Carrefour Poland has signed agreements with seven Polish fruit and vegetable producers in order to boost its supply of fresh produce.
The retailer has signed supply agreements with Agrohurt, Grono, Fruit, Szpargrol, Olbromski, Natureza and the Świętokrzyska Farm. The first harvest is expected to hit shelves in July of this year.
The farmers will be supplying red peppers, leeks, radishes, asparagus, lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli as well as organic zucchini, carrots, beets, young onion, Hokkaido pumpkin, kale, apples, and potatoes.
The retailer said it is open to cooperation with more farmers and securing new business partners.
Organic Support
Cooperation with Carrefour gives suppliers the opportunity to obtain grants from the Carrefour Foundation for co-financing of organic production and for logistics costs of delivering to Carrefour stores in Poland, through specialised institutions or NGOs.
“We are pleased that with our cooperation strategy, small suppliers do not have to worry about sales and benefit from our experience and competence,” said Anna Kurnatowska, director of the fresh products sales department at Carrefour Poland. “We have seen that our favourable conditions allow our farmers to grow crops every year, which makes them stronger entrepreneurs.”
Signing more farmer contracts is a part of Carrefour’s Nutritional Transformation strategy, which it is implementing throughout this year.
The strategy is based on the following key commitments: implementation of an organic farming plan in Poland from 2018, democratisation of organic food, promotion of local and regional products, long-term support for farmers transitioning to organic, and mobilisation of the Carrefour Foundation in financing projects.
Carrefour Poland saw sales grow by 5.5% in the last financial year, reaching PLN 9.68 billion (€2.3 billion).
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
