Wholesale markets met in Budapest

Between 27 and 29 May the meeting of the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUMM) was held in Budapest. There were more than 200 participants at the conference, who represented 35 countries. Not only wholesale markets sent their representatives but trading companies, retailers, food safety experts, farmers, researchers and decision-makers as well. Zoltán Házi, the CEO of the event’s organiser the Budapest Wholesale Market (BWM) – the other being the Hall and Market Directorate of the Municipality of Budapest – told before the congress that it was a great honour to host such a prestigious and important event. In his view the conference was also a perfect occasion for showing others how the BWM connects small farmers and wholesalers with consumers. Work was done in four sections at the conference: 1. Markets’ influence on communities, 2. Marketing and promotion campaigns, 3. Modernising markets, 4. Minimising food waste at marketplaces. Participants visited the Budapest Wholesale Market and went on a sightseeing tour of Budapest. At the end of the conference the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and WUWM signed a partnership agreement, the objective of which is to reduce food waste in the world. The two parties plan to develop methods that increase the logistics efficiency of urban marketplaces and waste less food. Estimation is that every year 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted – mainly in big cities. Mr Házi told that BWM plans to support various programmes and organisations (e.g. the Hungarian Food Bank) which work in the utilising of leftover food.