Dominic Ellis sets his alarm to explore the vast Rungis International Market in Paris – which is set to add bite to Dubai’s food industry

warehouse would have been scouting for the best cuts at 1am when the first shipments arrived (they will end up on Michelin-star restaurant tables). The fillets that aren’t immediately sold are frozen in storage below.

Around a fifth of the fish has come in from French waters and the rest from across Northern Europe. Companies rent space for around 5,0006000 a month and for that they have an area to display beneath branded signs. It’s now starting to wind down and at around 7am, most will break for breakfast before a frenzied period of calls with buyers who couldn’t make it will start, and fish will be sold at a higher price to factor in deliveries. Pricing is competitive with fine margins.

Near the end are shellfish, including Gillardeau ‘the Rolls-Royce of oysters’.

In the next three hours, we visit more vast dedicated warehouses for meat, poultry, tripe, vegetables and fruits, cheese, and flowers, and only at the end of it all does the sun begrudgingly break through the winter sky. While most of Paris sleeps, this buzz happens every night – and we’re told it will be even busier in the run-up to Christmas.