One of Russia’s biggest food retailers is to visit Peru early next year to establish direct supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables.
A group of high-level executives from Moscow-based X5 Retail Group’s will travel to the Andean nation in March to source products including avocados, table grapes, mangoes, citrus, pomegranates and asparagus.
The retailer announced recently that it aims to import 100 per cent of its fruits and vegetables directly by 2019. At present it sources around 20 per cent in this way. In order to handle the produce, the company is building two large distribution facilities in St Petersburg and Novorossiysk and plans to open a third in the Central Federal District in 2017.
With annual sales of more than US$10bn, X5 operates 2,545 stores under the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel banners.
