Tesco partners with suppliers on sustainability in India

Article taken from Procurement Blog. To view article, click here

In one of the starkest examples of global business in full flow, Indian farmers have appealed to British retailers, including the UK's largest, Tesco, to help it reform inefficient production and distribution systems which results in as much as half of the annual crop rotting before it even reaches market.

The staggering situation in India is reflected in the lives of a poverty-stricken rural community - on average, three farmers commit suicide everyday because of financial problems...

But many of the problems faced by the Indian farming community could be ironed out. Up until recently, the Indian Communist Party has successfully shut out any input from westen businesses into an overhaul of its agricultural policy and procedures. But following the Congress Party's victory in the recent general elections, a whole new view of how best to tackle the agricultural decline is evident.

A spokesman for Tesco said that it would be happy to investigate how it might be able to help improve the current situation.

"We are already helping to educate farmers in terms of food safety and hygiene, but better roads and refrigeration techniques will increase choice of products, hygiene and freshness and also help the export market," the spokesman said. "We are still learning a lot about India and the market, but we are hoping to expand and will launch our first cash and carry outlet in the (Mumbai) area next year."

The second most populous country on the planet has obvious appeals to the world's-largest companies, but it's through partnerships like this, where they have the opportunity to make real and sustainable improvements to global supply chains - and benefit commercially as a by-product, that the real impact and benefits of globalisation are plain to see.

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