Historic handover at the helm of Mercabarna's dealers' association

The Association of Mercabarna Concessionaires (Assocome) has a new president. This is the first change in leadership the entity has faced since its establishment in 1999, as it had always had the same president, Joan Llonch, who was re-elected six consecutive times. He has been replaced by Casimir Llorens, manager of the company Llorens Capdevila, specialized in the wholesale of fruits and vegetables, with facilities in Mercabarna and its own apple crops in Empordà.

Assocome brings together most of the companies operating in Mercabarna, with 140 directly associated companies, in addition to the wholesale guilds of fruit and fish, representing almost 700 companies that jointly invoice around 5,000 million euros per year.

The new president has an extensive career in leadership positions in various business organizations in Mercabarna. He has been vice-president of Assocome and was president for fifteen years of the Gremi Association of Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Entrepreneurs of Barcelona (AGEM). During this period, between 1999 and 2014, he led, together with Llonch, negotiations with the Barcelona City Council ---Mercabarna's main shareholder--- to modernize the central market and renew administrative authorizations until 2037.

"We have a clear objective: the defense of the wholesale food distribution system, through the central markets for fruits and vegetables, and for fish and seafood, as an effective and efficient formula that guarantees the regular supply of fresh food to citizens," Llorens stated after assuming the position.

Joan Llonch, from the fruit and vegetable group Gavà Grup, is a true authority in Mercabarna and leaves a deep mark on the central Barcelona market, as he has been the spokesperson for operating companies, the negotiator of major agreements with administrations, and the promoter of the great changes and transformations that the food complex has experienced in the last thirty years. Before promoting the creation of Assocome and becoming its first and, until now, only president, Llonch had been the president of AGEM between 1987 and 1999. During that period, he led a revolutionary change, the change of schedule, as Mercabarna's fruit and vegetable market stopped working at night to carry out its activity only during the day.