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| [Aerial view of the SF Produce Market, and it's relation to transportation infrastructure. The market sits 3.5 miles from the geographic center of the city. The lower right outline shows a proposed expansion area.] |
Wholesale
produce markets are an essential part of a local food system, hubs where farm
products are re-sold to grocery stores and restaurants by aggregators and
distributors. Wholesale markets make possible the large-scale distribution that
can support market farms, supplementing retail farmer's market and CSA income. Once commonplace in cities, these types of
markets have generally been pushed out of urban centers in favor of more profitable
and ‘modern’ uses, such as office or condo towers. More common now is a
suburban system of private distribution warehouses for chain supermarkets and
distributors. For example, Safeway distributes to all of Northern California
from a 44-acre facility in Tracy, 63 miles east of San Francisco.
In recent
years the trend has seen a reversal, as cities begin to plan for more integrated
food systems. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture there are 72
wholesale produce markets currently in operation; 60% of these have been
established in the last five years! Cities such as Philadelphia and Detroit
have modernized or updated their facilities recently, and it's not hard to
imagine that as public demand for local fresh produce grows, so will the
revival of wholesale markets. The wholesale market model, as opposed to the
grocery distribution center, benefits smaller or newer farmers, since a grocery store will
only contract with larger growers. It also encourages diversity in the form of
niche marketers serving specialty needs.
The San Francisco Wholesale Market has occupied its current space on 25 acres at the
eastern edge of the city since 1963, after being relocated from a more central
location on the Embarcadero during redevelopment. Last fall SPUR
offered a walking tour with a behind the scenes glimpse of the Market. Navigating a wholesale market is worlds away from a
farmers market. This is the territory of trucks, not pedestrians. And the
public is discouraged. Sellers are interested in doing business by the box, not
the pound. They also don't want to compete with their customers - the retail
stores who serve the public. The Market offers many lessons in the business of
produce, as well as the infrastructure requirements of a successful
distribution center. (Note: this is a long-ish post. Just want to get to the bottom
line? Skip to the end for design notes).
INFRASTRUCTURE
Located on
25 acres, in four buildings of a former military supply depot, the buildings
face each other across a large paved area, at times a parking lot, and at times
a busy street. One feature of the physical buildings that lent to the
re-purposing as a wholesale market is the high loading docks, which are appropriate
height for trucks to dock at. The other is its location in an industrial area,
which has eliminated complaints from neighbors, and helped the Market keep its
site. Operating between 7pm and 3am, the Market would be a conflict with residential
uses, and perceived as blight in a commercial area.
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| [View across the central paved area to the north buildings, from the south docks. Highway 280 is visible in the background.] |
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| [View down the loading docks of the market - produce on the move.] |
Buildings are large warehouse type, with ‘front’ doors served on the central street by trucks and back doors opening onto rail lines. Located adjacent to freight rail lines, the marine depot had been planned for service by rail. This results in a highly flexible market (from an infrastructure perspective), one that can respond to changes in dominant transportation modes effectively. Inside, the buildings are typically fitted out with large walk-in refrigeration units, and enclosed loft offices. The Market is a public/private partnership, with the City providing the land and a private manager running the operation.
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| [Typical layout within warehouses - palettes of produce, refrigeration units, offices. Note door to rail access at back of image. |
BUSINESS
Several
business models co-exist at the Market, and an eclectic range of people work
there. As a quick snapshot, we heard from Cooks Company,
a distribution company that employs 80 people, and buys from 200 farmers. Their
26 trucks serve high-end restaurants around the city. Coosemans is a
neighboring distibutor, serving supermaket chains and restaurants, and focusing
on specialty products like baby cauliflower. Whole Foods has located their
warehouse for San Francisco in the Market. Many distributors focus solely on
Asian or Hispanic markets, and a cafe/catering company sources their produce
from the market and serves up breakfast and lunch on site, as well as catering throughout the city.
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| [Produce for sale at one distributor.] |
FUTURE
The market
is outdated by current standards, from a facility and health requirements standpoint. There are plans
both for renovation and expansion. Read SPUR's recent article for more on
the planned work on the Market.
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| [The newest building at the Market is a 55,000 sf warehouse, occupied by Earl's Organics and WholeFoods. The building sets the standard for future renovation/expansion.] |
DESIGN
NOTES
What lessons
can designers learn from the Market? (If you think you will never design such a
thing, think again. On a recent ag-community project I worked on in inland China,
an ag-market was one of the central features of the plan, and a key component
to the success of the overall masterplan).
-Plan for
flexiblity. Locate the market near the most types of transportation possible.
- Encourage
diversity. The SF Market hosts small businesses as well as large. This allows
truly niche marketers to flourish.
- Integrate
sustainability. The current market is essentially a blanket of asphalt.
Improvements to the site would include permeable paving, stormwater treatment, greenroofs
and shading of paved areas.
-Consider
circulation conflicts. One of the major reasons behind the re-planning of the
market is conflict between passenger cars and truck traffic. Separate these two
flows from the start.
-Think holistically.
Produce markets exclude the public for many good reasons. But this renders
their value invisible to the public and allows them to be pushed out. Create a
visitor's area, with a demonstration kitchen, a cafe, some retail or an exhibit
about how the market works. If people know and love a place, they'll fight to
keep it in the city.