The testing of the marketplace research project has started at the Mercato Agroalimentare della Sardegna, with the aim of offering customers an online booking system and delivery to the point of sale. After conducting interviews with the operators of the fruit and vegetable center of Sestu, the project started by initially involving the companies selected by the company Attiva and then extended to those interested, located at the market.
"The development phase should be concluded by June. Considering the great interest shown by the initiative - highlights the director of Coagri Sardegna Giorgio Licheri - we hope that in a few months, other companies in the market will join in".
Among the operators participating in the experiment, the sense of trust and enthusiasm for this initiative is palpable, especially on the part of young entrepreneurs who have a long family tradition in the sector and who welcome innovation with particular interest.
"We participated in the project with the aim of bringing customers back to the wholesale market, even those who don't physically come - explains Fabio Fois of Ortofrutta Uno - if thirty years ago there were many more customers, today the number of companies that enter the market every day has decreased and the important part of the HoReCa, the catering that we hope to intercept through the marketplace platform that will facilitate purchases without having to physically come to the market to buy fruit and vegetables, is missing. My father started 40 years ago - continues Fois - but my brother and I have also been in the company for ten years; initially we worked following the old system, without overturning it. Little by little we are trying to be more innovative. The marketplace, in addition to us operators, will be useful to encourage generational change also for those who currently frequent the market, perhaps the children of customers who today choose not to follow our timetables. Life here at the market - concludes the entrepreneur - is very hard. I am 31 years old and I wake up at half past midnight to be at the market at one and prepare everything while waiting for the employees and then the customers to arrive”. Considerations also shared by Marco Schirru of Walfrutta. “I am 24 years old and I have been working at the market for several years. I belong to the fourth generation of wholesalers. My great-grandfather started it. I wake up every day at one in the morning - says Schirru - so a life of sacrifices. With these hours you cannot afford to go out on Friday evenings with friends and often I have to give it up reluctantly, even if for a good cause, I like my job. The marketplace project could be an alternative to these hours and perhaps it will allow us to have a more regular lifestyle. I believe a lot in this project and in teamwork because I think it is the key to the development of our economy in Sardinia. Often among operators we are divided and in competition with each other - concludes Schirru - and this does not help the growth of the market. I am convinced that only with updating and innovation can we be one step ahead of the times”.
Another young entrepreneur, Marco Pisano, 33 years old, also a wholesaler by family tradition, works together with his brother Andrea and his father Cenzo at Pisano Ortofrutta.
“The marketplace is an excellent idea that could serve as an attractor for new customers, a new showcase to make the wholesale market known and to better understand how negotiations and internal functioning are carried out. A future evolution could be achieved by implementing the marketplace and logistics. This last aspect in particular would allow us to guarantee a more efficient delivery service. I am pleased that we are moving towards innovation because it represents an opportunity for development. For now, the generational turnover within the market is limited - continues Marco Pisano - but through the marketplace project it could be facilitated especially in the shopkeepers and restaurateurs who are our customers who, not having to go to the market, could quickly make purchases on the platform. We are now in the development phase of the project, so only later will we see - concludes Pisano - what the general feedback will be from those who do not currently frequent the market”.