An agroecological market garden production center, a vegetable plant, a cannery but also an educational farm in addition to one or two distribution platforms: the boss of the Rungis wholesale market, Stéphane Layani, lifts the veil on his expansion project to north of Paris.
Read also: Despite the crisis, the Rungis market is full
He speaks for the first time on the matter since the decision of Prime Minister Jean Castex, announced on May 7, to retain this project called “
Agoralim
” as part of his “
Val-d'Oise plan
”. “
What we want to do with Agoralim is a project with several sites, which covers the entire value chain, from production to distribution, including processing. It will cover a total of 60 to 100 hectares,
”Stéphane Layani, president of Semmaris, the managing company of Rungis, told AFP. Agoralim should see the light of day in 2026.
The agricultural component of the project will be developed in the Triangle de Gonesse, a 700 hectare green enclave located between the airstrips of Le Bourget and Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airports. “
One or two
” distribution platforms, the location of which remains to be determined, will be located “
near
” the Triangle.
Semmaris will launch "
in the first fortnight of July a call for ideas
" to "
build
" this project with actors in the field "
(chamber of agriculture, elected officials, associations, stakeholders ...).
She also hopes to find
"
partners
".
This consultation, which the Prime Minister wanted "
as broad as possible
", will be completed at the end of October.
"
This will allow me to give Jean Castex my precise project before the end of the year
", underlines Stéphane Layani.
Read also: Towards an installation of the extension of the Rungis wholesale market in the Triangle de Gonesse?
“
Everything is not already written, far from it.
We know which direction we want to go.
But we do not yet know the cooking recipe in detail
”, assures the boss of Rungis.
"
This is a large-scale project, which will create 3,000 to 5,000 jobs and represents an investment of 600 to 800 million euros
".
"
Total saturation
"
Opened in 1969 to replace the Halles de Paris, the Rungis National Interest Market (MIN) has become the largest wholesale market in the world.
It covers 234 hectares in the Val-de-Marne.
But it is “
at full saturation.
We are at over 98.5% occupancy rate!
», Notes Stéphane Layani.
"
I had to refuse a major player in the organic and local industries who wanted to settle in Rungis,
" he laments.
Rungis, which captures "between 53% and 62% of the fresh agri-food market in Ile-de-France", has been planning for several years to expand north of Paris.
Otherwise it risks losing market share.
The decision of President Emmanuel Macron at the end of 2019 to abandon the Europacity mega-shopping and leisure complex project, which was to be installed on the Triangle de Gonesse and was much criticized, led Semmaris to take an interest in the place and in imagine an agricultural component.
But the future of 280 hectares of agricultural land in this Triangle has become a point of tension between local elected officials and environmental activists, who held an ephemeral ZAD (“Zone to defend”) last February.
Production transformation activities
“
My project is respectful of the environment.
I am able to demonstrate it
”
, assures Stéphane Layani.
We will take care to artificialise the soil as little as possible ”.
“
Our goal is for the southern area of the Triangle de Gonesse to be as agricultural as possible.
We want to make it a market gardening and horticultural production center focused on agroecology.
"
Semmaris also plans to transform these products (vegetables, cannery).
It is planning a training center dedicated to sustainable agricultural practices and more broadly to ecological transition professions, in conjunction with the University of Cergy-Pontoise.
She also imagines an educational farm for the public.
Read also: Reconfinement: on the Rungis market, fishmongers, butchers and greengrocers are trying to maintain morale
“
Agoralim will not be a replica of Rungis.
Physical commerce between buyers will be reserved for the historic site
”, specifies the CEO.
But there will be a patchwork of producers in Val-d'Oise, the idea being to supply Ile-de-France residents with local products, "
organic or certified with high environmental value
".