October 7, 2008

 

 

Carrefour, the world's second-largest retail operator, plans to buy shrimp directly from farmers to supply the chain's outlets in Thailand and abroad.

 

The French company will send a team to inspect and verify shrimp products and farming practices of Kaset Somboon Farm Co to ensure the shrimp meet its standards and are free from chemical residue. 

 

Carrefour's move reflects a trend whereby retailers were now choosing to deal with farmers directly to ensure freshness, reasonable prices, and control over quality, said Vanich Sowanapreecha, the owner of Kaset Somboon Farm Company .

 

The company operates more than 20 shrimp ponds in Chachoengsao and Suphan Buri provinces. 

 

According to Mr Vanich, Carrefour in Thailand has made trial orders of several tonnes of fresh and chilled shrimp from his farm for the past few months ago to distribute at its outlets in Thailand. 

 

Carrefour ld purchase as many as 10,000 tonnes a year from the farm for local outlets and some outlets overseas if the inspections, to be conducted in January, are satisfactory, he said. 

 

Due to the volumes contracted, Kaset Somboon Farm could arrange for other farmers to help it fulfill the shipments. 

 

"Shrimp farmers now have more experience in making contracts with foreign food service providers themselves without using any brokers," he said. 

 

Kaset Somboon Farm and its allied farms also sell chilled shrimp to food markets in Busan and Seoul, Korea at up to 30-40 tonnes a day.

 

To ensure freshness, shrimp exported to South Korea are air flown on late-night flights to ensure that they reach Korean markets fresh in the morning, Mr Vanich said. 

 

Buyers from China, Japan, Israel and Middle Eastern countries are reportedbly interested in buying chilled shrimp from farmers directly, not frozen ones that have a different taste and are mostly supplied from coldstorage companies," he said. 

 

Thailand's Fisheries Department has been strongly encouraging farmers to enter food services markets, especially where it takes less than 10 hours to transport shrimp.

 

To promote this export channel, the Fisheries Department has entered agreements with countries such as South Korean to speed product verification procedures. 

 

The department also aims to see all 27,000 of Thailand's shrimp farms meet Good Agricultural Practice standards of better for marine shrimp farming this year, from about 21,000 at present. 

 

The department estimates the export volume of shrimp to the food services industry to be 30,000 tonnes out of the estimated total of 370,000 tonnes of shrimp exports from Thailand this year.