There are wet markets throughout the world, with the largest concentration in Asia followed by Europe and North America according to touristic social network data in 2019.
Africa Ethiopia According to a 2013 study on
agricultural value chains, approximately 90% of households in
Ethiopia across all income groups purchase their beef through local butchers in wet markets.
Kenya The most common agricultural
supply chain in
Kenya involves farmers selling their produce to collectors who then sell the produce to retailers in wet markets. From 2008 to 2009, a group of food safety researchers launched an initiative working with a small group of butchers in the wet market section of
Bodija Market in
Ibadan to promote positive food safety practices and peer-to-peer training. The initiative led to 20% more meat samples being of acceptable quality. In its place, the local government opened the Ibadan Central Abattoir in Amosun Village,
Akinyele through public-private partnerships.
Uganda The most common agricultural supply chain in
Uganda involves farmers selling their produce to wholesalers, who in turn sell to retailers in wet markets. A 2006 study in the areas around
Kampala and
Mbale found that 51% of farmers sold to wholesalers and 18% sold directly to wet market vendors, while 34% of the wholesalers sold to wet market vendors. The regulations widely vary across Brazil, with zoning rules prohibiting wet markets in some municipalities. The report described both retail wet markets and wholesale wet markets that provide food products for "Mom'n Pop stores".
Brætter do not sell live animals, but most meat sold in
brætter is fresh and recently butchered. Only fresh meat was allowed to be sold in
Nuuk at
Kalaaliaraq Market, the largest fresh food market in Greenland, until 2018 when the government of Greenland began permitting the sale of dried and salted meat at Kalaaliaraq. In 2016, several people were infected with
Trichinella roundworms from eating polar bear meat from a local
brætter even though the meat had initially passed inspections. A 2002 study observed a trend that Mexican consumers, especially those in the middle class, increasingly prefer supermarkets for beef purchases as opposed to traditional wet markets. In 2014, a study of Mexican beef retail also noted an ongoing transition from traditional full-service wet markets to self-service meat display cases in supermarkets. Some local zoning rules, such as those in the central districts of
Mexico City and
Morelia, have prohibited wet markets from operating in urban districts without providing further assistance to the retailers.
United States In April 2020,
The Hill reported that wet markets were still operating in the United States and that animal rights activists were calling for the closure of wet markets, in addition to their existing calls to close live animal markets and factory farms. Wet markets were common in New York City until refrigeration became commonplace in the 20th century. During the 2010s, "smart markets" equipped with e-payment terminals emerged as traditional wet markets faced increasing competition from discount stores. Wet markets also began facing competition from online grocery stores, such as
Alibaba's Hema stores. In April 2020, the Chinese government unveiled plans to further tighten restrictions on wildlife trade.
Hong Kong Large centralised wet markets have existed in
Hong Kong since at least 16 May 1842, when
Central Market was opened. Wet markets are most frequented by older residents, those with lower incomes, and domestic helpers who serve approximately 10 percent of Hong Kong's residents. Most neighbourhoods contain at least one wet market. Prior to 2000, many of Hong Kong's wet markets were managed by the
Urban Council (within Hong Kong Island and Kowloon) or the
Regional Council (in the
New Territories). Since 2000, wet markets in Hong Kong have been regulated by the
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. Under the Slaughterhouse Regulation, the slaughtering of live bovine animals, swine, goats, sheep or
soliped for human consumption must take place in a licensed slaughterhouse, None of the wet markets in Hong Kong hold wild or exotic animals. In addition, the
Hong Kong Housing Authority operated 21 markets while private developers operated about 99 (in 2017).
India The
Indian meat, poultry, and seafood industries are largely dependent on wet markets. According to
Food & Beverage News, domestic consumers prefer freshly cut meat from wet markets over processed and frozen meats despite use of outdated and unhygienic facilities by the majority of Indian wet market abattoirs. In
Delhi, the food retail system consists of the traditional informal food retail sector (wet markets, pushcarts, and
kirana "mom-and-pop" stores), rent-free-subsidized
retailers' cooperatives, government-owned food distribution channels, and private modern supermarkets. Delhi wet markets generally consist of a number of small retailers that cluster together to sell their produce during daily fixed hours. As of 2020, there are 12.3 million traders across 13,450 wet markets in Indonesia. In 2018, the first modern wet market opened in
Jakarta with a laboratory as well as freezing and refrigeration facilities. An
Airlangga University survey from May to June 2020 found that people in
East Java wet markets followed health protocols, including social distancing and mask-wearing, the least relative to other public places in East Java.
Philippines , Philippines In the
Philippines, wet markets are managed by
cooperatives according to legislation such as the
Cooperatives Code (RA 7160) and the
Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (RA 8435). The Philippine government has control over the price of some commodities sold in palengkes, especially critical foods such as
rice. In July 2017, the digital wet market Palengke Boy was launched in
Davao City to compete against traditional wet markets. In March 2020, the
Pasig local government launched a mobile wet market to ensure access to basic goods during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Singapore ,
Singapore Wet markets in
Singapore are subsidized by the government. In the early 1990s, the slaughter of animals was banned in 12 inner-city markets and 22 wet market centers in
Singapore. In early 2020, the
National Environment Agency issued advisories for "high standards of hygiene and cleanliness" for the 83 markets that it oversees in
a response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
Sri Lanka In
Sri Lanka, where poultry is the leading livestock industry and constitutes the only meat export industry, the majority of
broiler chickens are mechanically processed in semi-automated plants. However, poultry is still slaughtered in wet markets that generally cater to specific groups of customers and
ethnic groups. A 2017 study of 102 semi-automated poultry processing plants and 25 poultry-slaughtering wet markets found that 27.4% of the broiler neck skin samples from the semi-automated processing facilities tested positive for
Campylobacter contamination, while 48% of broiler neck skin samples from the wet market processing facilities tested positive for
Campylobacter contamination. In 1997, a report by the
Taipei city government indicated that the city had 61 major wet markets with almost 10,000 registered vendors. The report also indicated that most of the city's wet markets were in serious need of repair and that almost 3,500 of the vendor stalls lay vacant. as well as lower prices and familiarity with shopkeepers.
Vietnam In 2017, there were approximately 9,000 wet markets, 800 supermarkets, 160 shopping malls and 1.3 million small family-owned stores across
Vietnam according to government estimates. In 2017, the
Hanoi city government planned to renovate the city's wet markets and transform them into modern shopping malls. The largest wholesale food market in the world, and perhaps even the largest fresh food market, various foods are offered, including sheep and eel. By 1972, 6000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables were shipped to the market daily.
Italy The Porta Palazzo Market in the northwestern city of
Turin is the largest street market in Europe, having about a hundred fresh food producers sell their goods at the height of the season in the city's historic district. The Turinese authorities, working alongside those of the market, have increasingly attempted to reconfigure the public's perception of the market as a multicultural space and a site for tourism, featuring cuisine from around the world.
Ireland Iveagh Markets building in
Dublin, Ireland. The
Iveagh Markets in
Dublin,
Ireland was an indoor market that was divided into a dry market that sold clothes and a wet market that sold fish, fruit, and vegetables. The market operated from 1906 and had become dilapidated by the 1980s. Media outlets
Daily Mercury and
Herald Sun, as well as
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud and
Leader of the Labor Party Anthony Albanese, have described various fresh meat, seafood, and produce markets in Australia, such as the
Sydney Fish Market and Melbourne Fish Market, as wet markets in response to international calls to ban wet markets. == See also ==