On the day before the European Vegetable Congress, May 6, participants were given the opportunity to visit two food concepts in France. Hans Verwegen of Enza Zaden gave a presentation about this. "We visited O'tera du Sart, a concept that is fully focused on fresh. There are butchery products, vegetables, fruit, delicatessen, bakery products and ice cream available. There are 120 suppliers, 40 of which are growers. Over 50% of the revenue comes from local products."
Farm
"O'tera du Sart is not called a 'store', but a 'farm'. Keywords are 'back to basic' and 'back to nature'. At the moment there are only a few 'farms', but in future they are expected to grow steadily. That is a challenge though, because in each store many growers have to participate to guarantee a full product range. In addition, you also have to find customers who like this way of shopping. The revenue for this concept, by the way, is a lot higher on average than at Grand Frais. What's remarkable about O'tera is that a lot of information is asked from each customer. They want to know where customers come from, what they think of the store and the products, and a lot more. This way, O'tera makes sure they know all the important things, in order to respond to consumer wishes in the best possible way. Everything is recorded, and they can follow what people are buying. In this concept there is a maximum of 500 products, so people don't have to spend ages choosing between many different varieties or brands. If a certain product doesn't sell well, it's removed from the range of products. They don't just look at consumer demand, but also at their behaviour. Because consumers don't always do what they say." At O'tera, everything is transparent. "For instance, they list what part of the price goes to the grower, and for some products there isn't a margin for O'tera at all. They had to lower their price because the general market price was extremely low." Many events are organized in the store. For instance, sometimes there will be a 'meet the producer' event, or a chef comes to cook. There is also the opportunity of visiting the growers 'at home' during the weekend.
Grand Frais
The other store was Grand Frais. "From the outside, it looks like Aldi and Lidl, but inside it's a completely different experience. It's an indoor market hall. Grand Frais has 152 locations in France, and one store in Belgium. The store has a cool, industrial look and feel, and the focus is on quality. 50% of the product range is fresh produce. The product range is enormous, with some vegetables being available in no less than 15 varieties. Notably, these stores are often near pick-up points. They have a lot of those in France. People pick up other groceries, but do actual shopping at Grand Frais. In the stores, seasonal products are often highlighted, and they have frequent promotions."