The direct sourcing model increasingly employed by UK supermarkets may bring out their “humane” side, according to a leading supplier.
Hein Keulder, chief executive of the Melsetter Fruit Group, told journalists at a round table discussion at Fruitways in South Africa that the development could benefit growers.
“All the supermarkets that have come closer to the growers have become more humane. They may start to understand the ethical, social, crop and weather issues. When there is a big category manager in the middle they do not care about these issues,” said Keulder.
“It is a positive thing, them coming closer to growers. It makes the trading model more difficult for us as you have larger organisations like Asda and Tesco alongside [comparatively] smaller companies like Fruitways but you have to stand up for yourself.”
He added: “The more offices the supermarkets have locally, the more they start to speak our language and feed that back home. It’s much better if a supermarket representative speaks to head office and takes the message back home.”
The Fruitways Alliance is responsible for 13 per cent of South African fruit exports, working in top fruit, citrus and soft fruit. Group marketing director Chris Moodie added: “The extent to which the movement is going to flush out the savings in the supply chain is the positive, but the question is who gets that saving? If that’s just the supermarket, then that’s not a good thing.”
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