Freshmark – the fresh fruit and vegetable buying unit for shoprite has been accused of deliberately buying and stocking poor quality onions to tarnish the image of local and Zambia based onion farmers.
This follows the stocking of poor quality onions across most shoprite stores in Zambia after the Agro ministry and the Zambian National Farmers Union – ZNFU called for a halt in issuing of import permits on the basis that the country has enough and excess onions being locally produced.
Freshmark Zambia which is responsible for the procurement, buying and distribution of the fresh fruit and veg produce sold through Shoprite stores across the country has been accused of deliberately buying poor quality onions to force government and ZNFU to rescind its policy decision to stop onion imports mostly from South Africa, which happens to be its home country.
A farmer who spoke to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT but asked for their names to be withheld said Freshmark needs to be investigated for unbridled business practices. Their buying prices are sometimes deliberately low and discouraging such that most local emerging farmers and even Zambian based commercial farmers opt to sell directly into the local markets or even export.
To further investigate these allegations of poor quality of onions being locally grown, ZBT engaged the Zambia Fruit and Vegetable Traders Association who confirmed that though its members had previously also engaged in import of onions, their engagements with ZNFU has revealed that there are enough high quality onions on the local market.
A further check with commercial onion farmers based in Mkushi shows that the country has serious onion farmers that are currently growing the crop with some of its even being bought by traders from other countries.
One such Agro firm is Mkushi based Touchwood Estates. It’s Managing Director and Commercial farmer Williem Grobler told ZBT that Zambia is capable of and is growing high quality onion as it has the ideal soils to grow very good quality onion for both local consumption and export.
Grobler, who’s farm is located in Central Province, grows about 25 hectares of onion per season and produces about one and half thousand tonnes of good quality onions. There are also other commercial farmers who are growing specific quantities of high quality onions and are ready to rump up production if a relatively consistent ready local market is created.
Freshmark Zambia is a local unit of Freshmark South Africa which operates via its own network of distribution centres across South Africa and has distribution centres across the African continent. It is one of the largest buyers and distributors of fresh fruit and vegetables in Africa. Efforts to get a comment from Freshmark Zambia proved futile by press time
