The regeneration of the capital’s main wholesale hub for caterers and independent retailers alike has sent both ripples of excitement and trepidation through the buyers’ walk.
The Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) plans to provide a fit-for-purpose new wholesale market alongside other food- and flower-related facilities and activities, with the aim of creating a new food centre for London.
Since its move to the Vauxhall site 35 years ago this November, NCGM has put itself on the map as a vital source for fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers for leading London restaurants, caterers and many south London businesses - and traders and customers largely agree that the wholesale market is in dire need of modernisation if it is to continue its winning streak. But with change always comes apprehension and mistrust.
The CGMA is well aware of this and is determined to involve tenants, customers and even the local community in this redevelopment plan. “We have taken part in constant consultations with the Covent Garden Tenants’ Association (CGTA) since we first began to consider the idea of regeneration in 2006, and have taken into account their views on their requirements of the new site in [terms of] both size and the services it must offer,” says Jan Lloyd, chief executive of the CGMA. “We have maintained that dialogue all the way through, but it is only in the last couple of months that we have come to look at the space available, the funds and the logistics involved.
“It is generally recognised that the market has to change and that it does not function as it should - we have a flower market with no drainage system, for example. We have to take the tenants forward with this. Yes, any change is unnerving, but we plan to have a build and decamp process, where part of the new facility will be rebuilt before it is demolished, and the project will be extended over a number of years.”
The CGMA’s vision is very much in its infancy and, as FPJ goes to press, the authority is preparing for its first exhibition - from November 4-7 - in which it will present its emerging designs for traders, market customers and locals to gather opinions and requests. Comments received over the exhibition will then be considered for a further consultation early next year.
Gary Marshall, chairman of the CGTA for the past five years and managing director of Bevington Salads, is looking to work with the market authority to create “an iconic market fit for purpose in the 21st century”.
“The most positive things to happen to the market recently are the new 10-year leases and the prospect of redevelopment and it is something we are all excited about,” he tells FPJ. “Traders have invested hundreds of thousands into their units, but are let down by the insufficient common area’s infrastructure, electricity systems and heating, and it will be necessary to see it upgraded.”
As well as providing a fit-for-purpose facility for some 240 tenants, the plan will make way for further redevelopment. The new market - to be known as The Garden at New Covent Garden Market - will provide up to 540,000sqft of trading space for fresh produce and other food- and flower-related activities and, in order to finance the new market, the planning application will also identify other areas within the overall site suitable for redevelopment, including the current flower market site, which may be used for residential purposes.
“This period is very exciting for us now that the consultation and public exhibition are going ahead,” says Helen Evans, CGMA’s communications manager. “We are having a special preview of the plans first of all because we want the tenants to be the first to see it before anyone else. It will run from midnight to 6am to make sure that everybody using the market will be able to come.
“The market is for them but, equally, it must be balanced and affordable. We need to understand how the businesses are operated and what they need.
“London has established itself as a gastronomic capital and our nation has gone from making jokes about our food to having a real pride in it. Catering is at the heart of NCGM, as well as retail, so we will have a brand-new site to serve this industry. We have carried out work with experts and consultants to provide more trading space and everyone should be able to trade and expand. The focus will remain on fruit, vegetable and flower wholesale, but we are also planning to bring in restaurants and educational facilities, as well as being more public-facing.”
Paul Bishop of P&I Fruits shares this vision for the future and is eager for NCGM to make an impact on both the industry and the general public. The company, which is a joint partnership between three directors - Bishop, Paul Emmett and Ian Taylor - prides itself on supporting British growers and paying suppliers a reasonable price, on time.
“The people who come to NCGM actually want to know about the food we sell,” says Bishop. “Why can’t consumers come in and have a look? The knowledge in this market is very good - supermarkets like to portray that they care, but there is just one thing they are interested in and that is bundles of money. With greengrocers, you get a personality and knowledge. We have the potential here to get across to people what it is they are eating and have the facilities to grow. NCGM does not get the recognition it deserves and the general public does not know what we do here.”
