The local subsidiary of German multinational wholesale, Metro Wholesale Myanmar is working to boost sales of farmers’ produce

Metro Wholesale Myanmar, the local subsidiary of German multinational wholesale chain owned by Metro AG, says it will help local farmers who have earned good agricultural practices (GAP) certification meet with more buyers.

The effort was announced by Metro Wholesale Myanmar Commerical Director Mr Hyacinthe Cloarec during a ceremony to present GAP certificates to farmers in Aungban, Shan State.

GAP is a common standard for farm management practices created in the late 1990s by several European supermarket chains and their major suppliers and is now the world’s most widely implemented farm certification scheme.

“In December Metro Wholesale  Myanmar will return to Shan State to meet with more farmers with GAP certification. Then in January we will take these farmers to Yangon to meet with our customers, so that the farmers will be able to find out directly from potential customers what they need. This will allow farmers to improve sales of their products,” Cloarec said during the ceremony.

In 2018 , Metro Wholesale Myanmar conducted a course for 200 farmers from Shan State and Magwe Region about GAP certification. Of the 200 farmers who attended the course, 62 went to achieve GAP certification thanks to the course.

“Metro is interested not only in business but also in food safety . So we are collaborating with the government to upgrade the farms in the country. This way, Metro  will be to help farmer to sell their product to overseas buyers,” said Metro Wholesale Myanmar CEO Mr Jens Michel.

“We understand our product need to meet food-safety requirements and the need to change farming methods so we can provide more quality produce to customers. If we follow the GAP guidelines, we can earn better profits from our products. “ said U Chit Htun, a garlic farmer from Shan State who was present at the ceremony.

According to data from the Shan State Department of Agriculture, farmers in the state grow 45 of the 60 most widely grown commercial crops in Myanmar.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/wholesaler-working-boost-sales-farmers-produce.html )

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