The company, which owns 31 stores in Romania with annual revenue of above EUR1 billion, in the spring of 2012 launched the “De-ale noastre” program through which it was to come into contact with local producers from which it was set to buy fruit and vegetables.
Today, the 100 local producers sell 45 ranges of fruit and vegetables to Metro Cash&Carry, according to a document from the German group.
This is the first information Metro Cash&Carry is providing with regard to the number of local producers it works with on this market segment. However, the group does not specify the quantities it takes over from the producers.
The German group also provides consulting services to the local producers.
Because of their inability to team up, Romanian farmers have not been present on the shelves of modern retail stores for a long time as they could not meet the requirements of foreign networks.
In recent years, Romanians have started shifting to local producers after having preferred renowned foreign brands ahead of 2008. In this context, international retailers have in their turn started promoting “made in Romania” products.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)