“It’s been much quieter, much brighter. Traffic flow is more efficient and it’s safer and it’s trading as normal,” says MMA Chairman, Steve McArthur. “The traders are saying they’re doing better than they’d expected since the move. People who were the harshest critics leading up to the move are saying this has gone much better than we’d expected. It’s gone quite well.”

The Authority reports that numbers swiping through the gate at the purpose-built site have averaged 2500 per day, and bigger numbers are arriving on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days during the week when the flower market is also operating alongside the fruit and vegetable market (flowers are also sold on Saturday mornings).

The volume is ‘normal’ for this time of year, McArthur says, about 55-60% of peak summer time volume, as the move was done during the last month of winter.

One of the clearest anecdotal signs of the move’s success, according to McArthur, is the fact that a number of new and ancillary businesses have registered to use the new site – including service providers and add on services including packaging suppliers, forklift sales, hire and maintenance, other food lines, graphic design, training and labour hire.. The new site also has small (95m2) warehousing available in addition to the larger warehousing modules. These smaller models were previously not available at the Footscray Road site, so businesses can reduce the cost and time spent on logistics by taking out warehousing.

New Business, new opportunities

Altogether, McArthur estimates that 20 or 30 new businesses registered within the first three to five days of trading, and there has been a ‘steady trickle’ of new registrations since. “There was a lot of nervousness about the move, and there have been some individual teething problems, which we’re working our way through as you’d expect, but people have come together and they’re working quite well.” Problems anticipated with parking and loading, for example, have not materialised, he adds.

The purpose-designed layout is better for work safety and efficiency, according to McArthur. For example, forklifts are separated from the hand trolleys and pedestrians, and loading bays have 4 metres either side for loading and unloading. “Retailers are coming in a little earlier and leaving a little earlier. They can load and unload much more quickly. The distances are greater but logistically it makes much more sense.”

The first weeks of trade bode well for expanding the Melbourne Market business, and there is big opportunity to build links with importers in South East Asia, McArthur says. “Interest has come from operators themselves to come out to Melbourne. We have biosecurity on-site, we can do all that and the China-Australia FTA has sparked a lot of interest.”

McArthur believes the challenge for the operation is to attract buyers, introduce them to the traders and facilitate their orders.