Jordi Valls appointed general manager of Mercabarna 

The Mercabarna Board of Directors – made up of representatives of the Barcelona City Council, the national public company Mercasa and the Government of Catalonia – has today appointed Jordi Valls Riera as the new General Manager of Mercabarna, replacing Josep Tejedo, who has been leading the management of the entity for the last 8 years (April 2012-September 2020).

Born in Manresa and graduated in law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​Jordi Valls has combined his professional career between the public and private sectors. He was Mayor of Manresa (1995-2006), Minister of Labour and Industry (2006) and President of the Barcelona Port Authority (2007-2011). Subsequently, he was appointed CEO of the Suez Group in Mexico. Currently, he served as general director of North Latin America in this company.

Jordi Valls, who will assume the general management of Mercabarna as of today, replaces Josep Tejedo, who announced his departure from the company in July, to dedicate himself to new professional projects linked to the world of consulting. During the more than 8 years that Tejedo has been at the helm of Mercabarna, the wholesale market has positioned itself as the main food hub in the Mediterranean and one of the most important export markets in Europe.

The former CEO has also worked to promote training, innovation, food start-ups, and to modernize Mercabarna’s infrastructures, especially the central markets for fruit and vegetables and fish, some of which had not been renovated since the beginning.

With the stage that begins with Valls, one of the main objectives will be to increase the services to the companies of the enclosure so that they enhance their competitiveness through the study of trends, the detection of new business opportunities, the promotion of innovation and, especially, investment in the digitization of the infrastructures of the food hall.

Another of the key axes will be the World Capital of Sustainable Food in Barcelona to be held in 2021 and in which Mercabarna will play a notable role. Along these lines, the new Biomarket will open in November, the first wholesale market for organic food in Spain, and the promotion of local products and healthy habits among the child population will continue.

Mercabarna will also focus, among others, on projects to combat food waste, such as the new UPC-Mercabarna Chair, the expansion of collaboration with the Food Bank or the launch of the Center for Food Use.