Support to Local Farmers

Carrefour prioritises short distribution circuits, which highlights the work of producers, ensures the freshness and taste of products, while limiting fuel consumption. Today, in France, 85% of fruits and vegetables come from local producers, with a target of 95% by 2022. In France, each Carrefour hypermarket works, on average, with not less than 100 local producers. Carrefour Belgium has set up a commitment charter for local producers, ensuring the purchase of seasonal products on volumes, at fair prices, with payment within 30 days. In Spain, over 90% of fresh produce come from domestic suppliers. At the Group level, nearly 75% of Carrefour food products come from national suppliers.

Belgian retailers have an increasing demand of food produced by local farmers. Unfortunately, it is not always easy for them to find the correct person of contact and which measures should be taken with regard to food safety. To support them with this, Comeos, the Belgian retail association, developed a brochure for local farmers and/or food business operators. This brochure will be updated in 2021.

Carrefour is the number one organic retailer in France. In keeping with its role as the retail sector’s leading supporter of organic farming, it has just announced that it is to contribute €350,000 under an agreement to revitalise the rural economy, the aim being to create new organic product lines. The Group is seeking to support farmers and give them financial support with various projects. These include switching to organic farming (which can be technically complex and costly), protecting and improving soil quality and developing new production lines.This financial help can be used in conjunction with other state support and is to be paid to all beneficiaries in the form of operating subsidies, starting in the second quarter of 2022 to fund six projects to introduce new organic product lines.

SPAR Hungary issued an extensive support program for SME suppliers, whereby 6 regional supplier centres were developed, collaboration was increased, and processes of such suppliers were enhanced. In particular, regional suppliers receive support with standardization, certification and quality management. Thus, local producers became more efficient, while at the same time SPAR stores are provided with the expected consistency and quality of products. Through this support program SPAR Hungary increases local purchasing value and creates new job opportunities in such regions.

SME food retailers offer local products as part of their product selection: local products can be found on the shelves as a result of a direct collaboration between the independent supermarket retailer and the local and regional growers. This collaboration is interesting for local producers, both in terms of sales, promotion and financial return. Besides that, this way retailers contribute to local employment, quality of life and limit the transportation impact. A distinctive and sustainable product selection is part of the Super Supermarket Certificate (SSK). The SSK Certificate is the Dutch certification for independent SME food retailers who are both locally and socially involved.

REWE Group is organised as a cooperative: Its independent retailers as well as its branches are firmly rooted in their communities and regions. They care about agriculture at the local level, which is characterised by small and medium-sized farms. Dedicated “local representatives“of REWE Group’s regional branches take care of the individual concerns of local producers. In addition, the Group established the “REWE Local Partnership”, which acknowledges this local responsibility and sets an example for the protection, preservation, and promotion of local structures. One of the core partnership principles ensures “We are supportive partners in times of crisis.” For example, REWE Group decided to pay pig farmers purchase prices for pork in line with market rates set before the outbreak of African swine fever and the collapse of export markets.

Miini Region from Coop offers more than 3200 selected regional products from local farmers and producers. The Miini Region quality label is attached to products that are produced regionally, thus securing jobs in all areas of Switzerland, and offer environmental added value due to short transport routes. The range comprises all daily food staples such as cheese, sausage, fruit and vegetables, as well as cut flowers, seedlings, herbs and plants. These are identified on the shelves with the clover symbol. All products from the Miini Region range are subject to stringent requirements and undergo a strict inspection and certification process.

METRO’s programme “Nurtured with care in Bulgaria” includes a range of 430 food products and over 300 farmers. The new operational model provides that instead of supplying stores from two logistics centers, they purchase products directly from farmers in the regions where the chain stores are located. As a result, about 200 small farmers deliver over 400 types of fruits, vegetables, and meat directly to the stores. In 2018, the sales of Bulgarian agricultural products by small farmers reached 4800 tons, and the chain became an intermediary between local farmers and the professional customers of the chain from the hotel and restaurant businesses.

“Local suppliers are responsible, on average, for around 90% of the food sourcing of Jerónimo Martins. In 2020, and because of the pandemic, support to national production became even more relevant. As an example, Biedronka created the “”Time to Support Small Producers”” programme in Poland, which allowed 140 new local producers to start supplying the Company.
In Portugal, Pingo Doce developed a special action to market perishable products that were at risk of being wasted, given the sharp recession in the economy. Some examples were the purchases of regional cheeses, wines and fish from the suppliers most affected by the pandemic.”

