Exactly 50 years ago, Covent Garden Market became New Covent Garden Market, in Nine Elms. In the latest issue of Market Times, Fresh Produce Journal editor Fred Searle looks back at the many ways the Market has evolved since then and how its progress has been chronicled in the pages of FPJ, the UK's leading trade magazine for this sector.

When traders at the old Covent Garden Market crossed the Thames and moved into their new site in Nine Elms, Fruit Trades Journal (as Fresh Produce Journal was once known) published a message from none other than the Duke of Edinburgh. In a special supplement to the magazine in 1974, Prince Philip wrote that “economically, commercially and technically, the new site is a vast improvement”, adding that the facilities at Nine Elms “are obviously the best and most convenient which the ingenuity of designers and architects can devise”.

Fifty years on, that assessment is, unsurprisingly, outdated. Indeed, most Market traders agree that New Covent Garden Market (NCGM) is much in need of its ongoing redevelopment – even if there was disagreement over what form it should take. Over the past five decades, the Market and its traders have been through a lot.

Ups and downs

Delving into the FPJ archives reveals mixed opinions about the relocation back in 1974. Ten years after the move, Fruit Trades Journal reported that the volume of trade at NCGM had grown “beyond most expectations”. This was largely thanks to increased storage capacity, the market’s accessibility to articulated and refrigerated lorries, and its suitability for forklift trucks, the journal pointed out. Recognition of the new Market’s commercial success contrasted with reservations about “the loss of an established and colourful folklore” and “a negation of the way of life of old”.

Traders expressed concern about a lack of contact with the general public at the “hemmed in” Nine Elms site. Of greatest concern in 1984, however, was that wholesale markets were “in danger of being used as a dumping ground” as supermarkets began to rise in prominence. Scores of traders were forced out of business during a difficult period in the 1980s and 1990s when the quality and volume of produce fell sharply as suppliers began to prioritise the supermarkets.

In the nineties, traders began to switch their attention to predominantly supplying London’s burgeoning restaurant and catering sector – a pivot that has ultimately paid dividends. In the past 10 years, the big talking point has been the Market’s redevelopment, plans which met with vocal opposition from traders before eventually being ironed out.

Fresh opportunities

Chairman of the Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA), Bill Bowman OBE, wrote a comment piece for FPJ in 1994, arguing that NCGM should become a “one stop shop” for the catering industry. “How can it fill the gaping holes that have opened in Market occupancy, due to the decline of the independent greengrocer and the traditional fruit and vegetable wholesaler who served it?” Bowman asked. Indeed, the number of traditional wholesalers at the Market had declined from around 120 in 1974 to fewer than 50 in 1994. The answer, he said, was to fill the Market with a wider range of tenants beyond fruit and veg – including suppliers of baked goods, dairy, meat and fish, all of whom “could find the New Covent Garden site attractive”.

In the 30 years that followed, these additional sectors became a bigger feature at the Market. In fact, the largest supplier at NCGM today is The Menu Partners, offering a full range of ingredients, from fish to dairy. Fruit, vegetables and flowers still account for the vast majority of produce traded at NCGM – but the Market’s customer base has continued to change.

Despite a slight resurgence in the independent retail sector during Covid, today there are many fewer greengrocers and street traders than back in 1974. Supermarkets, meanwhile, have long dominated in the purchase of food from the growers and in the supply of food to the public, forcing a number of NCGM wholesalers out of business. But as former FPJ Editor Tommy Leighton – now Press Officer at NCGM – put it in his 30-year anniversary feature in 2004, the rising fruit and vegetable volumes demanded by London’s catering trade “provided ample compensation” for the surviving traders.

“Wholesalers and catering suppliers are now the two interlinked pillars of the Market,” commented then Chair of CGMA, Leif Mills. And this dynamic has continued, with 80 per cent of the Market’s trade now passing between companies within the Market.

It goes without saying that catering supply only thrives if people are eating out. And in 2020 and 2021, Covid lockdowns decimated the hospitality sector, forcing a number of NCGM traders to switch to home deliveries just to survive. Since then, the restaurant trade has recovered – albeit not to the same level as before the pandemic – but NCGM has recovered, reporting a record turnover of £880 million in its latest financial year.

Focus on quality

Today more than ever, the focus for traders is on quality, emphasises long-standing Chair of the Covent Garden Tenants’ Association (CGTA) Gary Marshall. He says he is optimistic for the future of UK wholesale markets following the growth of greengrocers, farm shops and delicatessens during (and after) the pandemic, as well as rising demand for high-quality restaurant food and experiences. Nevertheless, Marshall emphasises that appreciation for high-quality produce is still lacking in the UK compared to Europe. “People must start to appreciate fresh produce a lot better in this country,”

Marshall recently told Fruitnet MD Chris White in a recent Fruitbox podcast. “In Europe, they all appreciate it. What we expect in this country is cheap, cheap, cheap. What we should be saying, and what New Covent Garden promotes, is quality, quality, quality, taste, taste, taste.”

Brexit, climate change, inflationary pressures, and customers’ rising demand for contract pricing all present significant challenges for the Market in the immediate future. But the redevelopment of NCGM could mark a fresh period of expansion for some businesses, thanks to the extra capacity in traders’ units, more efficient facilities, and a cleaner, brighter feel. On 30 June the first new section of Buyers’ Walk in 50 years was opened, welcoming in three businesses as its inaugural tenants. One of them in particular, Premier Foods Wholesale, sees major positives.

“It’s game-changing,” says Managing Director Jason Tanner. “For the sort of customers we have been able to attract to the Market now, the state-of-the-art facilities are crucial… This is going to be a new Market, with a lot of potential.”

The Market has always been adept at moving with the times and adapting to changing circumstances. And hopes will be high that the redevelopment only makes the Market stronger as it embarks on its next chapter.