The Blochairn Fruit Market is Scotland’s biggest and most well-known fresh produce market, servicing a wide range of businesses across the country for more than four decades.
Opened in 1969, the warehouse is a major cog in the behind-the-scenes working of the hospitality and supermarket trades, and the main source for a huge variety of fruit and vegetables, fish and fresh-cut flowers for hundreds of customers.
While trade has resumed, there have been warnings the fire will damage supply chains across the country and that customers can expect to see some form of disruption until everything returns to normal.
Work at the the 32-acre site begins at dawn, with 74 separate units across the fruit and flower markets springing into action, and six stances in the fish market – Scotland’s only inland fish market –also up and running each day.
Independent restaurants, caterers, hotels and food processors all rely on the thriving market for their needs each day, and any disruption in the supply chain could spell disaster for some businesses.
On average each year, the site processes and sells more than two million tonnes of produce, which equates to around £250 million in annual turnover. It is also a major hub for deliveries, with goods travelling from as far away as the Netherlands each day.
Recent statistics show that there are around 1,000 journeys to and from the markets every day, while the market remains an important employer in its own right with 400 full-time jobs supported at the site.
Driver James Lang, who works at Blochairn, warned the effects of the fire could be keenly felt in the city and beyond for some time.
He said: “Loads of people from Glasgow, Edinburgh and all over come in to get stock to keep shops and restaurants going. It will affect a lot of businesses today in Scotland and schools as well.
“It’s heart-breaking for me, I have 42 years’ history in the place because I was brought up in the market as a boy.”
Overall, around 50 businesses have a permanent presence at Blochairn, having moved from the Old Fruitmarket in the Merchant City, which is now a music venue and also houses several bars.
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