Tesco Lotus to assist longgong farmers

Pornpen Nartpiriyarat, head of trading law and technical matters at Tesco Lotus, said the wholesaler has joined hands with the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC) and Phra Dabos Project Network in the South (Baa Tu Group) to create the "Longgong Model" in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

She said the project would emphasise direct transportation of fruit from the orchard to the point of sale. Tesco Lotus will continually increase the volume of longgong it intends to buy to create an incentive for growers.

It created the Longgong Model to buy fruit from growers’ groups in the three southern border provinces. This also includes exchanging knowledge on developing product quality and product management, to arrive at a long-term purchasing arrangement, she said.

The company increases the volume of fresh produce it sources directly from growers around the country every year. The company also helps develop the capability of growers to produce quality products so that they have a reliable source of income.

Every year, demand is high for the longgong fruit from the three southern border provinces, but growers face the problem of getting good prices due to an over supply of fruit.

To that end, Tesco Lotus has teamed up with state agencies such as SBPAC, provincial commercial and agricultural offices, and the Phra Dabos Project Network in the South to devise a sustainable direct sourcing plan by educating growers about the needs of the modern market in terms of product quality, safety standards and product volume.

"We want to help them achieve consistent standards so that Tesco Lotus will continue to purchase the fruit directly from them every year, while our customers will also have access to high-quality fruit," Pornpen added.

Tesco Lotus currently sources several types of fresh produce directly from growers and it also works with them to develop product quality and safety. This year, the company plans to purchase 80 tonnes of longgong from the three border provinces to be piloted in 10 Tesco Lotus stores, while next year’s purchases will be increased to 150 tonnes.

Rosadi Ma, a longgong grower from Narathiwat province, said Tesco Lotus has given growers a clearer idea of what the market needs. However, longgong face a few restrictions as the fruit can only be picked when ripe, making it more fragile during transportation and often resulting in a good amount not being in an acceptable condition for sale.

"The growers will need to discuss this with Tesco Lotus and somehow meet in the middle. All in all, I think the project is going to help improve the situation because if we can achieve better prices, we will be more motivated to continue to grow longgong," Rosadi said.

Boontham Manikarn, assistant secretary of the SBPAC, said the longgong harvest was just starting to bear fruit in volume. While Yala was a long-standing source for longgong, Narathiwat now has its own central market to ship out of the deep South at Yee Ngor.

Normally, middlemen buy longgong from the three southern provinces at the end of the year. Most of the buying occurs at night because the farmers also have to tap rubber before harvesting the longgong.

In the past, small traders would ambush the farmers’ trucks on the road to bargain over prices and make the trade right there, which did not yield a very good price for the growers.

Tesco Lotus hopes to remedy that by teaching the farmers about the market requirements and growers will receive a better price than before. Regular purchases every year will also generate a steady income for growers, Bootham said.

Tesco Lotus has continually demonstrated its commitment to supporting the Thai economy and Thai communities. In particular, the wholesaler has increased its purchases of products directly from Thai growers, to give them a better and more secure income. The company also exports Thai produce to the Tesco network of stores around the world.

In 2015, Tesco Lotus will purchase over 186,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables.