One major role carried out by the wholesale markets in Europe is that of a barometer of prices.

The difference between wholesale offer and retail demand is valuable information for everyone who wishes to evaluate the state of the country’s economy. It is also a much-needed tool to establish commercial contracts.

In France for 50 years a branch of the ministry of agriculture, SNM, had been in charge of collecting prices from Rungis professionals and from them painting a picture of the trade. I myself have often met these men while pacing the fresh produce halls.

I have always been amazed by the level of confidence they put in information given to them by traders famous for their secretive tendencies. At the very beginning of its existence SNM also succeeded in the amazing task of creating a stream of information with colleagues in Germany.

In France - where we like to provide an acronym for everything by the way - there is another service called SCEES in charge of collecting information at the producer level. Now, in an understandable cost-saving exercise, the ministry of agriculture is considering merging these two services into one with the SCEES team at the lead.

This is causing unease among wholesalers. Why? Because the SCEES men are seen mainly as statisticians and the trade is not ready to grant them the same confidence. Beyond emotions, it is also argued that the accuracy of the prices is the result of a complex alchemy and the human factor is often prominent in this.

Whatever happens, wholesale authorities will be given the opportunity to discuss the future of pricing systems through the markets at a Rome meeting of the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) at the end of May.

The get-together will include one session about the Italian electronic pricing system - called Infomercati. And what do you know, at last October’s WUWM congress in Lisbon, the French SNM and its Italian counterpart signed an agreement on exchanging information. Curiouser and curiouser.