With her parents having worked in the fruit and vegetable retail trade and her grandparents in the hotel-restaurant sector, Sophie Ughetto has remained loyal to the family tradition.

"My parents had two stalls at the covered market in Essonne. Having obtained a BTS (advanced vocational training certificate) in sales, I worked in a bank for five years before meeting my husband Jean-Pierre when I was 23. He was already working in the fruit and vegetable sector as both a market retailer with five stalls, and at Rungis Market. After having created a dried-fruits business that we sold several years later, I decided to set up a promotional company dealing in food products for major retail outlets: fruit and vegetables, charcuterie, dairy products... we even organised promotional programmes for Le Delas. Following the sale of this company and a propitious meeting in May 2003, I and my husband took over Disfel, a company specialising in fruit and vegetable wholesale. The years during which I would come to Rungis to stock up my stalls served me well in giving me an in-depth knowledge of the market.

We have a twenty-strong workforce that I run with help from my associate André Martin and my son Eric who deals with management and marketing respectively. Our customer base is mainly comprised of supermarkets and hypermarkets in the Paris region, including some of the best known major retail outlets. We get our supplies from our own selected producers and also from operators at Rungis Market, who are famous for the quality of their products. In addition, we have a fleet of six vans that ensure daily deliveries to our customers. Our flagship products for 2005 include: apples (260 metric tons per year), citrus fruits (350 metric tons per year), melons (238 metric tons), various fruits other than apples (280 metric tons per year), salads (44,511 packets per year) and miscellaneous products, i.e. a total of some 400 product references. Rungis Market is an exceptional hub, for fresh fruits and vegetables in particular, with an incomparable selection of unique quality products. Freshness, services, market opportunities and human relations are just some of this market's strong points. There's no denying it. You can't beat Rungis for its selection of quality fruits and vegetables…"