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How Switzerland’s Coop Leads the Way on Sustainability

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The number two Swiss retailer is ranked by independent agency oekom research AG as most committed chain in the world to sustainable development

 

Coop is the second biggest Swiss food retailer, with 35% of the market. It currently has 1,933 retail supermarkets in Switzerland and posted net sales of €14.9 billion in 2013, up by 1.7% on the previous year despite several waves of price cutting.

 

Coop has long been committed to sustainable development. “Sustainable development is a very important issue for Swiss consumers,” emphasized Raphaël Schilling, Coop’s head of Sustainable Development. “For Coop, it is essential to invest in this field in order to guarantee product availability in the long term”.

 

For fruit and vegetables, the group has identified four main sources of sustainability-related risk: working conditions at source, energy and CO2, water use, and pesticides.

 

On working conditions, Coop’s strategy for produce from developing countries is to expand FairTrade certification. Already 95% of its bananas and a large proportion of its avocados, pineapples and mangoes are FairTrade certified and the process is under way for papayas.

 

To reduce its energy consumption and carbon footprint, Coop gives preference to regional, national and European products, in that order. It also limits the use of air freight as much as possible. For instance, white asparagus used to be imported from Peru by air and now travels by sea.

 

Read the full article online here on page 18 of issue 133 of Eurofresh Distribution magazine

author: VB

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Registration starts for Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine-2014 Conference

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Registration starts for Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine-2014 Conference

Leading fruit and vegetable conference and trade forum in Ukraine expecting visitors from more than 15 countries
 

Fruit-Inform has opened registration for the 11th annual international conference Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine-2014.

Taking place December 8-10 at the Rus Hotel, in the centre of Kiev, Ukraine, it is organised in conjunction with the 4th International Trade Forum (December 10), which is recognised as the most professional meeting place for fruit and vegetable suppliers and purchasers in Ukraine.

Fito-Mag is the general sponsor of the conference, highlights of which will include the presentation of the preliminary production, price and trade outlook for Ukraine for the 2015/16 season.

 

The conference and trade forum will involve more than 300 fruit and vegetable professionals from 15-18 countries, including many fruit and vegetable growers, processing enterprises, retail and wholesale trade representatives, and suppliers of seeds and plants, inputs, equipment and machinery.

More than 30 retail chains and wholesale companies will be involved in the international trade forum, promoting direct negotiations between fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers from Ukraine and many other countries.

 

There is also the possibility of presenting products and services at the B2B exposition Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine-2014 with a total floor area of 165 sq m. This exhibition is an opportunity to showcase products of fruit and vegetable growers, suppliers of storage, handling solutions, agrichemistry, machinery, irrigation systems, packaging, seeds, plants and other inputs for the fruit and vegetable business.

More information can be found at: www.fruit-inform.com.

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“Celebrating Fresh” at the 2014 New York Produce Show

2014 New York Produce Show

“Celebrating Fresh”  at the 2014 New York Produce Show

Held December 2-4 in Manhattan with focus on products, services and building relationships

 

A great convergence of fresh produce buyers and sellers is set to take place in Manhattan with the 5th annual  New York Produce Show and Conference, being held December 2-4 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

 

The trade show will feature more than 400 exhibiting companies, providing what organisers say will be an opportunity for buyers to meet and interact with the industry’s finest produce and floral suppliers and leading service providers, and to discover new product sources and services.

 

Representing a diverse group of vendors, they will range from local growers to national shippers of produce and floral products, from regional wholesale groups to broadline distributors, and from international importers/exporters to transportation and technical-service providers.

 

Presented by the Eastern Produce Council and Produce Business magazine, the three-day event also includes networking opportunities, a retail “thought-leader” panel hosted by Perishable Pundit Jim Prevor, educational micro-sessions and tours of the region’s vibrant industry, including local retailers, wholesalers, foodservice distributors and urban farms and unique eateries.

 

The theme of the main conference is “Celebrating Fresh” and back by popular demand are two mini conferences: the Global Trade Symposium on Tuesday, December 2, and the Foodservice Forum “Ideation Fresh” on Thursday, December 4.

For more info: http://www.nyproduceshow.com/

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Russian embargo hitting Croatian mandarin growers hard

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European Commission says additional targeted support measures cover mandarins

 

About half of all mandarin exports from Croatia’s Neretva Valley ended up in Russia, last year. This year a record harvest of 80,000 tons is expected but many growers risk going bust due to the combined effects of the Russian embargo and an already difficult economic context, according to Croatian member of the European Parliament Davor Ivo Stier (PPE).

