The Cape Town Market is a commission fresh produce market regulated by statute. The commission is set at 12½% for all produce except potatoes, which attract a lower commission.
Cape Town Market has many competitors, none of which are regulated but mimic the Cape Town Market model, but for a lesser commission.
Customers need to be clear about the advantages of dealing with a regulated entity and that dealing with a competitor of the Cape Town Market is not necessarily the cheapest or sensible option
Headline issues that deserve consideration include:
- Cape Town Market is regulated by statute and by the Agricultural Producer Agents Council (APAC)
- APAC protects the interests of the farmer by:
- Registering market agents and salesmen and ensuring that they are fit and proper individuals
- Require market agents to process all financial transactions through a trust account and to submit monthly returns to APAC for inspection
- Require market agents to submit reports to the farmer if fresh produce is not sold within 3 days of receipt
- Require market agents to account to the farmer with the sale proceeds within 5 days of sale of the consignment
- Operating a fidelity fund that will reimburse a farmer for losses as a result of dishonesty by a market agent or salesman
- Cape Town Market is a commission market where the price of fresh produce is established through supply and demand and where every transaction is transparent to the farmer
- Cape Town Market has tracked prices over defined periods and more often than not over the period achieves superior prices to its competitors
- Cape Town Market pays its farmers infinitely more quickly than its competitors thus substantially reducing the cost of absent money to the farmer
- Cape Town Market conducts daily stock and static stock checks in order to ensure that fresh produce is carefully monitored and secure
- Cape Town Market is a secure and pleasant environment for everyone and probably the only fresh produce facility in the region offering a full basket of fresh produce to buyers
- Buyers at the Cape Town Market include the national supermarkets, wholesalers, shop keepers, restaurants and hawkers
- Cape Town Market is obsessed with service to the farmer and was the first fresh produce market in the world to introduce Service Level Agreements during 2010
- Cape Town Market will be introducing Service Level Agreements between the market agent and farmer during 2012
- Farmers are shareholders in the Cape Town Market and sit on its board of directors