All Mercadona stores in Spain sell fresh fish from the auction in their fish division.
The company emphasizes that due to the agreements with the associations and the fishermen, the fish reaches its stores within 24 hours after having come out from the sea through its logistics plants located throughout the country. And it is asserted that the sale of fresh fish in so little time contributes to the economic stability of coastal fisheries.
Mercadona says that the firm focuses on the Spanish primary sector and a sustainable food chain in which every link in the chain, from the sea to the consumers’ table, receives benefits.
According to the company chairman, Juan Roig, one of the goals for this exercise is to increase the weight of fresh produce in the percentage of turnover. To this end, it maintains stable agreements with 4,200 farmers, 3,200 cattle breeder and over 4,500 fishermen from 70 associations across the country, and continues “working in this direction to increase them.”
Furthermore, a policy of sustainable fisheries is implemented to ensure the sustainability of fishery products sold in stores.
Jose Signes, the auction coordinator from Alicante, told Cinco Dias that “the information flows between the network woven by Mercadona and the associations in real time.”
“We know the fish that is entering the auction at any time and in accordance with the needs of the company, we bid at a higher or lower price for each of the boxes,” he added.
To Signes, what matters is that the logistical effort works and that it is possible “to have the information, virtually in real time, about what goes in each market in order to meet the demand at all times.”
“Currently, we have already bought products in the auctions at all the autonomous coastal communities. We use the home-delivery vans themselves to transport the fish to the stores that are less than an hour away,” he stated.
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