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Supermarts shake hands with farmers
Supermarts now tend to purchase commodities directly from farmers to ensure reasonable sale prices and high quality products.
On December 23, there was a meeting between representatives of food-making and farm-producing households of Tra Vinh and Dong Thap provinces, and the board of management of Co-op Mart, with the Vu Kim Hanh, the Director of the Centre for Business Research and Enterprise Support acting as a go-between.
At the meeting, farmers from Tra Vinh introduced Chau Nghe mango, Chin Cam and Tra Cuon banh tet (cylindric glutinous rice cake), while farmers from Dong Thap province brought Hoa Loc mango and Edo longan, all specialties of their respective localities.
Bui Hanh Thu, Deputy General Director of Saigon Co-op, said that the supermart chain is trying to collect products directly from farmers; however, it still needs to consider two factors: price and quality of the products.
Co-op Mart said, at the meeting, that it needs to collect 500kg – 1 ton of Chau Nghe mango per day, 1 ton of Edo longan, 150 tons of sweet mandarin per year, 8 tons of Kien Hai shrimp per day during the Tet days, and 3-5 tons of shrimp per day for ordinary days.
As for fruit, Saigon Co-op may consider responsibility for the outlet of the products, but it said it still needs to discuss further conditions. A representative from Saigon Co-op also showed the farmers what they need to do to ensure the origin and quality of the products
Recently, Lo Ren Vinh Kim Star Apple Cooperative in Tien Giang province has succeeded in bringing 400kg of star apples, meeting Global GAP quality, into distribution at the Metro chain. Meanwhile, Big C Supermart is also purchasing commodities directly from 10 farmer households in Da Lat City and the west of the southern region.
According to Duong Thi Quynh Trang, Public Relations Director of the Big C chain, every day Big C, in the south, receives 14 tons of fruits and vegetables from the two farm produce granaries alone. Farm produce must meet the requirements set by Big C in order to be eligible for distribution by the supermart chain.
Nguyen Anh Hong, Director of Maximark supermart chain, also said that supermarts are now tending to purchase farm produce directly from farmers instead of purchasing through intermediaries, so as to be able to control the quality, volume and prices.
Hong said that currently, Maximark collects 2.5 tons of fruit from orchards in Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces, one ton of vegetables from the cooperatives in Da Lat City, and 500 tons of vegetables from cooperatives in Cu Chi district in HCM City, and Dong Nai province.
According to supermarts, most farmers worry about the requirements on quality stability, diversified varieties and the way of delivery. However, according to Tran Quoc Tuan, Director of the Tra Vinh provincial Agriculture Encouragement Centre, the biggest concern for farmers is the unstable outlet for the products. If farmers know for sure that they can sell products, they will make heavier investments in farming and quality improvement.
Meanwhile, Head of the Chau Thanh district’s Agriculture Sub-department, said that many projects to guide farmers to produce fruit under GAP standards are being implemented. Farmers now get ready to cooperate with supermarts in product consumption.
NLD
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