Market Fresh

Yesterday I came across an apple from Chile. And it made me wonder what the economics were of shipping crates of apples across the world, when you have quite a supply locally. Last time I checked, Germany produced quite a few apples. As a matter of fact, they are the world’s 8th largest apple producer (two higher than Chile by the way), and the third largest producer of Apple juice. However, over the past 10 years, production in Germany and other developed countries has been slowly reducing while demand for both apples and apple juice is increasing. Emerging countries like Chile and Poland are beginning to pick up the slack. Well in Munich, if you ever want to buy locally, go to the Viktualienmarkt, where I found this French stand – shipped the long distance of two hours from the Alsace region. At this particular stand, you will find no shortage of your cheeses (as pictured), breads, wines or Fois gras. Nearly all other stands are straight up Bavarian.