Sandy Norman of food retailer Tesco gave delegates at last week's Eurofruit Southern Hemisphere Congress an insight into the group’s new fresh produce sourcing strategy, which is centred around a network of regional technical hubs responsible for sourcing volumes, some of it direct, for the company’s entire global operations.
Speaking at the event, which took place on 14-16 October at the NH Lord Charles hotel near Cape Town, Mr Norman explained why the company had decided to set up Tesco Produce Group Sourcing, which will focus exclusively on fresh fruit and vegetable procurement for the group’s entire global operations.
“There is no point in having several teams buying for our different individual country markets,” explained Mr Norman. “We need experts in production who are close to our sources of supply, understand the difficulties associated with that production and know where to find the best products and suppliers.”
Tesco has nine regional hubs, sourcing from North, Central and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Mr Norman heads up the company’s South Africa hub, set to be its largest fresh produce sourcing operation worldwide.
The congress also focused on potential branding opportunities for fresh produce exported from South Africa, with Capespan’s Louis Kriel pointing out that an established brand could only remain successful if it continued to adapt to the changing needs of the buyer.
According to Mr Kriel, for Capespan, adapting meant looking at new emerging markets, while also introducing new concepts such as apple snack bags and pineapple sticks. Branding would become even more important as the fight for shelf-space in established markets such as the US and UK intensified, he noted.
“We have great pride in our brand, but while it is well-known and has a great heritage, this does not guarantee ongoing success. Companies must continually adapt to meet the changing demands of retailers.'
Some 370 delegates from 14 countries worldwide attended this year’s Eurofruit Congress Southern Hemisphere, which included a number of conference sessions on branding, retailing, logistics, exports and marketing.
A full report on Tesco’s direct sourcing plans will appear in the January 2010 edition of Eurofruit Magazine, while a round-up of news from the event will be published in the magazine next month
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