Greenyard has been building long-term relationships with a wide network of growers for the last 40 years. We source directly from both local growers, who are working close to our European markets, and growers on the other side of the world. This global network enables us to provide our customers with a steady and stable supply of the best-quality fruit and vegetables, all year round. Our close and integrated grower relationships may take on many forms and may include guaranteed volumes, contract-growing and even joint ventures. But it’s about more than just volumes and conditions. We also support our growers in their daily operations and help them explore new and more efficient agricultural techniques and practices, ensuring their business remains sustainable in the long run, both from an economical and an ecological perspective.
“An integrated chain of collaboration is crucial when you’re sourcing products of nature,” explains Jens Gabriel, Group Sourcing Director at Greenyard. “Just think about it – it takes about nine months for a pineapple to grow into the delicacy that we know and love, but retailers are ordering it about three weeks before they need it on their shelves. This makes forecasting and planning – from fork-to-field – so important. The better we can predict demand, the better we can steer growers in the right direction.”
“Moreover, we operate in a business with delicate and perishable products,” he continues. “When something goes wrong, someone somewhere along the chain is bound to be impacted. It means we have an enormous responsibility to find the right balance between the demand in the market and what nature is providing. It means we need to hold our end of the bargain as well. When we plan the fruit together with the growers, afterwards we can’t just say we don’t need them, and ask the grower to sell them to someone else. We need to find ways to absorb them in the market. The fact that we supply the largest retailers around, and our Frozen and Prepared divisions come into play here as well.”
Gesa Kip, Specialist Quality Assurance for Greenyard Fresh Germany, raises another crucial aspect – the planning of promotions. “Retailers have their own planning. However, when working with a natural, perishable product, they need to promote them at the right time to allow all of the product, that is prime quality at that time, to access the market. It is our responsibility to make retailers aware of the intricacies of growing produce, and use our first-hand knowledge, straight from the field, to guide them in the right direction.”
Compliance is another domain where Greenyard provides an enormous added value as a connecting partner in the chain. The regulatory context is changing fast and has far-reaching implications for both growers and retailers. In February 2022, the Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains was adopted in Germany, one of our most important markets. And other European markets will soon follow a similar approach at EU level. It obliges companies to set up processes to identify, assess, prevent and remedy human rights and environmental risks and impacts in their supply chains, and in their own operations.
“Our customers don’t always have the precise knowledge and means to fulfil these requirements for all their categories, especially when it comes to overseas products. We use our expertise and our close connections with growers to unburden our customers in this area,” says Jens Gabriel.
“It’s important to realise that this is not a one-way street,” emphasises Gesa Kip. “Complying with changing regulations is equally challenging on the other end of the chain. Many of these things are being decided at desks in Western Europe, with the best intentions, but they do not always consider the realities in the field. It’s our responsibility to follow up on these changes and translate them into digestible information for our growers, so they know what is expected from them.”
”And that includes many elements, such as transparency, transportation, availability, sustainability, and so on. This is exactly why for instance fair pricing is so important, throughout the chain. And even beyond that, it is so important to give back to growers and invest in their future,” concludes Jens Gabriel. “This will become even more important as the effects of climate change are being felt. We have to offer them the right support and advice to cope with extreme weather conditions and climatological evolutions. This is a necessity to further strengthen our connection with growers and make it clear that we are on a journey together, towards a better and more sustainable future.”
