The Barcelona Meat-Ramader and Poultry Market brought together more than 150 attendees to celebrate, last September 20, the 50th anniversary of a trajectory that places Barcelona and Catalonia as international benchmarks in the meat sector at La Llotja de Mar. The event served to highlight the influence of the Barcelona Meat Market in the world and to reaffirm the importance of the decisions taken there on meat trends in the State as a whole.
During the course of the day, five honorary medals were awarded to various organizations and professionals for their collaboration and involvement with the growth of the institution in the territory:
• Barcelona Chamber of Commerce: for having been the cradle of the Meat Market during its journey and expansion, offering them a space in the Llotja de Mar.
• Miquel Callís: in recognition of his role in the transformation of the Barcelona Meat-Ramader Market into the Barcelona Meat-Ramader and Poultry Market.
• Toni Viñals (posthumously): for his leading role in the Catalan beef sector with the Viñals Soler meat company.
• Miquel Tura: in recognition of his career for being the president of the beef table for almost 20 years until 2020.
Behavior of the meat market
The day also served to highlight the good behavior of this market, which works with its eyes set on the outside, and experiences an upward growth year after year in terms of exports. In this sense, it is one of the major suppliers in the EU and has a strong influence in Asian countries, such as China or Japan, where it is one of the main exporters of these foods.
Currently, meat production is the fourth industrial sector in Catalonia with a turnover of 8,400 million euros, they register around 685 active companies and offer direct employment to more than 33,000 workers. According to the latest PRODECA report, Catalan exports of meat and sausages represented 35.69% of total production with an impact of 4,596 million euros.
The Barcelona Meat-Ramader and Poultry Market, which brings together 178 members, has as its main objective to bring together traders, industrialists, commercial agents and other operators related to the meat, livestock and poultry sectors once a week, to promote mercantile contracting operations in a regime of free competition of supply and demand.
At the same time as the Market session is held, the price commissions of the beef and pork sector also meet to calculate the quotations recorded in the corresponding sectors in the market and prepare a sheet of indicative prices, which are disseminated in Catalonia and the rest of the State and also in countries such as France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Portugal.
Anniversary of the Sea Market
The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Barcelona Meat Market took place at La Llotja de Mar, the corporate headquarters of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and an economic benchmark for the territory for more than seven centuries. In fact, the Chamber of Barcelona was the driving force behind this organization with the approval in 1978 of the first Statutes of the Mercat Carni-Ramader de Barcelona. In addition, the link with La Llotja de Mar is historical, as the antecedents of the current Meat Market date back to the 19th century, when the Pork Market was installed in Pla de Palau.
The event was attended by the president of the Mercat Carni de Barcelona, Josep Barbany, the Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Roger Torrent, the first vice-president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Toni Fitó, and the councilor of Commerce and Markets of Barcelona City Council and president of Mercabarna, Montse Ballarín.
