The president of Banagreen Ecuador has reacted to ALDI's stated intention to lower prices by saying that "this price wouldn't be profitable for the agricultural sector because costs increase year after year."
Ivan Santos said that ALDI didn't have to pay producers less to make more profits, but that they had to "review the excessive and abusive costs in raw material and services that different industries provide us with, such as the different increases in carton prices there's been this year, the high local cost of shipping lines and freight, among others."
He also said that Ecuador's banana was one of the most expensive bananas in the international market, which makes them lose competitiveness when compared to its neighbors. Santos said that they needed to continue promoting the sector, as it involves "hard work and support for the export sector, which is unprotected as the different control means are often scammed, but that always complies with its obligations."
Banagreen is a company that was created in Ecuador in 2010 by banana producers who saw the need to sell their products at a fair price and the need to satisfy customers or end consumers. In 2011 they saw the need to become marketers and exporters, placing their fruit in international markets.
"We aim to continue increasing our productivity, which is why we are in search of new markets and customers for our product. We would also like to invite the producers that wish to be part of our family and are committed to have a better future to work with us," Ivan stated.
ALDI's reaction
Laetitia Gruwel, from Tara Communicatie, a spokesperson for Aldi, said that, although "they would abstain from providing information about the current price negotiations with respect to specific products, they worked to establish continuous long-term business relationships with their suppliers."
In addition, she said that they always consider the quality of their products but also give "great value to responsible production processes, which are as important for us as the social and ecological standards throughout the supply chain. After all, acting in a sustainable and responsible manner is an essential part of our corporate policy and that is why we have established what responsible corporate governance means for ALDI in our Principles of Corporate Responsibility, which define a binding framework for us and our business partners."
In conclusion, Gruwel stated that "ALDI's pricing strategy is subject to the general market mechanisms, which means that suppliers send us offers as part of the defined bidding processes and our purchasing departments verify these offers to see if they are suitable for the market."