The Berlin wholesale market on Beusselstrasse in Moabit supplies the city with fruit and vegetables, flowers and fish. But the facility is ailing. Redevelopment has been discussed for years. Now a large part of the dealers no longer sees a future at the location. In her opinion, the wholesale market should be completely rebuilt – on the site of the former Tegel Airport.
A forklift truck rolls up, and Hüseyin Akin dodges with a practiced step. He is at home in the wholesale market. Akin is the second generation to run the family business GSM, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler founded in 1980. “The last two years have been difficult,” he says.
After Corona and inflation comes the high rent
And now he also got a rent increase of 5,000 euros a month. “We have to pass on every increase in costs.” Akin’s customers are retailers and restaurateurs. They would have to pass on higher prices to consumers, says Akin.
Nils Doerwald is on the board of the Beusselmarkt cooperative, to which a large proportion of the dealers belong. Your landlord is the state-owned Berliner Großmarkt GmbH (BGM). Doerwald says that according to the contract, the BGM is entitled to adjust the rent to the average price development.
330,000
square meters The Berlin wholesale market has floor space.
However, it is unfair if medium-sized companies have to pay so much more even though they themselves are affected by increased costs.
This is not the only conflict between the cooperative and WHM. The wholesale market, which opened in 1965, is in such bad condition that it has to be rebuilt, says Doerwald.
About a third of the 330,000 square meters of floor space is covered with sales halls, the rest consists of loading ramps, parking lots and roads. Doerwald says it’s not possible to rehabilitate the “highly compacted site” while operations continue.
New market hall with research and start-ups
The cooperative’s list of shortcomings is long. The buildings are not insulated, which leads to high energy costs. The expansion of a charging infrastructure is not possible, the companies cannot convert their fleets to electric vehicles. There is no suitable space for solar panels and there is no room for growth overall.
“Now it is important that the concept is seriously examined.”
Sebastian Czaja, head of the FDP in the House of Representatives
At the airport, on the other hand, a “Berlin Food Area” could be created that combines “urban food production” with science and research. If Doerwald has his way, in the future vegetables will be grown there with “vertical farming” and robots and artificial meat will be produced in the laboratory. Doerwald believes that fits in with the “Urban Tech Republic” planned there.
He has already won a supporter: Sebastian Czaja, chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the House of Representatives, accuses the Senate of neglecting retail companies. “Now it’s important that the concept is seriously examined.” During the visit to the Beusselmarkt, Czaja promised to put the topic on the agenda of the Economic Committee.
The Senate Economic Administration has so far categorically refused to move the wholesale market. “Sustainable and implementable solutions are necessary for the undoubtedly existing needs of retailers,” spokesman Matthias Kuder told the Tagesspiegel.
“The concerns about the agreed renovation at the current location that were communicated before Christmas will be discussed shortly in an extraordinary meeting of the supervisory board of Berliner Großmarkt GmbH.”
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