February is being intense, to say the least, at the São Paulo Municipal Market. Shortly after the fruit scam, in which traders coerce shoppers to buy strawberries and kiwis at absurd prices, the bologna scandal came to light.
This is an even simpler ruse. The subjects charge for mortadella from a renowned brand and deliver a product of ordinary quality. Presumably. supposedly.
I have zero consideration for anyone who goes to Mercadão for bologna, but it is a blow – in the sense of a blow – that strongly affects the reputation of the place. It doesn’t matter whether the reputation is fair or unfair.
Behind the overpriced pitaya and fraudulent bologna, there’s something important going on on Rua da Cantareira. Mercadão is going through the second major transformation in this century.
The first was completed in 2004, with the opening of the mezzanine with bars and restaurants. The food court disfigured the old market, which turned from being a reference in the fine food trade to passionately embrace the vocation of tourist trap.
It is around this time that the mortadella sandwich –a monster, an abomination with 300 grams of sausage – was made official as the ultimate symbol of Mercadão.
The metamorphosis now underway concerns the concession of the Municipal Market operation to the private sector, which began in mid-2021.
It was precisely under the new management that ancestral market vices, such as the fruit scheme, began to be monitored and punished. To use the expression of the week: coincidentally or not.
Former occupants of the pits are suspicious of the concessionaire’s intentions in the (more than late) application of good practices.
The concession agreement provides for a 24-month moratorium on the readjustment of rent and condominium values. For two years, new managers have to do whatever they want (charging a black note in the parking lot, for example) to make a profit from Mercadão.
The merchants suspect that the rigor in monitoring and punishing has the purpose of expelling offenders, with the consequent release of their spaces for new tenants who pay more.
It is something impossible to prove. Because, obviously, intention is not demonstrated. And because it’s also pretty clear that, regardless of intentions, curbing abuse by smart-ass is the right thing to do.
The central market undergoes transformations below the visible surface. What will emerge up ahead is anyone’s guess. If the child born from this pregnancy looks like the Mercado de Pinheiros, it will be the end of an era.
“Mercadão has been dead for a long time,” said a trader there who asked to remain anonymous. And he continued, in a somber tone: “Only the death certificate will be signed.”
I share this bitter feeling. The Municipal Market is one of the many things in São Paulo that could have been fantastic, but failed.
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
