

The Market Where France’s Top Chefs Buy Their Food - kostyk
https://medium.com/matter/we-took-a-tour-of-the-worlds-biggest-food-market-bc1d770d16d8

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bambax
> _But ask most Parisians if they’ve heard of it, and they’re likely to shrug
> and shake their heads._

As every other commentator just said, nothing about Rungis is "secret" and
everyone knows it exists; what's true is that -- in theory -- you have to be
working in the food industry to be allowed to buy there, but it's so not
secret that there are organized tours for laymen/tourists:

[http://www.rungismarket.com/en/jaune/visiter_rungis/index.as...](http://www.rungismarket.com/en/jaune/visiter_rungis/index.asp)

This is also misleading:

> _Many [products] end up packaged and promoted in different ways to make it
> seem like they’re coming from different sources._

Rungis is a MARKET where sellers and buyers meet; products actually come from
"different sources" (very different sources indeed) and not "from Rungis" \--
they are only sold there.

What you buy on eBay doesn't come from eBay!!

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djulius
As stated before, Rungis is absolutely not secretive at all. Every average
citizen knows about it. It was initially within Paris (now Chatelet-Les Halles
station) and was moved in the suburb to expand. Not only top-chef buy their
food there, but the large majority of french restaurant, not only within Paris
but from the rest of France.

I wonder about the doubts raised by the article on the future of Rungis.
Rungis is almost a religion. I don't see it declining. In fact it has no
competitors at his scale.

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antimagic
Yeah, Rungis is hardly secretive. So much not so in fact that my GPS seems to
take a perverse delight in directing me through there anytime the autoroute is
closed for whatever reason :-/

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julie1
The joy of French map that are false around Paris in the suburbs unless you
take the highway.

Was using IGN map to go to Paris from Pontoise using the straight line fresh
market road from Rouen...

Nearly got killed by gypsies, and false indications ...

The screenshots of roads that disappeared years ago where a carrier near
Cormeilles, made a very nice irrealistic suspended road in thin air 20 meters
above the ground.

Would have been fun, if in the quite abrupt slope going down on Argenteuil I
did not discovered at full speed a roundabout that was not supposed to be
there. It makes you wonder why we send satellites in space if we don't update
the maps for decades.

Probably a remain of De Gaule plans to confuse the USSR invading us.

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tarekmoz
Secretive ? Not really... We have news report on Rungis every other month on
national TV. Everyone knows about this place in France.

It's delivering food daily for the whole country, and was initially within
Paris. They moved it outside Paris to make it easier to access by train.

It's a place folks love because that's where you get the freshest stuff.

I live in Dijon (300KM south of Paris) and I can get fresh Fish that most of
the time come from Rungis.

~~~
blaze33
Indeed, "ask most Parisians if they’ve heard of it, and they’re likely to
shrug and shake their heads", living in Paris, that's simply not true.

Still it's kind of "secretive" in the sense that it's reserved to food
professional (be it a restaurant, a butcher or a supermarket), so that most
Parisians never get to visit Rungis. Now if we're talking about what top chefs
get, that's a kind-of-secretive market because you can't just get in Rungis
and expect to get the top of the line products, they're already reserved for
the top clients. It's not even (well not only) a question of money, you have
to work with the right guy who knows the right producers since like forever.

Old photos of Rungis: [http://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-
services/diaporamas/DIAP260...](http://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-
services/diaporamas/DIAP2602141263_3C846A-le-marche-de-rungis-il-
y-a-45-ans-653800.php) (first one from the old paris market who was replaced)
An up to date video: [http://www.elephant-
groupe.com/docs/rungis](http://www.elephant-groupe.com/docs/rungis)

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zaroth
Mods could just drop 'Secretive' from the title to make it accurate.

Impressive pictures, however the copy seems like a missed opportunity to dig
deeper than "the workers looked really tired".

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dang
Yes, we've done so. I overlooked an opportunity to do it last night, in fact,
only to see that the thread was entirely about this word.

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jgrodziski
Yes Rungis is not secretive at all, everyone in France especially in Paris
know about Rungis market! Gigantic for sure, all the popular local markets
here get the food from there. I find the title lurid. For geeky people, you
can even order on line directly from rungis and get your fresh and organic
food delivered at home (see [http://www.mon-marche.fr/](http://www.mon-
marche.fr/)).

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maxwell2022
Secretive? Seriously I don't know who the author asked the question to, must
be some hobos or he just made it up...

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dang
It was probably made up, probably by a headline specialist who knows what
tricks work.

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stangeek
Everybody in Paris (and most of France) knows about Rungis. It's merely a
logistical platform for restaurants and food outlets, and most restaurants in
Paris get stuff from there, not just the best ones.

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Animats
New York City has the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, the world's
largest, in the Bronx. The Fulton Fish Market and the Produce Market used to
be elsewhere, but in the last 20 years there's been consolidation.

Anybody can go in to buy, but it costs $25 for a day pass to the Fulton Fish
Market, and buying hours are 1 AM to 7 AM. So it's for bulk buyers.

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jc123
What other similar "secretive" markets are there around the world?

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justincormack
The London markets are fragmented, Smithfield for meat (still central there
are some startups upstairs), Billingsgate for fish at Canary Wharf but due to
move again, New Covent Garden for fruit vegetables and flowers in Vauxhall.
You can visit all of them but most stuff is wholesale quantities only.

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sfermigier
"Gigantic"

-> True. I don't know if it's the biggest in the world but it is indeed gigantic.

"The best food in France [...]"

-> Bullshit. The best food in France (like, probably, anywhere else in the world) comes from small local producers.

"Where France’s Top Chefs Buy Their Food"

-> Probably only partially true. Top chefs (Michelin starred) source their products directly from small producers (see above).

"But ask most Parisians if they’ve heard of it, and they’re likely to shrug
and shake their heads."

-> Total bullshit. Most Parisians know about it, and it's been featured on national TV (including popular show like Top Chef and Master Chef) times and times again.

