Marché Rungis – The World’s Largest Fresh Produce Market

Marché Rungis (Rungis Market) is the World’s Largest Fresh Produce Wholesale Market:

© Marché International de Rungis

For the foodie, Paris has always offered the opportunity to visit lively neighbourhood food markets where all kinds of wonderful foods are on display.  If, like me, you enjoy visiting Paris markets and finding out about the seasonal food in Paris, there is now the opportunity to visit a fresh produce wholesale market. The Marché Rungis (Rungis Market) supplies metropolitan Paris with fresh produce and is believed to be the largest fresh produce wholesale market in the world.

About Marché Rungis

Rungis Market is located in the southern suburb of Rungis, about 7.0 km from Paris. This wholesale market occupies a staggering 232 hectares of building space and there are some 1,200 companies operating at Rungis, providing work for 12,000 employees.

The market is organized into six groups of fresh produce – dairy products, fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, horticulture and cut flowers, meat, gourmet and other edible produce. Each of the produce halls has different operating hours and opening days.  Every day, up to 26,000 vehicles deliver all kinds of fish, meat, fruit, vegetables and flowers to the Rungis market site which then find their way into the local Paris markets, restaurants and supermarkets.

So if you’ve ever wondered where the food in Paris comes from, this one wholesale market alone supplies over half the fresh seafood consumed in the French capital, 45% of Paris’ fruit and vegetables, 35% of its meat and 50% of the flowers that decorate Parisian homes and businesses.

Visiting Rungis

© Marché International de Rungis

Up till recently Rungis Paris was off-limit to the public. But now, foodies and tourists alike are able to take a guided tour of the Rungis Market on the second Friday of each month.

This tour is not for those who object to early morning starts – the pickup from Paris is at 5:05 am!  At €80 per person, it is not cheap either, but the tour cost includes transport to and from the Paris city centre and a guided tour around the fresh produce halls where you’ll be able to see the food merchants in action.  The visit ends at 8.30 am with a traditional market breakfast which is included in the tour price.

For more information about visiting Rungis Market and booking the tour, visit their website at www.visiterungis.com.

Address:
Marché Rungis
1 rue de la Tour
BP 316
94152 Rungis cedex

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