Carrefour : takes part in Bio Brazil Fair and reinforces its strategy to lead the organic and healthy food movement in retail

Carrefour Brasil is taking part in the 14th edition of the Bio Brazil Fair, the largest organic product trade show in Latin America. From June 6 to 9, in Sao Paulo (SP), the company presents its initiatives and its plans to expand the supply and consumption of healthy and organic food in Brazil. The company will be the only retail network to exhibit at the show, at a stand prepared to welcome potential suppliers from the organic segment, industry partners and visitors in general.

The Carrefour Group believes that retail is an agent of transformation and awareness about the importance of healthy and sustainable food with its customers, partners and employees. Aligned with this objective, earlier this year the company unveiled its new global plan - Carrefour 2022 - one of the main goals of which is to lead the 'food transition' - a movement to expand the supply of quality food at a fair price, to revitalize the Carrefour brand's own product range with a focus on healthiness, and to actively contribute to the supply of local and organic products.

'The Carrefour Group's ambition to lead this important movement to democratize organic and healthy products by promoting quality, reliable and affordable food for consumers. This is why the company aims to increase its global sales in this segment from € 1.3 billion to € 5 billion by 2022,' says Noël Prioux, CEO of the Carrefour Brasil Group. 'Taking part in in the Bio Brazil Fair is an important step for the Carrefour Brasil Group. In this event, the company also has the opportunity to network with new suppliers of organic products, boosting the expansion of this sector in our stores and bringing new consumer options to millions of Brazilians,' adds Prioux.

'More and more people want to consume in a healthier and more sustainable way, both for the sake of their health and for the conservation of the planet. To meet this growing demand for impeccable quality information and product standards, the Carrefour Brasil Group is carrying out a series of initiatives to control and guarantee the quality of the food it sells, from the field to the fork,' says Paulo Pianez, director of Sustainability at Carrefour Brasil.

The 14th edition of the Bio Brazil Fair, the largest organic product trade show in Latin America, brings together farmers, companies, government projects, suppliers of inputs and technology, certifiers and consultants. The event, which takes place simultaneously with Naturaltech, a healthy food, supplement, natural product and healthy living trade show, will be visited by over 25,000 people, who will have the opportunity over the four days to see about 1,500 organic product launches by over 400 exhibitors, including companies and farmers.

Carrefour's Own Brand

The Carrefour Brasil Group is carrying out a series of actions and is involved in projects aligned with the Carrefour 2022 plan, aiming to increase the supply of quality food at a fair price, including its own brand range - which currently numbers more than 8,000 items, including organic and healthy food. The chain also has a seal that certifies the quality, provenance and production processes of perishable products under the Carrefour brand, based on strict concepts of quality and socio-environmental responsibility. In order to obtain the seal, more than 80 different criteria that make up the program standard are evaluated by independent audits that attest to compliance with Carrefour's requirements. These criteria enable the chain to offer its customers quality food produced in an environmentally correct and socially just manner.

Traceability and monitoring of pesticides

Carrefour also promotes traceability and the monitoring of pesticides used on the fruit, vegetables and legumes it sells, ensuring that their application abides by the law. The company was one of the first retailers to join the Food Traceability Monitoring Program run by the Brazilian Supermarket Association (ABRAS) and in the last three years it has been Brazil's most effective chain in food traceability. Last year Carrefour tracked 100% of its own brand items. Regarding the other products it sells, not including the Carrefour brand, 82% of suppliers tracked their products. Considering the chain's full roll of suppliers, 95% subscribed to the program.

Livestock farming: monitoring the chain and product range

In 2016 Carrefour launched its Sustainable Livestock Platform, responsible for monitoring the production processes and socio-environmental practices of all its fresh meat suppliers in Brazil. Monitoring allows the cross-referencing of data from each supplier's production plants with public criteria to identify possible nonconformities, preventing farms from producing meat in deforested or embargoed areas, conservation units, indigenous lands or from using labor analogous to slavery.

Also in 2016, in partnership with Marfrig, the chain launched a line of meat that helps value and preserve native fields of the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul. Using a seal issued by Alianza del Pastizal, a program to promote livestock farming which operates in the pampas region of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and vast areas of Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, the exclusive line offers consumers quality meat capable of fostering the conservation of natural environments in these regions.