There is a growing consumer interest in the direct delivery of fruit, which, besides its producers, is also being bought and sold through the Finoteka portal.
As Miroslav Kuskunovic/Agrobiz writes on the 1st of October, 2018, innovative fruit growers and farmers from down in the Neretva valley have begun selling their tangerines through social networks over recent days, which is one way for them to sell off this year’s market surplus, as opposed to them being sold at a much lower purchase price (2-3 kuna/kg), with which they’re extremely dissatisfied.
Out of a total of about 60,000 tons of fruit, about 15,000 tons of it will end up being sold on Croatia’s domestic market, about 12,000 tons of it will be sold across the wider region, part of it will go to be sold on other markets, mainly in the EU, while part will remain a market surplus.
Manufacturers estimate that about 6,000 tons of tangerines will end up being a market surplus, and they believe that the state is trying to secure national support for this market surplus, either through donations or via similar actions, as this year, EU-backed grants were banned owing to Russian sanctions.
OPG Ivica Barišić from Metković, who expects to produce about 30 tons of tangerines this year, announced his offer of direct delivery this week on Facebook, first to Zagreb and central Croatia, and then he plans to deliver his produce to other regions across the country as well.
Similarly, Hrvoje Kolman, the owner of the Finoteka.com food search engine, added that the consumers’ interest in the direct delivery of this fruit to their houses is increasing. “We submitted a delivery announcement last Saturday, and up until now, we’ve received orders for 720 kg for Zagreb and around ten cities in the surrounding area. We aren’t satisfied with the purchase prices and so we turned to an alternative direct sales channel. I believe we’ll succeed in selling all the quantities in this way,” said the owner of OPG Ivica Barišić from Metković.
He explained how the tangerines arrive from the Neretva to Zagreb, and then delivery vehicles transport the fruit in the destination city directly to the address of the buyer. “There’s no restriction on the order [amount], but we expect to deliver at least 10 to 20 kg at an address. The price is six kuna per kilogram, which I think is a fair price, because they’re freshly picked tangerines, coming directly without storage, and without having undergone treatment with chemicals,” noted Barišić.
Hrvoje Kolman, founder and owner of Finoteka.com, became known to the public four years ago, when, for the first time, owing to Russian sanctions, he started the direct sale of tangerines through his search engine. Back then, this move resulted in considerable media attention and prompted producers to deliver quality products through a direct sales channel, arriving to the consumer’s very doorstep, thus diverting traders and buyers.
Fruit producers from the Neretva Valley have praised Finoteka, stating that for a decade already, the helpful portal has been linking consumers with small producers of Croatian products for free, it offers a well-built network that is completely free to use.
Click here for the original article by Miroslav Kuskunovic/Agrobiz/Poslovni Dnevnik
