The consumption and production of marketed food are spatially separated. Production is primarily in rural areas while consumption is in urban areas. Agricultural marketing is the process that overcomes this separation, allowing produce to be moved from an area of surplus to one of need. Food reaches the consumer by a complex network, involving production, assembly, sorting, packing, reassembly, distribution and retail stages. In developing countries the linkage between the producer and the retailer is still usually provided by assembly and wholesale markets, where wholesale marketing takes place using a variety of transaction methods. Recent years have seen an expansion of wholesale marketing in E. European and former CIS countries. On the other hand, the growth of supermarkets in many regions has seen the development of direct marketing and a reduced role for wholesale systems.
Secondary wholesale markets are generally found only in developing countries these days. They are located in district or regional cities and take the bulk of their produce from rural assembly markets located in production areas, where the transactions are small scale and usually take place between farmers and traders. The distinction between rural assembly markets and secondary wholesale markets is that secondary wholesale markets are in permanent operation (rather than being seasonal in nature or dealing in specialized produce), larger volumes of produce are traded than at the rural assembly markets and specialized functions may be present, such as commission agents and brokers.Wholesaling include all the activity involved in selling goods and services to those buying for resale or business use .Firms engaged primarily in wholesaling are called wholesalers.
Wholesalers buy mostly from producers and sell mostly to retailers, industrial consumers, and other wholesalers.
Types of wholesalers:
1) Merchant wholesalers are the largest single group of wholesalers, accounting for roughly 50 percent of all wholesaling. Merchant wholesalers include two broad types: full-service wholesalers and limited-service wholesalers .
2) Brokers and agents differ from merchant wholesalers in two ways: They do not take title to goods and they perform few function like merchant wholesalers, Like merchant wholesalers, they generally specialize by product line or customer type. A broker brings buyers and sellers together and assists in negotiation. Agents represent buyers or sellers on a more permanent basis.
Terminal wholesale markets are located in major metropolitan areas, where produce is finally channelled to consumers through trade between wholesalers and retailers, caterers, etc. Produce may also be assembled for export. In some countries, such as India and China, terminal markets also supply other parts of the country. For example, New Delhi serves as a distribution centre to the south of India for apples grown in the Himalayan foothills. The problems of terminal wholesale markets are usually ones of congestion caused by an unsuitable location or by an inappropriate mixture of wholesale and retail functions. Traditionally, wholesale markets were built adjacent to city centres, located at a focal point of the inter-city transport facilities and close to the main retailing areas. Population growth, changes in urban land-use patterns and the development of modern transport systems have all influenced the suitability and functionality of existing sites.
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