An enormous mass of tomatoes roll daily through our national fresh produce markets
South African fresh produce markets (FPMs) started out as meeting places between producers and consumers, where they could trade under the control of a government body or official. The four largest markets of fresh produce in South Africa are Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria. The four medium markets include Bloemfontein, East London, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth, and the six smaller markets are Kimberly, Klerksdorp, Springs, Uitenhage, Vereeniging and Welkom. Some FPMs have private companies in top management. As per example, the Cape Town Market is the only privatized fresh produce market operating in the country and the first to include agents and buyers as shareholders. The market has a broad ownership base, with a 26% share of the business held by producers and market agents since 2007. The TPO is part of that ownership base. With the introduction of service level agreements in 2010, the Cape Town Market was the first market in the world to sign service level agreements between a market and market agents.