Stier said it will be hard for them to find alternative markets in a short period. The total value of the mandarin market in Croatia is roughly €50 million and an estimated 10,000 people there depend on mandarins as a main or additional source of income.

“A large amount of money has been invested up to this point in production materials,” Stier said. “As a result of these investments and of people’s hard work, this year it was anticipated that revenues for the sector would amount to €30‐40 million. However, Russia’s embargo, coupled with an already‐difficult economic situation, could result in many mandarin producers collapsing.”

In answer to Stier’s questions about the mandarin growers’ eligibility for exceptional support from the EU agricultural crisis fund for the effects of the Russian sanctions, Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş said on behalf of the Commission that there is now support for mandarin growers.

Support for citrus producers was not included in its initial exceptional market support measures. “However, the Commission has prepared additional targeted support measures for fruit and vegetables hit by the Russian ban taking into account new harvest and export seasons. The new measures include mandarins and (were) published on 30 September,” Cioloş said.

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Sainsbury’s sales drop a shockwave for market

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Big structural changes behind malaise ‘set to descend’ upon the UK’s Big Four grocers, Planet Retail says

 

The 2.8% fall in sales reported by Sainsbury’s for its second quarter marks a “watershed moment” for both it and the wider UK grocery industry, according to David Gray, retail analyst at Planet Retail. “The sharp decline in like-for-like and total sales at the retailer will send shockwaves across the market. First it was Tesco, then Morrisons, and now even Sainsbury’s is reeling from the effects of seismic structural changes rumbling across the UK food sector,” Gray said.

The shift is akin to long-term climate change rather than the temporary effects of a perfect storm and no one is immune to the effects, he said. “The hard discounters are just one factor driving this change. Shifting shopper habits – consumers shopping little and often at convenience stores, smaller online baskets, households wasting less and evaporating hypermarket impulse spend – are all underpinning this shift. With volumes already dwindling and values expected to hit negative later this year in the face of ever-diminishing price inflation, the situation can only worsen. All this makes it increasingly likely Christmas will be a complete washout for the UK’s major grocers.

“Sainsbury’s is also bruised by the effects of a price skirmish that is progressively heightening in intensity, into which it is fast being drawn through the Brand Match scheme. In the long term, industry-wide margins are likely to come under even more pressure.

“No gaping holes in the company accounts and a slightly less diabolical performance than Tesco are hardly achievements to shout about. Sainsbury’s will need to pull out all the stops over the next few months if it is to escape the worst of the malaise set to descend upon the UK’s Big Four grocers,” Gray said.

Source: Planet Retail press release

Photo: © Copyright Andrew Abbott and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

 
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French yet to compensate for loss of huge banana cargo

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France has yet to pay damages for the multi million dollar loss of a banana shipment in September last year in a bungled drug raid on the Swedish reefer Stina.

 

Nearly 216,000 boxes of Colombian bananas are said to have been aboard the vessel when it was allegedly intercepted by the French Navy in international waters and made to go to French outpost Martinique Island.

 

It’s been reported the French thought they were making a massive narcotics bust – after a tip-off by US authorities about cocaine being smuggled in the cargo – but no drugs were found. The fiasco saw the bananas, which had been destined for Algeria, unloaded in high heat for inspection and later destroyed, something now subject to a US $2.7 million damages claim.

 

According to banana news source Sopisco News, the MV Stina, flying a Barbados flag and belonging to the Stina Shipping Company, was represented by the agents Holy House Shipping of Stockholm-Sweden. “Star Fruit Company based in Algeria, one of the largest fruit traders of the Northern African country, and Tagholm Overseas Company based in Tortola – British Virgin Islands had reached a commercial agreement with Banana International Corporation, a company represented by Banacol, a Colombian company based in Medellin, and for this they chartered the vessel to transport the cargo to Algeria,” Sopisco News reported.

 

“Almost a year since the unfortunate event, the French authorities which had informed the attorneys of the vessel and cargo owners that they wanted to liquidate damages amicably and without recourse to the ordinary courts, have not taken any steps to make the payments,” it claimed.

