Morrisons, the UK's second-largest food retailer by market share has reportedly revamped its South African supply arrangements, ditching Colors Fruit as a source of topfruit and citrus as it steps up its global direct sourcing policy.
According to an exclusive report in this week's Fresh Produce Journal (FPJ), the supermarket has been sourcing citrus this year on a trial basis through Global Pacific Produce’s (GPP) new South African division, which was set up in March 2010.
The retailer is said to be planning to begin sourcing new season stonefruit, grapes, apples and pears via the group, which is based in the US and has offices in the UK, Spain, France and Chile.
Quoting industry insiders, FPJ said the move was being seen as a reaction to other direct sourcing initiatives instigated recently by rival retailers Asda and Tesco.
However, others have argued it is a natural extension of Morrisons' long-established direct supply approach, with the supermarket already operating a largely integrated supply chain.
Rory Antrobus, managing director of GPP in South Africa, told the FPJ: 'The advantage of GPP is you are cutting out the UK importer / facility. It's a direct to depot route that Morrisons wants to develop in South Africa. We have started off from scratch and `Morrisons` are looking to challenge Asda and Tesco.'
He added: 'But you can't do everything by direct sourcing and their intention is not to work only with Global Pacific.'
As a result of the change, Morrisons is no longer sourcing grapes, topfruit or citrus from Colors Fruit, although the company continues to supply the retailer with stonefruit, according to the company’s Riaan van Wyk.
