Düsseldorf, 2017-Feb-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — METRO GROUP Wholesale & Food Specialist Company announces its joint venture partnership with the Singapore-listed Myanmar-focused Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd. to develop a one stop food distribution platform in Myanmar. According to the agreement, METRO will take an 85% stake in the newly established joint venture called METRO Wholesale Myanmar Ltd., with the remaining 15% shares owned by Yoma Strategic Holdings.
“I’m pleased that METRO is now entering Myanmar, such a promising market that offers abundant opportunities for our B2B wholesale business. The establishment of the joint venture with Yoma Strategic Holdings marks an important step for this meaningful expansion”, said Olaf Koch, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO AG. “We are convinced that METRO’s proven expertise in areas such as food safety and supply chain management will strongly contribute to the development and upgrade of the local supply and distribution infrastructure.”
As the first step, METRO will open a depot for wholesale distribution located in Yangon’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone, with the construction work scheduled to start in March 2017, and the depot is expected to open in beginning of 2018. By focusing on a pure delivery model instead of constructing a classic brick and mortar store METRO underlines the increasing strategic importance on food service distribution and efficient use of investment which will be in the low double-digit EUR million range for Myanmar.
METRO’s efficient one stop wholesale distribution platform will be a solution for a market which at current is fragmented, with retailers often having to source their products through a complex mix of local retail and wholesale distributors as well as importers. From this platform over 3,300 food and non-food high quality products as well as customized services will be delivered to the professional customers including hotels, restaurants, catering firms, independent small retailers and offices. It aims to effectively address the evolving needs of the local professional customers, who now increasingly seek products of consistently reliable quality and good value. In addition to exploring its own unique sourcing expertise and channels to secure high quality products, METRO will leverage on Yoma Strategic Holdings’ logistics and warehousing infrastructure to facilitate the key supply chain build-up for Myanmar. “We are confident that our partnership with METRO will bring global know-how in modern wholesale distribution and contribute to bringing reliable and safe food to the people of Myanmar”, said Melvyn Pun, Yoma Strategic Holdings’ Chief Executive Officer.
In many countries of its operations, METRO works very closely with the local community to improve the food safety through series of dedicated and tailored training programs for the farmers and producers. This approach will be applied too in Myanmar to make joint efforts with various stakeholders to support the improvement of the food safety. After careful analysis, trainings will be developed and carried out to equip local farmers with necessary awareness, knowledge and skills in the areas such as production, harvesting, processing and packaging. Trained and qualified farmers will contribute to an efficient, sustainable and reliable supply chain of METRO Myanmar but also the overall well-being of the community.
The METRO GROUP Wholesale & Food Specialist Company (W&FS Co.) is an internationally leading specialist in wholesale and food retail. With its sales lines METRO Cash & Carry and Real as well as its other associated companies, METRO GROUP W&FS Co. operates in 35 countries and employs more than 150,000 people around the world. In 2015/16, METRO GROUP W&FS Co. achieved sales of around €37 billion. The company provides custom solutions to meet the regional and international needs of its wholesale and retail customers. More information is available at www.metrogroup.de and https://wfsco.metrogroup.de/
Listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Securities Exchange Trading Limited (SGX-ST), Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd. is a leading business corporation with a diversified portfolio of businesses in Real Estate, Consumer, Automotive & Equipment, and Investments in Myanmar. Together with its partner, the SPA Group, the Group is taking a conglomerate approach to build a diversified portfolio of businesses in Myanmar. The Company was ranked in the top 10% of the Governance and Transparency index for three consecutive years (2014 – 2016), ranked 17th out of top 100 largest Singapore companies in the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard 2015 and won the Best Managed Board (Gold) Award at the Singapore Corporate Awards in 2016. More information is available at www.yomastrategic.com
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Source: METRO GROUP