 

Source: Sopisco

http://sopisconews.com/french-customs-fiasco-go-banana-and-cause-millionaire-losses-to-reefer-vessel/

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Tackling trade risks at 6th Cool Logistics Conference

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From 30 September to 2 October the 6th Cool Logistics Global Conference will take place. The event that links logistics and perishables will be held on the SS Rotterdam. This year’s conference theme is ‘Tackling trade risks’ with a focus on perishables, protectionism and profitability. “The goal of the Cool Logistics Conference is to provide a chance for all the stakeholders to come together and discuss how to tackle rising costs, capacity, quality and regulatory pressures against the backdrop of continued world trade growth in food, flowers, pharmaceuticals and other perishable goods,” the organisers said.

Attendees from the world of logistics include shippers, carriers, logistics providers and ports. The four day program includes excursions, debates and a body of expert speakers amongst which the key-note speakers are Alexis Michel, Senior Vice President container logistics and reefer at CMA CGM, Thomas Eskesen, Global Head refrigerated business at Maersk Line and Andy Connell, Business Manager special projects & industry affairs at Dole. The 7th Cool Logistics Global Conference has been announced already and will take place in Zeebrugge, Belgium in 2015.

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Fruit prices climb in Russia

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Embargo on European and US produce sees average price of fruit on store shelves rise 17 percent

 

When Russia imposed bans on fruit and vegetable imports from the European Union, Norway, the US, Canada and Australia in August, fruitNews began monitoring the impact on the price and variety of fruit in the produce sections of six of Moscow’s largest retail chains. Comparing the data collected with results from a similar survey in August last year, it found both a big reduction in range and big price rises.

Many grocery networks and their suppliers still had stocks received from Italy, Spain, Holland and Poland before the ban, but the range of fruit products had nevertheless shrunk significantly. Compared to August last year, the total of different names and varieties of fruit on sale was down nearly a third and in some stores by almost a half. In the case of pears, the number of varieties available to consumers was 36 percent lower, while for kiwis it was 32 percent, bananas 32 percent and stone fruit 31 percent.

Meanwhile, the average price of fruit on store shelves rose 17 percent with kiwis suffering the biggest increase – 42 percent. And in several chain stores, the cost of fruit almost doubled. Though the monitoring used rubles without inflation values, the difference in fruit prices compared to August 2013 surpassed annual inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.

 

Comparison of in-store fruit prices in Moscow

Fruit

Change Aug/2014 on Aug 2013

Kiwi

(+) 42.30%

Stone fruit

(+) 33.30%

Grapes

(+) 28.50%

Citrus fruit

(+) 21.60%

Pears

(+) 16.70%

Apples

(+) 3.1%*

Bananas

(-) 23.3%**

*When inflation is taken into account, the cost of apples has decreased compared to August 2013.

** This could be due to the reduction of products usually included in this category, such as more expensive varieties like mini and or red bananas.

 

FruitNews is continuing to monitor the effect of the bans on food provision in the grocery stores, particularly which alternative products and source countries are used and the impact on prices in autumn – a time when the market has traditionally relied on major supplies of apples and pears from Europe.

 

LH

source: fruitNews 

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Fruit and Vegetable Business of Russia-2014 Conference – registration going on

The 7th Annual International Conference «Fruit & Vegetable Business of Russia-2014» will start its work on September 16, 2014, Expocentre Fairgrounds, Moscow. The conference is organized by ITE Moscow and Fruit-Inform.

The event will be held in conjunction with World Food Moscow 2014, the largest food exhibition in the Russian Federation, which makes the conference as informative as possible. The exhibition and the conference are annually attended by the leaders of the fruit, berry and vegetable business sectors.

The organizers expect the event to gather about 200 professionals of the fruit and vegetable business from 15 countries of the world.

Key conference subjects:

  • The Russian fruit and vegetable production and price forecast for October 2014 – April 2015;
  • Russia as the member of the WTO: how has the fruit and vegetable market changed over a year. Further market developments outlook;
  • The European and global fruit and vegetable market development. How has the external market impact on Russia changed over the past year?
  • Russia’s apple imports: the suppliers structure after accession to the WTO;
  • Fruit logistics in Russia: from field to supermarket shelf;
  • A fruit and vegetable supplier as viewed by a retailer: key requirements and critical moments;
  • Modern technologies for produce handling, packaging and storage etc.

More detailed information about the conference, program, conditions of participation and application form are available here.

Would you have any questions concerning the conference, please contact International Relations Department of Fruit-Inform:

tel: +7 495 7894419

cell: +380 96 5836323 (Ievgen Kuzin)

e-mail: fruit.intl@fruit-inform.comFruit and Vegetable Business of Russia-2014 Conference – registration going on