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Supporting our local farmers
12
May
2020
During this Coronavirus crisis, many local farmers are struggling. The temporary closure of the restaurant and catering industry has led to a surplus of seasonal vegetables, resulting in prices falling sharply. Lettuce grower Rik Vanackere from Izegem has also seen plummeting sales for his best selling product, the salanova. When he heard that Colruyt Group wanted to support local growers, he decided to get in touch.
Crispy leaves
“The salanova we grow here at our farm is a crispy variety of lettuce with lots of leaves,” says Rik. "When you remove the head of the lettuce, it falls apart into loose leaves. Because it is not light-sensitive, it stores well, which makes it ideal when it comes to packaging it for the catering industry and commercial kitchens, which are our main customers." The past three weeks have been difficult for him and his business, because without a sales market the lettuce cannot be sold and has to be destroyed. “It’s very painful to see all the energy and hard work we put in going to waste.”
Saving the season
Rik, however, as a true entrepreneur started looking for solutions. “I wasn’t immediately successful at coming up with ideas, but when I heard Colruyt Group's radio commercial, I decided to send them an email. I didn’t expect to hear from them so soon, but just one day later I was talking with one of Colruyt Group’s buyers.” The salanova is now available at Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay, Bio-Planet and Spar Colruyt Group. “I’m incredibly happy with this cooperation, because this way I will make up for some of this season’s losses.”
