706 tons and has been deemed to be the largest wholesale market .
The site in City Deep also hosts several other businesses on a “one-stop-shop” basis. The complex has shops where wholesale and retail meat, fish, eggs, groceries and provisions are sold.
The market, which works on a fixed commission basis, dates back to 1893, but started trading on a commission market system in 1974. It is now the largest fresh produce market in Africa. It has a diversity of buyers who come from all over SA, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The original market was in the centre of Johannesburg at what was known as Market Square, where trading mostly took place by barter. By 1913, the market had outgrown Market Square and moved to Newtown, where trade took place by auction, and all sorts of fresh goods were sold, including poultry, game, hay, lucerne and pheasants. The last year that the market traded in Newtown, 1974, turnover was R2,4m.
The market was established on the site at City Deep in 1974 and about 60% of the property has been developed. The three sales halls are used for vegetables, fruit and potatoes and onions and measure a total of 65000m² . It has 55 cold rooms that can accommodate 4561 pallets of fresh produce, while 50 banana ripening rooms can handle 1590 pallets of bananas at a time. ruit and vegetable mart founded in 1893 will become a ‘food hub’, writes Nicola Mawson
WELL before 5am, boxes of tomatoes, lettuce, other vegetables and fruit are being stacked at the 63ha Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, waiting for retailers to sift through and strike a price with the sellers, who market on behalf of 15000 producers around SA.
CEO Kgosientso Ramokgopa has plans to expand the market, which is owned by the Johannesburg City Council. He sees “the market of the future” where prices are displayed in real time like the JSE’s ticker, producers can log on to the website and track their produce and consumers can shop at what will become a food hub.
“It’s a city on its own,” says Ramokgopa, who aims to make best use of the virgin land that the market owns, which is close to Transnet’s depot. The market has its peak time at 7am, but by is empty by 1pm.
Hopefully, Ramokgopa says, the market will be able to operate beyond those hours when a retail component comes into play. There are also plans to open an organic market one day a week.
An additional 30ha will be added to the existing market, as part of plans to create a food hub as opposed to a fresh produce market. A meat and fish market will be introduced to supply small, medium and large butchers who want to buy in bulk and not on the small scale available at the moment.
A fruit and vegetable section will be introduced for household customers, who will be able to save based on the average market price.
“The driving consideration is the consumer,” says Ramokgopa. About R300m will be spent to turn the market into the “market of the future”. Funds will be raised on the open market.
More than 17000 buyers buy produce at the market — 10000 of whom are regulars. Turnover for the past financial year was more than R2,8bn and the average value of sales per month is R235m. The record for a single business day is R16m.
A million tons of fruit and vegetables pass through the market each year, making it the fifth-largest market in the world. Volumes are higher than at Rungis International, in Paris, which sells 884706 tons and has been deemed to be the largest wholesale market .
The site in City Deep also hosts several other businesses on a “one-stop-shop” basis. The complex has shops where wholesale and retail meat, fish, eggs, groceries and provisions are sold.
The market, which works on a fixed commission basis, dates back to 1893, but started trading on a commission market system in 1974. It is now the largest fresh produce market in Africa. It has a diversity of buyers who come from all over SA, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The original market was in the centre of Johannesburg at what was known as Market Square, where trading mostly took place by barter. By 1913, the market had outgrown Market Square and moved to Newtown, where trade took place by auction, and all sorts of fresh goods were sold, including poultry, game, hay, lucerne and pheasants. The last year that the market traded in Newtown, 1974, turnover was R2,4m.
The market was established on the site at City Deep in 1974 and about 60% of the property has been developed. The three sales halls are used for vegetables, fruit and potatoes and onions and measure a total of 65000m² . It has 55 cold rooms that can accommodate 4561 pallets of fresh produce, while 50 banana ripening rooms can handle 1590 pallets of bananas at a time. Watermelons are the only product still auctioned, and have a separate under-cover trading area of about 3500m² .
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