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Metro promotes new model of agricultural
products sourcing base at Expo China Central 2008
Wuhan, 26 April, 2008 – Expo China Central 2008,
jointly organized by Ministry of Commerce as well as 6 provinces from
central China, was kicked-off on 26 April in the Chinese central
metropolis Wuhan. During the 3-day expo, the international leading
self-service wholesaler Metro, made a full presentation of its new model
of agricultural products sourcing base, which was tailor-made for Chinese
market. Agriculture is one of the key topics of the Expo China Central
2008, thus the “Metro agricultural products sourcing base” has become the
highlight and gained great interests from numerous agricultural producers
at the expo.
Aiming at boosting the development of central part of
China, the state-level Expo Central China 2008 has attracted more than
40,000 Chinese and overseas exhibitors from 25 different countries, with
the most participants since ever. At the multinational retailer
exhibition area, Metro, headed by Lv Guoman, Senior Vice President,
promoted the new model of the “Metro agricultural products sourcing base
project” to the visitors, which has attracted great attention from
agricultural producers of central region such as Hubei and Anhui
province. The “Metro agricultural products sourcing base project”, as one
of pilot projects supported by Chinese Ministry of Commerce, has created
a brand-new supply chain mode in China. Under the guidance of scientific
and standard production process of Metro, the company has introduced
consulting company to guide local farmers on safe breeding and planting;
entrust third party organization to conduct quality monitor and check; at
the same time, to put the products into the market through Metro’s
network, thereby to achieve a win-win partnership among authorities,
enterprises and society.
At present, most retail enterprises such as
supermarkets and hypermarkets source the agricultural products through
suppliers from the local farmers. Over the years, such “direct sourcing”
mode has largely cut down the middleman, which contributed significantly
to the industrialization of agriculture, safeguard market supply as well
as the increase of farmers’ income. However, the “direct sourcing” mode
still has some shortcomings – for instance, the qualification check of
suppliers can only be carried out while purchasing; it is very difficult
for retailers to monitor the quality of agricultural products during the
entire production process, let alone traceability of food safety.
For this reason, Metro China signed a framework
agreement with Hefei municipal government on Expo Central China 2007,
initiated the development of the agricultural products sourcing base
project. As the sole pilot projects supported by Chinese Ministry of
Commerce, the company started up the brand-new research and experiment in
terms of the quality control throughout the entire supply chain. In order
to keep the daily management of the agricultural base more standardized
and professional, METRO Group invested the first farm consulting company
in China – “Star Farm Consulting Co., ltd.” - , who undertakes the
responsibilities of guidance, consulting and training of local farmers.
In the lights of it, Star Farm will assign professional trainers to the
signed-up farmers for on-site coach on a regular basis.
In December 2007, the first batch of high quality and
traceable produces of “Star Farm” such as branded baby chicken from Anhui
Senmiao Group, Feixi chicken and Changfeng strawberry were already
available and popular at 11 Metro wholesale stores in East China, which
set a milestone of the “Metro agricultural products souring base
project”. Taking Changfeng strawberry for example, Metro helped
production enterprises establish the traceability system and the whole
cold-chain, and directed farmers how to use oilseeds remains as
fertilizer to improve strawberry’s taste. Even special packaging was
designed for the convenience of long transportation. Since Changfeng
strawberry entered Shanghai market, it has gained popularity among top
hotels and other professional customers with sales growing steadily,
barely to meet vast demands. On 1st and 2nd April, a meeting with the
topic “connect farmer and supermarkets” was called on by Chinese Ministry
of Commerce in Hefei, Anhui province. Jiang Zenwei, Vice Minister has
paid a visit to Metro’s agricultural products souring base in Hefei
during the meeting, and gave complete positive comment on it.
According to Lv Guo-man, Senior Vice President of
Metro China, over a year’s exploration, Metro has initially developed a
comprehensive system and gained experience from it. All the signed
farmers, strictly in line with the GlobalGAP criteria, are now able to
manage the quality from slaughtering, processing, packaging,
transportation as well as selling. What’s more, all the products can be
traced back with the traceability system. This year Metro will further
accelerate the development of the new model of agricultural products
sourcing base in China and it is estimated that about 100 LACs (Leading
Agricultural Companies) will attend the training program, bringing at
least 30 kinds of different quality agricultural products to Metro. The
central region of China including Hubei, Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan and
Shan’xi, with the most rural population and relatively better agriculture
industry, is a very promising and potential market for Metro China.
Contact
Kevin
Chen
PR
Manager –
Media Affairs
METRO Jinjiang Cash
& Carry Co., Ltd.
1425 Zhenbei Road
200333 Shanghai
Tel: + 86 21 2207
8012
Fax: + 86 21 2207
6602
Email: libin.chen@metro.com.cn
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