Carrefour, which currently has almost 300 stores in the Romanian market, is trying to work directly with local fruit and vegetable producers in an attempt to avoid intermediaries and shorten the time it takes for the products to reach the shelves. The French retailer's first partner cooperative has been inaugurated in Giurgiu.
Since the early days when he arrived in Romania, Jean-Baptiste Dernoncourt, CEO of Carrefour Romania, heard that Romanian fruits and vegetables were very tasty, then tasted a tomato and was very pleased. "We want customers to have access to Romanian products and limit possible imports," he said on Tuesday in a press conference.
After collaborating with several producers in the commune of Vărăşti, Carrefour came up with the idea of setting up an agricultural cooperative with them to handle the supply of fruits and vegetables. This entails shortening the chain from producer to buyer, and as retailer representatives say, also fresher products and lower prices for the consumer.
"This project removes intermediaries," affirms Silviu Diaconu, Vegetables and Fruit Procurement Director of Carrefour Romania. Company representatives hope that experience in Vărăşti is just the first of many more such cooperatives in various parts of the country.
This first agricultural cooperative includes 80 families, who grow 60 hectares and produce around 5,000 tonnes of vegetables annually. Agricultural Cooperative Carrefour Vărăşti is less than 30 km from Bucharest and it grows tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, courgettes, beans, aubergines, cabbage, celery, onions, garlic, dill, parsley, spinach or garlic, among many other crops.
Source: profit.ro
