site.btaFrom May 2017 Bulgarian Producers of Fruit and Vegetables Will Contract Directly Deliveries to Metro Supermarkets

From May 2017 Bulgarian Producers of Fruit and Vegetables Will Contract Directly Deliveries to Metro Supermarkets

Sofia, November 28 (BTA) - From May 2017, Bulgarian producers of fruit and vegetables will be able to contract directly their supplies with the Metro chain of supermarkets in Bulgaria. Metro is the first chain of supermarkets to join an Agriculture Ministry programme aimed to facilitate the access to large commercial outlets for local producers.

The programme was unveiled Monday by Agriculture Minister Dessislava Taneva and Atila Yenisen, CEO of Metro Bulgaria.

Yenisen said that his company will offer equal opportunities to all Bulgarian producers and this will help ensure sustainable development of the business of local farms.

Metro is beginning a series of meetings with local producers of fruit and vegetables in the nine regional centres where it has outlets. It plans to focus on traditional Bulgarian products and seeds; to do research on them and revive them with the help of the Bulgarian academic community. The company wants to support authentic Bulgarian products which have proven their qualities through the years, Yenisen added.

Metro has already signed an agreement with the Maritsa Institute for Vegetables to work for reviving the production of Bulgarian seeds.

The share of local products which Metro currently offers in its supermarkets, is between 40 and 50 per cent but the company aims for more, said its CEO.

It also plans to increase the annual turnover of local fruit and vegetables from the current 20 million leva.

The Agriculture Ministry initiative is expected to spread to include more supermarket chains.

The Metro CEO expects that the best-selling local producers will use their business with Metro as a jumping board to the international markets.

In the next stage of the project, the Bulgarian-grown produce will be exported to neighbouring countries.