Bishop believes that getting the go-ahead for a food centre will elevate the market to a new height. “There could be a retail market, a college, catering facilities and at the core of it would be a bustling wholesale market. It will be a good focal point for London and wholesale will be at its heart.”
Marshall says the tenants have a good relationship with their landlord and is pleased that CGTA’s ideas and plans have been, and will continue to be, taken on throughout the redevelopment planning period. But he also maintains that there are other avenues out there.
“The CGTA believes that tenants should have far more involvement in how the market is run,” he says. “We would like a per cent ownership, like at markets in Rungis, Frankfurt and Madrid. One of the reasons the wholesale market is still here is because of legislation that states that fruit and vegetable wholesalers must be on this site.
“I would like to think that by the time the redevelopment is in its final stages, the CGTA will be a future partner with the government.
“It is possible that the market may be sold in the future but will require legislative change, and the market could go to private ownership. The brief of the CGMA [a statutory body that answers to DEFRA] is that the market cannot make a loss. If the market was sold to a private owner, it would become far more commercial. They would streamline the staff, update working practices and make the market more efficient. But inevitably, a more commercial owner means more money, which will result in rent being raised and a higher cost for service providers.
“In saying that though, the present chief executive, Jan Lloyd, has a passion for the market, as has Baroness Brenda Dean as chair, and there has been every indication that they are fully behind the tenants being a major part of the redevelopment.”
Nevertheless, the CGTA is still considering its options. Marshall has not discarded the possibility of joining up with a private partner in order to buy the site. “As tenants, we want to be in charge of our own destiny,” he adds.
The everyday
So how is trade faring? As always with wholesale markets, there are positives and negatives. Many feel that the massive reconstruction work that will be needed to regenerate the market will have a detrimental effect on businesses within NCGM. One insider says: “If we could just snap our fingers and have a new modern market that would be great, but it’s not going to happen like that and I don’t know how conducive it is having construction going on and dust flying about when you’re trying to sell premium fresh produce to customers.”
Some traders are concerned that their everyday trade will be put in jeopardy at a time when the country should be coming out of recession and therefore experiencing an upturn. “In this business, you are only as good as your last delivery,” says Marshall. “It is an important and difficult process as it is, so I don’t know how it is going to happen with construction going on. If someone serves a restaurant and they serve 100 covers that day, they will not take any excuses from the caterers for non delivery of produce.”
The economic downturn cannot be ignored at NCGM, especially when the traders’ biggest clients run on a credit system, but business is still coming through.
Bishop has noticed that customers are going for cheaper imports, despite the resurgence in local sourcing. “We are told that it is not great to import a lot of produce from abroad because it is bad for the climate and the local economy, but all too many times it is too easy to phone the Netherlands or Belgium and get it cheaper than in this country,” he explains. “Customers are being driven by price more than ever. We are not about cheap food; we are about service and getting our customers the best product. My belief is that service comes first. Cheap produce can only mean one thing. We need to look after our customers and keep them coming back.
“Also, customers are definitely not paying as quickly as they used to. The biggest change in the market is the move to serving caterers and higher-end grocers and the fact that it all rides on credit.”
Bruce White of Bruce White Ltd maintains that it has been a tough 18 months, but reveals that the business is strong and turning over the same amount of money as this time last year. He believes that caterers and retailers looking for a point of difference, like Nutbourne Nursery’s mix box of speciality tomatoes grown in Sussex, is pushing the market forward. “People are asking for British, but some do go off it when they hear the price,” says White. “People think it will come cheaper, but growing this produce takes a lot of work.”
David Piper of C&C also finds that niche products sell well and has had particular success with products such as solo garlic from China -a single round, onion-like bulb of garlic - and micro cresses from Dutch firm Koppert Cress. “We started not so long ago with getting in one box of micro cress a week, and now we receive pallets of the stuff daily,” he comments.