Kesko is actively increasing the amount of local purchases and encourages K-retailers to include products from local sources in their range. In 2020, K-retailers’ direct purchases from Finnish regions totaled €580.4 million. The ‘Thank the Producer’ operating model is one of the ways in which K Group supports Finnish agriculture. The purpose of the operating model is to increase the public’s appreciation for Finnish food and its producers. Consumer price may be slightly higher, which enables K Group to pay an additional contribution to the producers. By the end of 2020, products sold under this model had made up more than €4.8 million in additional money for farmers.

In 2017, Albert Heijn introduced the Beter voor Koe, Natuur en Boer (Better for Cow, Nature and Farmer) programme in association with Royal A-Ware for developing a closed and more transparent production chain for sustainable dairy products. At present, around 300 dairy farmers are involved in the programme. In the first years, good results were achieved in the field of animal welfare and biodiversity. For the extra efforts, dairy farmers receive a premium in addition to the milk price. Similar initiatives were recently announced for pork and fruit and vegetables. In the coming years, the bar will be raised, and dairy farmers will work on supplying climate-neutral milk. In addition, extra steps in the field of biodiversity and animal welfare will be taken.

Hofglück is a regional pork meat brand of EDEKA southwest which meets highest animal welfare standards. The producing farms are selected in cooperation with the German Animal Welfare Association and certified by independent authorities. The animals are raised in accordance with the standards of the animal welfare label Für mehr Tierschutz. This ensures that the animals get sufficient daylight, an outside moving space and fresh straw in the laying area. In addition, the animals are solely fed with genetically non-modified animal feed. With this partnership, EDEKA not only contributes to the preservation of regional agriculture, but also to the development of a more species-appropriate animal husbandry.

To offer our dairy farmers guaranteed sales and greater income security, Colruyt Group set up a partnership in 2019 with the Belgian dairy company Inex and 330 dairy farmers. In real terms, this means that participating farms receive a fixed price of 34.76 cents/litre for a fixed percentage of their milk volume for a minimum of five years. Every year we will also apply a transparent indexation mechanism so that the price stays in line with the dairy farmers’ cost increases. Since April 2020, the milk from this project has been on the shelves under our Colruyt’s own-brand Boni Selection.

The retailer announced that it has drafted a standard contract under which each store will be able to secure supplies via short distribution channels of high-quality products – particularly very fresh fruit and vegetables, grown as close to the store as possible. Producers will be up to sell their products directly to the closest Carrefour store, without the aid of an intermediary party. Carrefour promises to list local producers as soon as they receive the contract – a simplified contract no more than two-pages long – within 48 hours. The Group also undertakes to pay them every seven days.

The relationship of trust that Jerónimo Martins develops with its suppliers involves creating the best possible payment terms for small and medium-sized producers. Since 2012, we have been supporting more than 370 perishable suppliers members of the Portuguese Farmers’ Confederation by shortening the payment deadlines to an average of ten days (legal period is 30 days). In 2020, and as an extraordinary measure in a pandemic context, the payment to fruit and vegetable small suppliers in Poland was reduced to 21 days and from 45 to 7 days in Colombia. In Portugal, around 100 suppliers were able to receive their payment within 7 days of the invoice being issued.

For Esselunga, buying local is a way to support local economies but also a way to connect to seasons, regional varieties and people who grow local typicalities. In 2019, 82% of the retailer’s own-brand products were made in Italy and some 90% of suppliers of fruits and vegetables were Italian SMEs. Esselunga also promotes products of excellence certified DOP, IGP, DOCG, DOC and IGT in its stores aware that they, not only enhance the link with the territory, but also are linked with quality, safety, and production excellence. Over 2,000 of excellence certified references, of which about 98% are made in Italy, were available in stores.

EDEKA is traditionally a reliable partner of the German and European agricultural sector, supporting a sustainable, fair, and consumer-friendly food production. In the southwest region of Germany alone, more than 1.500 producers and processors provide regional products such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, fresh and dry products to EDEKA’s regional brand “Unsere Heimat- echt & gut”. All these products are harvested, processed, packed, and sold regionally. Farmers benefit from an increased consumer interest in regional products and from the limited number of competitors. EDEKA has concluded long term agreements including guaranteed purchase quantities with many farmers. This ensures planning security for both sides and thus significantly contributes to the preservation of regional agriculture.

Continente Producers Club (CPC) is a support structure for Portuguese livestock and agricultural production, created in 1998, with the aim of bringing MC closer to national producers. Producers find in CPC a guaranteed way to sell their production, while MC guarantees the offer, to its customers, of Portuguese products that follow the best production practices. CPC has been working in favour of the national agricultural sector, creating jobs, fostering regional development, promoting ambitious, innovative and of undeniable economic and social added value projects. The CPC has more than 260 members, including producers’ organisations, individual farmers, and family businesses.