The Grossmarkt in Karlsruhe celebrated its 50th anniversary last year: The marketplace used to be the heart of the regional wholesale trade (and beyond). Nowadays the larger suppliers use the halls as transhipment points. At the same time, smaller companies and direct marketers are also well represented, offering weekly marketers, retailers and restaurateurs versatile shopping opportunities. Despite the changes in the trade and the limited number of traders, the remaining companies still see many opportunities. By focusing on regional commodities and convenience products, they can diversify quite well.
Go straight to our picture gallery.
The wholesale market currently has an area of approximately 113,000 m². A good 18,700 m² of these are retail and warehouse spaces for wholesalers, producers and importers (including facilities for banana ripening and production facilities for convenience products). In addition to this, the area includes approx. 12,500 m² Metro Gastro and some 15,600 m² for the flower trade and flower accessories. Overall, the wholesale area at the Weinweg has five market halls - including a hall for direct sales.
Andreas Frey from Frey Gemüsebau
Product variety
In recent years, some interesting trends have occurred in the fields, explains Axel Pallmer, deputy head of the market office. The diversity has increased significantly with the entry of foreign suppliers and the rise of processed products. Recently, the Schenk company built a large production hall for convenience products.
Frey Gemüsebau also added a separate picking area to the existing area, which makes it more flexible and efficient throughout the production process. The former production company scores with regional specialties from the nearby cultivation region of Pfalz and now supplies around 40 Edeka branches. The trading companies Bratzler & Co. GmbH and Magli & Noel GmbH (part of the Landgard Group) are also among the larger providers at the wholesale market.
Doris Link markets its products directly on the wholesale market
Upcoming renovation
Parts of the well-maintained and relatively modern facilities in the import hall were destroyed by a major fire three years ago, after which large-scale renovations took place. Currently, a new roof is being planned for the wholesale hall. In addition, from 2019 to 2021, a new office building will be built near the main entrance. Overall, the new building will be about 6 to 7 stories high.
Competition
In Karlsruhe too, the increasing concentration within the retail trade and the declining importance of intermediary traders are noticeable. In addition, there are several wholesale markets in the region of Southwest Germany: Thus, the marketers in Karlsruhe are in direct competition with Mannheim, Freiburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Strasbourg. "All in all we are talking about six wholesale markets within a radius of 150 km. That's just too much," says potato dealer Uwe Fleisch, who is one of the long-established residents with almost 40 years of work. ''I would like to extend my current capacity, but unfortunately we no longer have the sales' numbers to finance this.''
The smaller suppliers in Karlsruhe mainly concentrate on weekly and regional markets, local fruit and vegetable shops and the catering trade. For those who are constantly reinventing themselves and adding trendy products to their product range, there is always a place within regional wholesale, says Baris Karaman, who mainly supplies regional kitchens and canteens. ''The younger generation values good service above all. This creates new opportunities for us.''
For more information:
Stadt Karlsruhe - Marktamt
Weinweg 43, 76137 Karlsruhe
Fon +49721 133-7210
Fax +49721 133-7209
E-Mail ma@karlsruhe.de
Web: www.karlsruhe.de/maerkte