Michael Hyams, co-owner of company Mushroom Man with Phil Dean, has found a real following from caterers and retailers for wild and cultivated mushrooms. “European wild cepes and Girolle are particularly popular, as well as the exotic range that come from China or Korea,” he explains. “We have just got in some really good King Oyster mushrooms and they have been on a boat from Korea for four weeks before they get here, but they are perfect. I have around 30 different varieties of cultivated and wild mushrooms including trompettes, eyringii and follottes nemico in stock here. I let customers put together mixed pallets for their customers.
“Summer is always a bad time for mushrooms, particularly in London with the school holidays, but we get through it slowly. Anyone whose customer base is catering is in the same boat, though.
“I think we all feel confident that there will always be a need for wholesalers - it’s just that our client base has changed.”
Herb wholesale specialist Fresh Herbs’ Tony Kershaw has been on the market for more than 20 years and has seen items such as edible flowers and wild rocket become very popular. “We used to do a bigger range of herbs, but now we focus on high-value herbs such as chives and tarragon, and baby leaf has become hugely popular.”
It is estimated that 40 per cent of the meals served in the average London restaurant have come through NCGM, so how has the market coped with the recessional lull in foodservice?
Chef’s Connection has seen the catering industry remain buoyant throughout the recession, with top-end restaurants more than bucking the trend and mid-market eateries keeping afloat with the use of promotional offers and marketing. The public sector is also providing a constant source of custom.
The company has extended its facilities in the last five years to incorporate cooked prepared produce and has found that offering the full package has really helped. “We develop products for people and send samples, which will be a totally bespoke product that will not be offered in the same form to another customer,” says operations manager Stuart Busby. “We use a network of growers throughout the UK and chefs are really looking for seasonal and local food, and have been for some time now. I do believe that customers and consumers in general need to understand about the justification of price, though.
“But innovation is the key to survival in catering. We are now British Rail Consortium-accredited and are always trying to move forward and maintain our edge.”
What traders want
It is obvious to anyone walking around NCGM that its customer base is now heavily leaning towards catering and chefs, and many traders hope that the redevelopment of the market will reflect this.
Piper tells FPJ that he is keeping an open mind about the redevelopment plans and is encouraged by the fact that the company’s move from the growers’ pavilion to one of the main blocks in June has been successful. C&C was one of around six companies that moved and now the pavilion is used for storage.
“It has been positive and sales are up because the premises are better,” he says. “It is a better working environment and we all moved on the same day quite seamlessly. It is so much better being part of a hub rather than a half-empty hall.”
White agrees. His company celebrates its 20th anniversary in November, but White’s family has always been involved in Covent Garden market, both at the old site and at Nine Elms. White began his working life in the growers’ pavilion. “This move has gone well and it is my belief that if the new development is done correctly, NCGM will have a fantastic future,” he says. “If we can get the market into the 21st century and change the trading environment, as well as turning traders into shareholders, that would be perfect. In the growers’ pavilion, the roof used to leak and not being there has made a huge difference. We have picked up a few new customers.”
So it seems the move into the main block has whetted some traders’ appetites for change. Wholesaler AE Booth, which has traded within NCGM for nine years, has seen a 15 per cent increase in sales since moving. “We hope that the redevelopment gives us all a secure future, a better working environment and a stronger market,” says the company’s Nick Bagwell. “Already we have been given a new recycling system where you get charged less if you waste less, which is great for us because we waste a lot less product than someone serving a caterer. The new market will be cleaner and tidier.”
But others are not so keen. Side Salad’s Bill Lowe is now considering selling the fruit and vegetable wholesale business when the leases come up for renewal next year. Lowe and his business partner, Clive Glithero, are both nearing retirement age and feel that it is time for fresh blood to take on the reins.
Having worked on the wholesale market since he was 14 years old, Lowe would like to see the wholesale industry flourish, but has reservations. “I can’t see how it can be done on this site, as too much good money has been spent on it by individual units,” he says. “Plus, the health and safety aspect is going to be a nightmare. We will sell. We don’t want to be here when it all happens.
