3-Food: French supermarket Carrefour buys 180,000 t non-GMO Brazilian soy

[GENETNL <genetnl@xs4all.be>]

----------------------------- GENET-news -----------------------------

TITLE:  Carrefour leads purchase of non-GMO Brazil soy
SOURCE: Reuters, by Joelle Diderich
DATE:   February 23, 2000

-------------------- archive: http://www.gene.ch/ --------------------


Carrefour leads purchase of non-GMO Brazil soy

PARIS - A pool of French pork and poultry farmers and animal feed 
makers led by retailer Carrefour has signed a deal to buy non-
genetically modified soybeans from Brazil, a company official said on 
Tuesday. The group will buy 180,000 tonnes of Brazilian soybeans this 
year in support of Carrefour's policy of removing genetically 
modified organisms (GMOs) from its products, said Gilles Debrosse, 
director of fresh products. Carrefour has scrapped GMOs from hundreds 
of own-brand goods ranging from breakfast cereals to confectionery 
amid protests from environmental activists. It aims to remove GMO 
ingredients from all its products by 2002.

"Carrefour, faithful to its principles of precaution and prevention, 
is responding to the expectations of consumers who do not wish to eat 
GMOs, directly or indirectly, and is anticipating regulations on GMOs 
in animal feed," said Debrosse. Carrefour has hired inspection 
company SGS to supervise production, crushing and shipment to ensure 
the Brazilian grain is properly segregated to prevent any accidental 
contamination, said Debrosse.

Soybeans from 850 farmers in the central state of Goias will be taken 
by truck to a dedicated crushing plant in the town of Jatai owned by 
Coimbra, part of the Louis Dreyfus group. The plant will produce 
25,000 tonnes of soymeal pellets per month, which will be carried by 
road and rail to the port of Vitoria in Espirito Santo state, from 
where they will be shipped to St Nazaire in northwest France by 
importer Soules-Caf.


Demand for non-GMO soy rising

Buyers will pay a premium of 125 francs per tonne over the current 
market price of 1,000 francs per tonne, said Debrosse. The impact on 
retail prices would be negligible. Carrefour hoped to extend the 
policy to its cattle and sheep suppliers and was considering the 
states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul as future suppliers. 
"Our potential with all our other order books, sheep and cattle, is 
for a total 300,000 tonnes," he said. The companies participating in 
the deal were Cooperl, Duc-Bourgoin, La Cana, Groupe Zaffani, LDC, 
Fipso-Actalim, Guyomarc'h and Agralco-Ucanor Ouest. 

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