Halle, Belgium, 2015-12-18 — /EPR Retail News/ — Colruyt Group has decided to support the pork industry by granting its pig farmers with a support bonus of 10 cents per kilo. The group is looking to use this action to help its long-term partners scrape a living. This is also a way of contributing to the prosperity of local producers and of continuing to provide its customers with high-quality Belgian pork. In parallel, Colruyt Group is continuing to be actively involved in discussions with the different stakeholders in the chain as part of the Chain Consultation, but reaching an agreement in this consultation remains difficult. We hope the dialogue is pursued and Colruyt wants to continue to participate actively.
10 cents per kilo
Colruyt Group is aware of the difficulties that farmers have now been facing for several months. In concrete terms, the group will pay a support bonus of 10 cents for each kilo of pork, which will be retroceded to the farmers. This initiative concerns all pork received by the group, regardless of the form in which it is subsequently distributed (fresh meat, cured meat, by-products). This measure will be applied for a period of 8 weeks.
Stefan Goethaert, Colruyt Group Fine Food Director: “We understand the difficult situation that Belgian pork farmers have been facing over the last few months. Moreover, we attach a lot of importance to seeing Belgian producers continue to provide us with pork. This measure will directly benefit pig farmers that supply us with pork in line with our specifications. We hope our support can breathe new life in the dialogue within the chain consultation so that the search for structural solutions can be pursued. After these 2 months, we will reassess the situation.”
Reminder: last year, Colruyt Group also assisted farmers by freezing the price of pork for 6 weeks, at a time when market prices were crashing.
Colruyt Group however remains convinced that the solutions required by our Belgian producers can only emerge from the consultation with all stakeholders in the industry and with the Belgian and European bodies. The impact of Belgian retail in an international context is rather limited . The Belgian distribution only buys 6.8 % of the total home pork production and cannot possibly aid the entire market, let alone the export. Colruyt Group will however do everything in its power to ensure that these discussions result in structural and stabilising measures offering a future perspective for all stakeholders.
Contact
Jan Derom
press@colruytgroup.com
+32 (0)2 363 55 45
+32 (0)473 92 45 10
SOURCE: Colruyt Group