Rungis to invest €1 billion by 2025

Management of the Rungis international wholesale market in Paris has introduced 'Rungis 2025', a plan to invest €1 billion by 2025. Rungis currently covers 234 hectares and is home to 1,200 companies. La Semmaris, the organisation that runs the management of the market, and the wholesalers both vowed to invest half of the money each. La Semmaris is a mixed organisation, owned for 33.34% by the French state, for 33.34% by Altarea, for 13.9% by the City of Paris, 5.6% by the department Val-de-Marne, 9.93% by wholesalers and for 4.6% by local cash deposits. Objective of Rungis 2025 is to support long-term growth and sustainability of the wholesale market.

The plan will be rolled out in two phases. Firstly, millions of square meters of cold storage facility will be renovated. Many warehouses date from 1969, when the market was moved from the centre of Paris to Rungis. In addition, 132,000 square meters of cold storage capacity will be abolished and 264,000 square meters will be newly build. At the end of the project 20% of the total market will be renovated and its total capacity will be enlarged.

A number of new facilities are currently being developed, including a gastronomy pavilion dedicated to premium and organic fresh products. The pavilion covers 6,000 square meters and will be opened by 2016. 12 million euros have been invested in the new facilty so far.

Investment in e-commerce

The most innovative initiative is the investment in future e-commerce businesses. Rungis wants to encourage companies that focus on online sales of fresh produce to establish themselves at the market. A number of internet companies are already based at Rungis, including Mon-marché.fr and Ooshop, the website of Carrefour. New warehouses will be build that facilitate specific logisitics needed by internet companies. Every year 2.5 million tons of food passes through Rungis.