Belgian retailer Colruyt Group has announced it is establishing a 100% organic Belgian pork supply chain, in collaboration with local organic pork organisation Biovar.be and pork processor Delavi.
Biovar.be is a Belgian group that helps farmers seeking to raise organic pigs establish their operations, providing necessary resources as well as legislative information for organic farming.
In this particular collaboration, Biovar.be will be responsible for raising organic pigs, while Delavi will take care of transporting the pork, as well as the slaughter and packaging.
Colruyt Group will be the exclusive buyer of the pigs and will sell the meat in Colruyt and Bio-Planet stores, beginning in summer 2019.
Belgian Inititiatives
Colruyt Grouup has established similar local collaborative initiatives in the past with apple and potato farmers.
“The fact that we collaborate directly with the farmer ensures that we can respond in a responsible manner with an emphasis on quality… In terms of transparency, this innovative approach allows us ultimately to link the consumer to the producer,” said Stefan Goethaert, managing director of Fine Food Colruyt Group, in a press release.
This collaboration fulfills a growing demand for organic meat, in regard to sustainable farming practices as well as animal welfare.
In Belgium, organic pork demand currently exceeds local supply, the release said. In order to meet this demand, distributors rely on importing products; however, this collaboration will aid in supplying meat as well as working to further increase organic farming in Flanders.
The project has officially launched, with the first sows under the initiative reared last Wednesday. The first piglets are expected by early 2019.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Padideh Aghanoury. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