“There is a future for wholesale though, but not personally for me. I will stay on as an adviser and will work with our growers, such as G’s Marketing for example. A wholesale business is still all about the service and providing a personal approach.
“I think there will be several people like us that will leave and the trouble is getting new blood into the market. But speak to any grower and they will tell you that they still need wholesalers and it is such a difficult business to teach anyone. It is very worrying.”
French import specialist The French Garden Ltd is keen to see the market transform into a market akin to Rungis International Market, but doubts the potential of the redevelopment plans. The company’s Phil Marsh says a composite market would be ideal for The French Garden, which serves mainly caterers, because as well as its mainstay of salads and niche vegetable lines, such as micro vegetables, it brings in everything the customer may need, from potatoes to fois gras. “We deal with Rungis very closely and work with about 30 growers in France, as well as packhouses,” says Marsh. “Micro and baby vegetables are doing very well in restaurants and sales of baby artichokes, fennel, leeks and carrots are huge.”
Yet the company is uncertain regarding the new market. Managing director Iain Furness tells FPJ: “I am not certain that enough room will be left for wholesalers and it is a big possibility that the area left will not be sufficient for everybody’s needs. The redevelopment may strangle the wholesale industry here.
“There is the opportunity here to make this market something to be really proud of, but I don’t think it will ever happen. We should have combined with Western International when it redeveloped and produced a similar environment to Rungis.”
With better facilities and a modern image, many hope that the market may attract further more younger people into the wholesale profession than before.
“Recruitment has been a concern; there are about 10 salesmen under 30 here and it has become a problem,” says Marshall. “There is no social life to be had as you have to be here at 1am or earlier. The rewards are not automatic either, but if trainee salesmen stick with it there is money to be made. We turn over £10 million of fruit and vegetables a week in the market. But there is still a lack of young people. My son, Bradley Marshall, has joined the trade recently and I hope he sticks with it.
“The market has always been poor on the recruitment of staff, and traders and porters come into the market through word of mouth and very few people are employed from outside the market. The recruitment of young people has improved since we have been advertising externally.”
Back to the future
No one on the market denies that serving catering companies is the future of the market, but some are still believers in traditional greengrocers and are spurred on by street markets and farmers’ markets becoming popular once more.
“There is a definite future in street markets and farmers’ markets,” says Piper. “We have picked up a few customers lately and they are making a comeback. Our sister company Elsey & Bent in Borough Market is doing very well. The consumer is shopping around more as money gets tighter.”
Marshall has also noticed this trend. “Trade has swung back to being retail focused to a certain degree with the resurgence of farmers’ markets, although we continue to be the main source for the foodservice sector,” he says. “I have seen an increase of independent retailers in the last two years. It seems that the public has realised that supermarkets are very expensive, other than the two or three lines they discount to get you through the door.”
After the consultations, the planning application for the new market will be made. The outline plans for the rest of the site - including the new market for fruit and vegetables and food preparation and a brand-new flower market - will be drawn up by Neil Tomlinson Architects, a specialist in market development, although it will still be as long as four or five years until the development will be up and running.
So with much to look forward to, the atmosphere at NCGM is positive and a buzz of anticipation runs throughout the market. “We have seen some new companies lately, such as Sherringhams, which has opened a new catering unit and invested a lot of money, while Premier Fruits has doubled in size and P&I Fruit has expanded,” says Marshall. “Like anywhere, where there is free trade, the strong survive and the strongest get stronger. Providing you sell high-quality produce constantly that is affordable, you will be successful.
“Bevington Salads is £250,000 up on last year’s turnover, but we cannot be complacent. Day after day, we believe that it is worse than yesterday and can be better tomorrow, but when you analyse the figures, we have really come through traumatic and difficult times in good form. No wholesale company has been forced to close because of the recession and all continue to trade well.”
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