Regularity, regularity and regularity are the three "master words" for managing seafood supplies at Carrefour, Marc Duret, director of seafood buying at Europe's No. 1 retailer, told attendees at a recent conference in Paris spotlighting France's seafood supply chain.
For Carrefour, which handles some 148 metric tons of seafood a day, regularity underpins "volume, supply stability and quality," he said.
During a panel discussion on the commercial relationship between producer, distributor and consumer, Duret explained that Carrefour has specific contract programs representing 29 percent of its total seafood purchases, by volume.
He cited the case of oysters: the supermarket contracts 5,000 metric tons of oysters under its "engagement qualité Carrefour" protocol. "This demonstrates to oyster farmers a vision of the market, our commitments and our capacity to buy," said Duret.
Carrefour follows the same process for trout and prawns and will soon for crabs, which is a more challenging product due to traceability obstacles, said Duret. He also stressed the burden of proof when dealing with French-origin products: "One needs to be able to prove, without meeting any opposition, their origin."
In 2007, Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, kicked off an experiment at 200 sale points that focused on fish caught by small boats. Tagged "Pêcheurs de nos côtes," or "Fishing from our coast," six points, said Duret, calibrated the initiative.
Among the points were the desire to differentiate the traditional seafood presentation in relation to competitors, to promote seafood from artisanal fishing methods off the coast of France and to "get closer to the clients." With a "fresh guarantee," the initiative, whose logo bears fishermen on their boats, has boosted sales of sardines, mackerel and anchovies.
Duret reiterated that Carrefour seeks to promote French products as "a first step that must be followed by the setting up of a sophisticated traceability system. We have a lot of work in front of us."
